Sugarloaf Mountain, Mountain ridge in Lake County, Florida, United States.
Sugarloaf Mountain is a ridge of rolling dome-like peaks along the western shore of Lake Apopka in Lake County, Florida, reaching 312 feet (95 m) above sea level. It is the northernmost named upland of the Lake Wales Ridge, a line of sand hills running south to Highlands County. The ridge rises abruptly from flat terrain, with a prominence of about 245 feet (75 m).
Before the 20th century the ridge was wilderness of sandhill and flatwood pine forest. Logging in the 1920s stripped its hardwoods, and grapes were planted south of the mountain for about a decade until fungal disease ended them in the 1940s. Citrus groves then held the slopes until freezes in the 1980s, after which the land was rezoned for homes.
The name refers to the rounded, dome-like profile of the ridge, which resembles a sugarloaf. The Green Mountain Scenic Byway crosses mainly the eastern flank, and its relatively steep terrain compared with the surrounding flatland has made road cycling popular here. A Coore & Crenshaw golf course built for a private residential development closed in 2012.
The Green Mountain Scenic Byway runs mainly along the eastern side of the ridge and gives access to ecological preserves and historic sites. Biking is popular on the byway and other mountain roads because the terrain is more rugged than the surrounding flatland. The former golf course, designed by Coore & Crenshaw, closed in 2012.
This formation is considered the fifth-highest named point in Florida and originated about 2 million years ago from ancient sand dunes. The shape stands out clearly from the surrounding lowlands and remains visible from a distance.
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