Scenic Sumter Heritage Byway

The Scenic Sumter Heritage Byway traverses pastoral farmlands, cattle ranches and horse farms with lush open fields along with quiet country towns, hardwood forests, the tranquil Withlacoochee River lined with moss covered cypress trees and beautiful Lake Panasoffkee. This byway strikes a balance between this natural beauty and a historical story that dates to the early 1800s with the arrival of the Europeans and their eventual interactions with the local Native Americans as they began to settle in Florida. These early-on interactions resulted in epic conflicts that helped place the area that eventually become Sumter County in the history books. Adding the regions‘ history is its agricultural successes in the 1900s. A 1925 edition of Travelon Magazine called Sumter County the “storehouse of Florida” and a “place where good living could be made on ten acres of land”. Much of this quote from Travelon still holds true to this day. The story of the corridor is built on the belief in “good living”. Farms interspersed between natural areas offer a “balance to the senses”. This feeling of oneness when enjoying the byway is balanced by the history of man’s efforts to develop a family and homestead.