The route begins in Port LaBelle, a large residential community located along the Caloosahatchee River, in an area historically linked to river transport and cattle ranching. From there, it heads east along State Road 80, crossing a quiet and dispersed environment, with homes separated by large parcels, artificial lakes, and abundant vegetation draped with Spanish moss. Goodno soon appears, a ghost town that emerged around the railroad and late nineteenth-century agricultural operations, now reduced to a few abandoned buildings that remain as silent witnesses to its past. Along the route, small rural communities and scattered settlements such as Pioneer Plantation, LaDeca, and Everhigh Acres follow one another, representative enclaves of the Florida Heartland, a region marked by ranching traditions, extensive agriculture, and a deeply rooted cowboy culture. The landscape remains largely unchanged for miles, with pastures, cattle, horses, ponds, and canals where wildlife is abundant and human presence scarce.
The second section of the route heads south along even more isolated secondary roads, entering a territory dominated by large private properties and agricultural operations. Montura Ranch Estates stands out as one of the main inhabited centers in the area, surrounded by enormous ranches that stretch as far as the eye can see. Farther on, the route passes through areas of great natural value such as Devil’s Garden and the Okaloacoochee Slough, before reaching the Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area, a vast protected zone where former ranchlands have given way to wildlife reserves and restored ecosystems.
The route concludes by returning along the same alignment to Port LaBelle, closing a demanding and solitary journey that offers a direct view of Florida at its most interior, agricultural, and authentic, where landscape, history, and scale impose a rhythm very different from that of the rest of the state.
The complete route, together with its detailed historical context, is part of Discovering Florida – Volume 3.
