Discover Clewiston

Clewiston offers a range of options for a trip: paths along Lake Okeechobee, local history, sugar heritage, and activities around the lake. For your planning, it is worth keeping the different scales in mind. The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail is a long trail on the Herbert Hoover Dike, while Clewiston also has several walking tours through residential areas. The museum, festival, and railway museum offer their own points of interest. This lets you decide whether you are more interested in outdoor activity, local history, or water and sugar heritage.

Distinguishing between hiking trails and walking tours

The Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) is a 115-mile hiking trail on the Herbert Hoover Dike. In 1993, it was designated as a section of the Florida National Scenic Trail. Clewiston’s four walking tours through residential areas are different. They range from 1 to 2.9 miles; differently colored arrows on the sidewalks correspond to the tour map. This means that different scales are available: the long trail on the dike and several shorter urban tours with color-coded wayfinding. If you are planning a walking tour, you can match the arrows to the tour map. When choosing between the tours, the listed distance is a specific point of comparison; no walking time is provided.

Local history and a special look at wartime

The Clewiston Museum features exhibits on prehistoric fossils, Spanish artifacts, and Native American history. Other topics include Clewiston’s founding and development, as well as fishing, cattle ranching, and the sugar industry. The collection thus spans everything from early traces to local and economic history. Exhibits also cover Riddle Field and the Royal Air Force’s role over Clewiston during World War II. This offers a distinct historical perspective within the broader range of topics. If you are interested in local history, you can explore both several subjects related to the town’s development and a specific account of the wartime period.

Sugar heritage and seasonal train rides

The Clewiston Sugar Festival traces its origins to end-of-harvest celebrations held by the United States Sugar Corporation in the 1930s. The multi-day festival includes live music, sugarcane processing, classic car shows, activities for children, and local food stands. The program varies from one year to the next. For your planning, this means the festival features a variety of event themes, while the specific program may change.

Sugar Express is a heritage railway that offers seasonal train rides, excursions, and special events in Clewiston. It uses historic steam locomotive No. 148 and historic passenger cars. Schedules vary; if you want to plan a specific ride, check the current schedule. Unlike the museum’s subject matter, Sugar Express combines railway history with seasonal rides and events.

Boating options on Lake Okeechobee

Along Hoover Dike Road, Clewiston has four boat ramps and two floating docks with access to Lake Okeechobee. Launching and parking at the city boat ramps are free. At Lake Okeechobee, Roland Martin Marina offers V-bottom fishing boats, pontoon boats, and Stratos bass boats for rent. These details describe different options for planning time on the water: launching and parking at the city ramps on the one hand, and renting one of the listed types of boat on the other. This makes it easy to choose based on whether the ramps and docks or a rental boat are your priority.

Discover more destinations: LaBelle, Port LaBelle.

For the broader travel overview: Hendry County.