Lake Apopka's West Shore Swapped Its Hilltop View for One at the Waterline This Fall

Within a single week this fall, Lake County closed the best-known lookout on Lake Apopka's west shore and opened a new one a short drive down County Road 455. On September 30, 2026, the county said the existing observation tower at Green Mountain Scenic Overlook will stay closed while a replacement is built. It expects significant completion in mid-2027, and the elevator won't be finished until late 2027. On October 7, the county announced that Ferndale Preserve now has a fishing pier, a two-level observation tower and an accessible canoe and kayak launch on the lake.

For anyone in Montverde, this means the lake view has moved downhill for the next year or so. While the new Green Mountain tower is under construction, Ferndale is where you can stand over the water, drop a kayak in or look across Lake Apopka from a deck built for that purpose.

Two announcements, one week apart

The two sites sit on the same scenic byway, and their schedules now run in opposite directions.

The Green Mountain project is partly paid for by a Federal Highway Administration grant administered by the Florida Department of Transportation, with local matching funds. Ferndale's improvements came from a Florida Communities Trust grant through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, built in partnership with the Lake County Water Authority. The money came from separate sources on separate schedules, and both projects happened to land in the same week.

What Ferndale adds that it never had before

Ferndale Preserve has been on the west shore for more than 15 years, but it has mostly been a place to walk through. Lake County's 2022 brochure describes a multi-use trail of roughly four miles. Part of it is marked as a hike, bike and equestrian trail, and a separate paved hiking trail is closed to bikes and horses. The trails led toward the lake, but the brochure doesn't describe any structure that reached out over the water.

The new structures change that. According to the county:

• The fishing pier runs about 80 feet out from the preserve's multi-use trail.
• The observation tower sits on the pier. It measures 16 by 16 feet, has two levels and a spiral staircase to the upper deck.
• The canoe and kayak launch connects to the main structure by an aluminum gangway and floating dock, and the county describes it as accessible.

The wildlife list was already one of the longest on this side of the lake. The county brochure records more than 180 bird species and more than 50 butterfly species, along with bobcat, gopher tortoise, otter, coyote and alligator among the animals that may turn up. Until now, you saw all of that from trail level. The new tower gives you an elevated view over the open water.

A few practical points for a first visit. The brochure lists the preserve as open daily from dawn to dusk. It bans pets, camping, swimming, hunting, metal detecting and motorized or electric vehicles on the trails, and it asks trail users to yield to horses. The same 2022 brochure also lists fishing as prohibited, which was written years before the county built a fishing pier. Check the current rules before you bring a rod. The Lake County Office of Parks & Trails takes calls at 352-253-4950, and its parks and trails page is the county's main reference for hours and trails.

Boaters should know one more thing. The Lake Apopka West Shore Boat Ramp at 17710 Broad Street in Montverde was closed on April 17 and 18, and Lake County warned of intermittent closures for the rest of the Ferndale project. Its notice, last updated September 21, doesn't say the ramp has fully reopened. During the closures, the county pointed boaters to the McDonald Canal Boat Ramp at 24600 County Road 448A in Mount Dora instead.

What the hilltop offered, and when it returns

Green Mountain draws people for its height above the lake. Florida Scenic Highways says the overlook's first version opened in 2014 and that its view of Lake Apopka was limited. Its 2023 article presented an upgrade as a way to improve the view and included an artist's rendering. That rendering was a concept drawing. It isn't a confirmed plan of the tower now being built, and the county's September announcement doesn't say what the new tower will include beyond the elevator.

The trail is the part that stays open. A two-mile extension that tied the overlook into the existing 18-mile Lake Apopka Loop Trail opened in 2016. Lake County says the trailhead and the Loop Trail will stay open throughout construction, with a slight reroute around the work zone. It asks visitors to follow posted signs and stay out of restricted areas. You can still walk or ride the hill. The only thing missing during construction is the tower.

Covering the gap during construction

With Green Mountain's tower closed and Ferndale now open at water level, the rest of the lake's public access fills in around them. The St. Johns River Water Management District and the Oakland Nature Preserve list these options:

1. Oakland Nature Preserve, 747 Machete Trail, Oakland. The trails are free and open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset, and an accessible boardwalk reaches Lake Apopka. Dogs other than service animals, bicycles and fishing aren't allowed.
2. Clay Island on the Lake Apopka North Shore. It has a six-mile marked white loop, a 2.6-mile red trail and four observation towers. One of those towers looks toward the lake's west shoreline, so you can look back at Montverde from across the water.
3. Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive. This free, one-way, 11-mile drive usually takes one to three hours. The gate lets vehicles in from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays, and every vehicle has to be out by 5 p.m.
4. McDonald Canal Boat Ramp, 24600 County Road 448A, Mount Dora. The water management district lists it for motorboats, canoes and kayaks.

Three of these four are off the west shore. That's why the timing matters for Montverde. While Green Mountain's tower is closed, Ferndale is the only new place on the town's own side of the lake where you can get up high and get onto the water.

A fall calendar that uses both sites

The next three months of events around the lake make good use of the change. Here they are in order from today, October 9:

• October 23 and 24: Oakland Nature Preserve holds its Pumpkin Glow.
• November 6 and 7: The 46th Annual Montverde Day Fall Music Festival returns to Kirk Park, Friday from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., according to the Town of Montverde's event page.
• Late November: Three Birds Cafe, formerly in Winter Garden, plans to open inside Farm Nine at 4 S. Tubb St. in Oakland, serving coffee, breakfast, sandwiches, pastries and salads, as the Orange Observer reported on September 28.
• December 3 through 7: The North Shore Birding Festival runs five days. Its program includes a Ferndale walk on December 4 to look for wintering songbirds. Painted Bunting, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Savannah, Swamp, Vesper and Grasshopper sparrows are listed as possible sightings. A Green Mountain trail hike follows on December 6, while that tower is still closed and the Loop Trail is still rerouted.

The festival's schedule follows the same pattern as the rest of this post. The December 4 walk at Ferndale gets the new pier and tower, and the December 6 Green Mountain hike will have the hill and the trail without its lookout. Lake County expects significant completion of the new Green Mountain tower in mid-2027, with the elevator to follow in late 2027.

At Corcoran Premier Realty, our agents follow changes like these on CR 455 the way neighbors do: which lookout is open, which ramp is running and what's coming to the west shore next. If you'd like to talk about life on this side of Lake Apopka, we'd be glad to hear from you. Get in Touch.