LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee County's natural beauty extends far beyond its beaches, and one of its most unique attractions allows visitors to literally walk in the footsteps of Florida's early settlers.
At Six Mile Cypress Preserve, visitors can experience the cypress bog the way people did before the boardwalk existed — by wading directly through the water on guided "wet walks."
Click to see what meteorologist Andrew Shipley experienced when he went on a wet walk.
"You can think people were living like this before. They had to go through this. How did they do it?" said Sabine Vandenhende, a board member for the Friends of the Six Mile Cypress Preserve who helped lead a recent group of 14 people through the slough.
"Being out in the water and having the wet walk gives you a different perspective," Vandenhende said.
The wet walks offer visitors a chance to see plants and animals in their natural setting, including wildlife that might not be visible from the traditional boardwalk. While walking through the slough might seem dangerous, experienced guides know the water and what to look for.
"We know how potentially alligators or snakes might react," Vandenhende said.
Historic preserve holds centuries of Florida history
Six Mile Cypress was logged for the war effort in the 1940s, but it's still home to some of Southwest Florida's oldest trees. One of them, nicknamed the "Grandfather Tree," can only be seen on a wet walk.
"When you see the 'Grandfather Tree' and you know for example it is about 400, 500 years old. Then you start thinking, wow, what has that tree actually lived through," Vandenhende said.
Among the visitors the ancient tree has witnessed are the people who gave the slough its name.
"When people were traveling from the east and going towards the north, so they knew when they were hitting the swamp they had about six miles left before they were hitting either the fort or the town," Vandenhende said.
Despite its name, the slough isn't actually six miles long — it's 11 miles.
Environmental benefits extend beyond tourism
While Six Mile Cypress serves as a visitor attraction today, it also provides important environmental services for Lee County. The preserve stores water to prevent flooding and naturally cleans the water supply.
"Very important for Florida, it replenishes the aquifer. This is where our freshwater is coming from, our drinking water is coming from," Vandenhende said.
The Friends of Six Mile Cypress Preserve offer wet walks every year between August and October for those interested in experiencing this unique perspective of old Florida.
"When people walk in initially, there is always that little fear. But then they all come out in awe," Vandenhende said.
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