Orange Lake is in

Alachua County, Florida Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida. History Prehistory and ear ...

, about south of Hawthorne. It has an area of about , and is part of the Orange Creek Basin, which is in turn part of the Oklawaha River watershed. Cross Creek flows into it from

Lochloosa Lake Lochloosa Lake is a lake about in area in Alachua County, Florida, near Hawthorne, and is up to deep. It is drained by Cross Creek into Orange Lake. It is largely surrounded by the Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area and is a Fish Management A ...

, and

Orange Creek Orange Creek is a small stream in north-central and northeast Florida, that drains Orange Lake to the Ocklawaha River. Privately owned Orange Springs provides part of the water volume. Description Part of the Ocklawaha River drainage basin, ...

drains it into the

Rodman Reservoir Rodman Reservoir, or Lake Ocklawaha, is an artificial reservoir located on the Ocklawaha River in Putnam County and Marion County in north-central Florida. The reservoir, located about 15 miles southwest of Palatka, is approximately in length, ...

. Orange Lake also receives water from

Newnans Lake Newnans Lake (or Newnan's Lake) is a lake located off State Road 20, east of Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a populat ...

that has been diverted from its historic destination of

Paynes Prairie Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is a Florida State Park, encompassing a savanna in Alachua County, Florida lying between Micanopy and Gainesville. It is also a U.S. National Natural Landmark. It is crossed by both I-75 and U.S. 441 (which ...

. Orange Lake is noted for fishing, especially bass, with many fishing camps on its shores. The lake also has many natural

floating island A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from several centimeters to a few meters. Sometimes referred to as ''tussocks'', ''floatons'', or ''suds'', floating islands are found in many parts of t ...

s, which have an "unusually high diversity", especially of

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s. The

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...

village of

Potano The Potano (also Potanou or Potavou, Timucua: ''Potano'' "That is happening now") tribe lived in north-central Florida at the time of first European contact. Their territory included what is now Alachua County, the northern half of Marion County ...

was located along the western shore of Orange Lake in 1539, when it was visited by the

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

expedition. The town of Potano was moved to a site northwest of present-day

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

in 1584 after being burned by the Spanish. The Spanish Mission of

San Buenaventura de Potano San Buenaventura de Potano was a Spanish mission near Orange Lake (Florida), Orange Lake in southern Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County or northern Marion County, Florida, located on the site where the town of Potano had been located when it w ...

was established at the old site of the town by or before 1608. Remains of the town and the foundation of the mission church were discovered at the Richardson Site, 8AL100, in 2013. The lake was named for its location in a citrus-growing district.

References

Lakes of Alachua County, Florida Lakes of Florida Outstanding Florida Waters {{AlachuaCountyFL-geo-stub