Helpful Guide to Exploring Central Florida Attractions & Towns

If you're visiting Central Florida attractions and would like to explore the region, here are a few places that are well worth driving "Off the Beaten Path."

• Take a walking tour of Main Street DeLand's famous town murals.
• Explore DeLeon Springs State Park, in DeLand, through a 50-minute eco/history boat tour that departs every hour from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Go birding at the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, also in DeLand, and rent a paddleboat or hike the four-mile Wild Persimmon Trail.
• Take a glass bottom boat tour at Silver Springs State Park, near Ocala.
• Check out the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, in Winter Park, to see the largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany artwork in the world.
• Tour the twelve Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Lakeland's Florida Southern College campus. Here's an interesting story about their restoration.
• Take a Segway tour of Mt. Dora, which begins below sea level and soars up a large (Florida-style!) hill. Afterward go antiquing.
• Drive through the Ridge Scenic Highway, a 38.7-mile route on SR 17 that travels through many historic communities.
• Investigate Spook Hill and see if your car rolls backwards up the hill.
• Visit Lake Wales, meandering through Bok Tower Gardens, while the 60-bell carillon gives one of its twice-daily concerts.