Route #89 Chuluota – Christmas – Rockledge – Viera – Suntree

 

Route #89 covers 98 round-trip miles across central and east Florida, linking historic rural settlements with some of the state’s fastest-growing urban corridors. The route begins in Chuluota, Seminole County, and heads south through a landscape of lakes, pine forests, and gentle terrain before entering Orange County and passing through communities such as Bithlo and Christmas, whose origins are tied to early military outposts and frontier settlements.

The journey crosses large protected areas including Savage/Christmas Creek Preserve, Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area, St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge, and River Lakes Conservation Area, where wetlands, cypress swamps, and broad waterways dominate the scenery. After crossing the St. Johns River, the route enters Brevard County and gradually transitions into a more urban environment, passing through Cocoa West and Rockledge, the county’s oldest incorporated city, closely connected to railroad expansion and nineteenth-century tourism.

The final segment links newer planned communities such as Viera and Suntree, developed on former cattle ranches and farmland, before reaching the shores of the Indian River. On the return, the route detours through Wedgefield and the Hal Scott Regional Preserve, completing a loop that connects Florida’s interior with its Atlantic coast.

This route can be found in Discovering Florida – Volume 4.