Sugarloaf Mountain is the fifth-highest named point and the most prominent point in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. At above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

it is also the highest point on the geographic Florida Peninsula. The

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

is in Lake County, near the town of Clermont.

Geography

Sugarloaf Mountain, located along the western shore of

Lake Apopka Lake Apopka is the fourth largest lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is located northwest of Orlando, mostly within the bounds of Orange County, although the western part is in Lake County. Fed by a natural spring, rainfall and stormw ...

Lake County, Florida Lake County is a county in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 383,956. Its county seat is Tavares, and its largest city is Clermont. Lake County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee- Sa ...

, is the northernmost named upland associated with the

Lake Wales Ridge The Lake Wales Ridge, sometimes referred to as the Mid-Florida Ridge,Eastern States Archaeological Federation. ''Archaeology of Eastern North America, Volume 11'', p. 54 is a sand ridge running for about 150 miles south to north in Central Florida. ...

, a series of sand hills running south to

Highlands County Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat is Sebring. Highlands County comprises the Sebring-Avon Park, FL Metropolita ...

. The mountain, really a ridge with rolling dome-like peaks, rises abruptly from the surrounding flat terrain. Its prominence is thought to be , with its highest peak having a local prominence of about relative to the surrounding ridge.Topoquest – Bear Spring, FL
Topoquest.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02. Sugarloaf Mountain's summit is the most prominent peak in the state, though it is about 10 percent lower than Florida's highest point,

Britton Hill Britton Hill is the highest natural point in the state of Florida, United States, with a summit elevation of above mean sea level. Britton Hill is the lowest state highpoint in the United States,

, which rises to above sea level in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. Sugarloaf is more prominent than the most prominent hills in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, two other low-lying states.Peakbagger – Most Prominent Peaks of the U.S. States
Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2011-01-02.

History

Before the 20th century, Sugarloaf Mountain was a wilderness dominated by

sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and be ...

and

flatwood Flatwood is a soil series with impaired drainage that occurs in the southeastern United States. Flatwood soils are upland soils formed from marine sediments. A shallow water table plays a role in soil formation; typically the water table is only a ...

pine forests. By the 1920s, logging had stripped the mountain of its hardwood vegetation, permanently altering its native environment. Scrub began to grow on the mountain's slopes, in addition to grapes, which were planted mostly to the south of the mountain for a decade or so.Green Mountain Scenic Byway
Green Mountain Scenic Byway Committee. 2008. Retrieved 2011-01-02.Lake Wales Ridge: Ancient Sands, Diverse Biota
Archibald Biological Station. October 2, 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-02. By the 1940s, grape farming had declined because of fungal diseases, and it was replaced by citrus farming. Citrus groves flourished on the flanks of Sugarloaf Mountain, providing the basis for the local economy until the 1980s, when freezes began to devastate local groves. As the citrus industry faded, property on the mountain was rezoned for residential development, with value seen in the mountain's panoramic views of the surrounding area.Santich, Kate. "Topographic Relief; In Lake County, Developers Want to Turn Scenic Sugarloaf Mountain into Sprawling Subdivision." ''Orlando Sentinel'', 7 October 2001: pg. 4. Print.

/ref> Other lands abutting the mountain, primarily along

, were preserved with the intention of restoring long-absent ecologies.Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, 2010.
Lake Wales Ridge Ecosystem – Critical Natural Habitats
Florida Forever Annual Update 2010.Lake County Parks and Trails – Ferndale Preserve
Lake County Dept. of Public Resources. 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-02. Only a few citrus plantations and vineyards managed to persist to the present day.

Geology

Sugarloaf Mountain's geology is tied to the formation of Florida's sand ridges, specifically the

. The mountain consists of relict sand ridges and dunes formed in a marine shoreline environment about 2 million years ago during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

epoch. Since the Pleistocene, the sands comprising the mountain have probably been uplifted due to isostatic rebound of the crust beneath the Florida Platform. The uplift is attributed to the

karstification Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

/erosion of the platform, which is reducing the weight on the underlying

basement rock In geology, basement and crystalline basement are crystalline rocks lying above the mantle and beneath all other rocks and sediments. They are sometimes exposed at the surface, but often they are buried under miles of rock and sediment. The baseme ...

, triggering a process similar to

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

.Adams, Peter N, Opdyke, Neil D., & Jaeger, John M. Isostatic uplift driven by karstification and sea-level oscillation: Modeling landscape evolution in north Florida. ''Geology'', June 2010, v. 38, no. 6, p. 531–534.

Recreation

The state of Florida designated the

Green Mountain Scenic Byway Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, which primarily traverses the eastern side of the mountain. The route offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and access to newly acquired ecological preserves and historic sites. Biking along the Byway as well as on other roads on the mountain has become popular, due to the challenge imposed by the relatively rugged terrain of the mountain compared to the surrounding area. Sugarloaf Mountain also had a golf course. Designed by the firm of Coore &

Crenshaw Crenshaw may refer to: Places in the United States *Crenshaw, Los Angeles **Crenshaw High School *Crenshaw County, Alabama *Crenshaw, Mississippi *Crenshaw, Pennsylvania Transportation *Crenshaw Boulevard *Crenshaw station (C Line, Los Angeles Met ...

to take advantage of the relatively prominent topography, the course was to be part of the proposed private Sugarloaf Mountain Golf Club residential development.Great Golf Communities Directory – Sugarloaf Mountain
Golfers Guide Living. 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-02. The golf course was closed in 2012 due to low turnout and slow development in the wake of the 2008 housing bubble.

References

External links

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Topozone map of Sugarloaf Mountain summit
Hills of Florida Landforms of Lake County, Florida