{"id":330094,"date":"2026-07-05T18:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/330094\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:26:12","slug":"floridas-laidback-hill-country-escape-is-a-lakeside-gem-for-hiking-and-boating-under-an-hour-from-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/330094\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida’s Laidback Hill Country Escape Is A Lakeside Gem For Hiking And Boating Under An Hour From Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orlando is a bustling mecca of theme parks, urban communities, and concrete jungle. Yet there’s plenty of nature within a stone’s throw of\u00a0O-town, including lakes, trails, parks, and preserves that invite visitors to embrace and explore the outdoors. Groveland,\u00a0population 22,000<\/a>,\u00a0is an epicenter of such outdoor adventure and a growing suburban city. Located in southern Lake County, which contains more than\u00a01,000 lakes,\u00a0Groveland boasts several of its own,\u00a0surrounded by parks, boating access, and natural areas. The city\u00a0also enjoys proximity to\u00a0Clermont’s Chain of Lakes, hiking trails, and abundant water sports, and has been a designated Dark Sky Community<\/a>\u00a0since 2023, with citywide ordinances restricting light pollution.<\/p>\n

Despite its small-town, laid-back atmosphere, Groveland has been growing; real estate agents<\/a> have compared it to Winter Park, another Orlando suburb that expanded. Its proximity to the Florida Turnpike and Orlando, just 35 miles due east, makes it feel well-connected.\u00a0Today,\u00a0Niche<\/a> calls Groveland “one of the best places to live in Florida,”\u00a0citing above-average schools, low crime, and a rural feel. For visitors seeking a calm, lake-life-themed respite from Orlando, Groveland fits the bill.<\/p>\n

The city was established in the late 1800s by two brothers who processed locally abundant turpentine. Local industry evolved over the years, producing lumber, citrus, tourism, and even perfume.\u00a0Though Florida’s terrain is quite flat, Groveland is set along the central Florida sand ridge, also known as the Lake Wales Ridge, formed in ancient times by rising and falling sea levels, giving the area some elevation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando is a bustling mecca of theme parks, urban communities, and concrete jungle. Yet there’s plenty of nature…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-330094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}