The Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition the Okaloacoochee Slough, across the Caloosahatchee River, over to Babcock Ranch, and west along Fisheating Creek toward Lake Okeechobee. From Lake Okeechobee, the heart of the Greater Everglades system, the Expedition traveled up the Kissimmee River with excursions toward the Lake Wales Ridge, up the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes, east around Orlando, and into Ocala National Forest. Once in the existing Ocala to Osceola corridor, the trip continued north in Georgia and into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The vision for the second Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition is to connect natural lands and waters throughout the northwest region of Florida,
Lake George (Florida) second largest lake in Florida, after Lake Okeechobee. Lake George was the third largest lake behind Lake Apopka, but conversion of the littoral zone on the northern side of Lake Apopka to farm fields in the previous century reduced its surface area. The name of Lake Welaka is taken from "Welaka" (meaning "chain of lakes"), the name for the St. Johns River in the language of the Timucua, who inhabited the region prior to European settlement. The first European to visit the lake was Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who as the Spanish governor of Florida, explored the St. Johns River