As the trail slopes down toward the water, Little Lagoon can be seen to the left and Gator Lake to the right. A small strip of uplands separates them and small wooden bridge allows the trail to cross a meandering "stream" that connects the two. Next to the bridge, a large covered observation deck with benches has been constructed to overlook Gator Lake. It is an excellent location for a rest and an opportunity to catch a glimpse of wildlife.

The trail continues past the bridge between the lagoon and lake. On the north side, Little Lagoon and Gator Lake have similar banks, with reeds that extend from the water onto the bank. As you move south, the lake bank remains largely the same, but the lagoon's banks start to display a widening white, sandy beach. From here you are standing on the western edge of the Lagoon and can look down its length to the east. The water is usually clear on the Lagoon side with sandy bottoms suitable for wading and swimming. Swimming in Gator Lake does not seem like a good idea.

The vegitation on the shore also changes, with fewer pine trees, in fact many of those pine trees are dead as a result of the flooding from Hurricane Ivan and Katrina. More dune hugging brush and ocassional scrub oaks become the typical landscape. Large dunes, large enough to escape destruction from those two hurricanes rise to the south. As the gravel/sand road turns to the east to serve the private property, the wildlife trail leads to the south over the dunes to the Gulf beaches. ...next

... or check out this area in Bing (Microsoft) Map's Bird's Eye View ...here.