Nature Coast

Map of Florida's Nature Coast←Map hasn't been colored in to show the counties. 15 Mar 2015.

The Nature Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. The Nature Coast State Trail is officially designated as part of Florida’s Statewide System of Greenways and Trails.^[1] It comprises the inside curve or Big Bend area of the western coast of the state and encompasses Citrus, Dixie, Hernando, Jefferson, Pasco, Levy, Taylor, and Wakulla counties. This region of Florida is culturally partially southern, with the Deep South culture extending to Levy County.

The lower southern end (Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus County) are often considered part of the Tampa Bay Area.

The Nature Coast covers eight different counties and part of one county (Dunnellon is a part of Marion County). It encompasses 980,000 acres (4,000 km²).

The name "Nature Coast" was devised in 1991 as part of a marketing campaign to attract vacationers to the nine county area. The name eventually began to be used locally, and describes the area formally known as the "Big Bend" of Florida.^[2]

Activities common in this area include hunting, fishing, boating, bird watching and nature hiking. Snorkeling spots are found in the rivers along the Nature Coast. Diving and manatee tours are available, predominantly in areas such as Crystal River, Homosassa and Homosassa Springs.

The Naturecoast is home to wildlife including deer, wild pigs, roseate spoonbills, alligators, raccoons, opossums, snakes, great blue herons, egrets, turtles and at least 19 endangered species.

There are also 50 golf courses in the area.

References

↑ "Nature Coast State Trail". State of Florida. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
↑ St. Petersburg Times article, St. Petersburg Times - Feb 23, 1994

State of Florida

Tallahassee (capital)

Topics	Climate Delegations Environment Floridians Geography Geology Government History Law State parks Transportation Visitor attractions

Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics

Regions	Big Bend Central Florida Emerald Coast First Coast Florida Heartland Florida Keys Florida Panhandle Forgotten Coast Glades Gold Coast Halifax area Nature Coast North Central Florida North Florida Northeast Florida South Florida Southwest Florida Space Coast Suncoast Tampa Bay Area Treasure Coast

Metro areas	Cape Coral–Fort Myers Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach Fort Walton Beach–Crestview–Destin Gainesville Jacksonville Lakeland–Winter Haven Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Naples–Marco Island North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Ocala Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Panama City–Lynn Haven–Panama City Beach Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Port St. Lucie Punta Gorda Sebastian–Vero Beach Tallahassee Tampa-St. Petersburg–Clearwater

Largest cities	Jacksonville Miami Tampa West Palm Beach St. Petersburg Orlando Hialeah Tallahassee Fort Lauderdale Port St. Lucie Cape Coral Pembroke Pines Hollywood

Counties	Alachua Baker Bay Bradford Brevard Broward Calhoun Charlotte Citrus Clay Collier Columbia DeSoto Dixie Duval Escambia Flagler Franklin Gadsden Gilchrist Glades Gulf Hamilton Hardee Hendry Hernando Highlands Hillsborough Holmes Indian River Jackson Jefferson Lafayette Lake Lee Leon Levy Liberty Madison Manatee Marion Martin Miami‑Dade Monroe Nassau Okaloosa Okeechobee Orange Osceola Palm Beach Pasco Pinellas Polk Putnam Santa Rosa Sarasota Seminole St. Johns St. Lucie Sumter Suwannee Taylor Union Volusia Wakulla Walton Washington

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Nature Coast

See also

Citrus

Hernando

Jefferson

Levy

Marion

Pasco

Taylor

Wakulla

See also

References