Tavares and the Harris Chain of Lakes
An isthmus town at the hinge of eight connected lakes: the geography, the bass fishery and the boating that define Tavares.
1 minute read
Tavares exists because of a chain. The Harris Chain of Lakes — eight connected lakes in Lake and Orange counties — runs through the middle of the county, and Tavares sits at its hinge: Lake Dora at its southern doorstep, Lake Eustis at its northern, Big Lake Harris and Little Lake Harris just west, and the Dead River and the Dora Canal tying the pieces together.
The geography, plainly
The city occupies an isthmus. From downtown, one lakefront (Wooton Park, the marina, the seaplane base) faces Lake Dora; walk a few blocks north and the other lakefront faces Lake Eustis. The Dora Canal joins the two through cypress swamp. Westward, Lake Dora opens toward Mount Dora’s shore and the chain continues to the Harris lakes and Leesburg; the whole system eventually drains north through the Ocklawaha River toward the St. Johns. Lake County’s thousand-plus lakes are the county’s name and its economy, and Tavares is where the chain is most navigable, most visible and most lived-on.
What the chain is used for
Fishing first: the Harris Chain is one of Florida’s storied largemouth bass fisheries, and Tavares’s ramps and marina are tournament infrastructure as much as recreation. Boating second: the chain is a day’s cruising in itself, lake to lake through canals, with waterfront towns — Tavares, Mount Dora, Eustis, Leesburg — as the ports. And flying third, which is the local speciality: the seaplane base turns Lake Dora into a runway, and the chain into an archipelago of landings.
The honest note
Chain lakes are working Florida lakes — tea-coloured, weedy in the shallows, glorious at dawn and dusk — not swimming-pool water. Their beauty is the cypress-and-birdlife kind, best taken from a boat at slow speed. From Tavares, all of it is minutes away; that proximity, more than any single attraction, is the town’s real amenity.
Orlando Citizen by email
The weekly edition, in your inbox
One email, every Saturday: the week’s edition of Orlando Citizen — the week’s stories, rankings and winners, gathered in one place. Free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Related Stories
Editor’s Picks
Spotted an error? Tell us — corrections · How we rank