Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area, Wildlife refuge and conservation area in Hardee, Polk, and Highlands Counties, United States.

Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area is a refuge south of Orlando and north of Lake Okeechobee, begun in 2012 with 10 acres (4 ha) donated under the America's Great Outdoors Initiative. Its habitat ranges from pine flatwoods, home to the Florida panther and Florida black bear, to xeric oak scrub with myrtle oak, Chapman's oak and saw palmetto, and freshwater marsh and wet prairie with sawgrass, pickerel weed and white water lily.

The refuge was created in 2012, when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced it as the 556th unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, starting from 10 acres donated under the Obama administration's America's Great Outdoors Initiative. On 24 March 2016 the Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce became the first conservation easement added, followed by Hatchineha Ranch and others, bringing over 4,214 acres of easements and about 1,502 acres of purchased land funded by a $12.5 million Land and Water Conservation Fund allocation.

The refuge's name comes from its role in the Everglades watershed: it protects the headwater flow from central Florida down to the Everglades. Much of the land is working ranch country, held through conservation easements under Florida's Rural and Family Lands Protection Act rather than bought outright. The Adams Ranch at Fort Pierce supplied the first easements, added on March 24, 2016.

Check the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website before your visit to confirm which areas are open and any access restrictions in place. Planning ahead ensures you can spend your time exploring the sections that interest you most.

The refuge began in 2012 with a 10-acre donation under the America's Great Outdoors Initiative, and Ken Salazar announced its creation; the target is 50,000 acres south of Orlando and north of Lake Okeechobee. On 24 March 2016 the Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce supplied the first conservation easements, followed by Hatchineha Ranch and others.