Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

At the headwaters of the Everglades in central Florida, a grassland and savannah landscape is home to hundreds of animal and plant species, many rare or endangered. 

The Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, part of the larger Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area, is far away from city lights and sounds. It’s the perfect place to admire unique wildlife in the daytime and the vast night sky after the sun goes down. 

Recognized by the International Dark Sky Association as Florida's first Dark Sky Park in 2016, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is likely the best place in the state for stargazing. Interested astronomers can leave the city lights behind and book either a campground or a dedicated astronomy pad, where no campfires are allowed and all lights after sunset must be on the red spectrum to prevent visual interference. 

The park encompasses the largest remaining area of Florida dry prairie, which has been called a “land of fire and floods” due to the great changes it experiences from season to season. Pioneers found the land unsuitable for farming due to the intense wet summers; it was then put to use for cattle for decades, before being used as a bombing range during World War II for a nearby airbase. The fires caused by the bombs actually mimicked the prairie’s natural winter fire cycle and kept the grassland healthy through the years.  

On Saturdays, visitors can take the elevated buggy tours offered by park rangers, rolling high above the grass with binoculars out to observe the native birds and animals, which include deer and alligators. Rangers will explain the necessity of prescribed fires in order to maintain habitats for animals like the brown-headed nuthatch and the flatwoods salamanders who depend on regular cycles of wildfires. 

The park boasts many campgrounds, and the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park also offers luxurious glamping experiences in well-appointed, thick-material tents with hotel beds and sporting special dim bulbs to not disturb the perfectly dark skies outside.