The Mount Dora Lighthouse: Florida’s Only Inland Lighthouse, and the Walk That Earns It
Thirty-five feet of red-and-white brick at Grantham Point, built in 1988 as a real aid to navigation — plus the Gilbert Park and Palm Island boardwalk walk that turns a photo stop into Mount Dora's best hour.
3 minute read
Florida has famous lighthouses on both coasts, but only one stands on a freshwater lake in the middle of the state. The Mount Dora Lighthouse — 35 feet of red-and-white brick and stucco at Grantham Point, on the Mount Dora waterfront — is described as Florida’s only inland freshwater lighthouse, and it is not merely decorative: it works as a registered aid to navigation for boaters finding their way back to the Mount Dora marina and boat ramps after dark.
Younger than it looks
The tower feels like it has watched over Lake Dora forever, which is exactly the trick. It was dedicated on March 25, 1988, as part of the Port of Mount Dora — local accounts trace it to a boater who had trouble finding home after dark. Grantham Point itself is a small peninsula built from fill at the end of South Tremain Street, and the park around the lighthouse — locals call it Lighthouse Park — has benches, picnic spots and shoreline access. You cannot climb the tower and there is no keeper’s house; the experience is the point, the lake and the sky.
The walk: downtown to the point
The lighthouse is a ten-minute walk from downtown, and the walk is half the value. From the Lakeside Inn lawn, head along the waterfront into Gilbert Park, with its playground, picnic areas and boat ramps, then continue out to Grantham Point. The view west across Lake Dora — nearly 4,400 acres of it, part of the Harris Chain of Lakes — is why everyone ends up here at sunset. Bring the camera then; at midday, bring it for the tower against the sky instead.
Keep going: Palm Island Park
Do not turn back at the lighthouse. A short way along the shore, Palm Island Park, at 411 S Tremain St, is an eight-acre nature preserve whose boardwalk threads through wetlands and old cypress along the lake, with a fishing pier and trails under the canopy. It is the wilder counterpoint to the point’s open lawn: herons and other water birds along the railings, turtles below, and the occasional alligator — stay on the boardwalk and give wildlife its room, as the signage insists. The boardwalk views back toward the lighthouse, especially late in the day, are the photograph most visitors end up keeping.
Gilbert Park, the middle act
The walk’s middle section deserves its own pause. Gilbert Park, on the waterfront between downtown and Grantham Point, is the working park of the waterfront: boat ramps and the marina nearby, picnic areas under the trees, a playground, and Simpson’s Cove along its shore. It is where Mount Dora launches its own boats, where the lighted boat parade assembles in December, and where a weekday morning shows you the town’s un-touristed self — anglers on the shoreline, walkers on the path, the lighthouse standing at the end of the point. Benches and picnic tables line the route out to Grantham Point, parking sits by the park entrance with overflow near Palm Island, and the whole waterfront is free to enter. Pack a picnic from a downtown café and this becomes the cheapest good lunch in Lake County.
Practical notes
Go early or late in summer — the point is exposed, and the middle of a Florida day on open lawn is nobody’s friend. The paved paths suit strollers and wheelchairs better than the Palm Island boardwalk’s narrower runs. Dogs on leashes appear all along the waterfront, but festival rules downtown are stricter, so check before combining the walk with an event day. And if an alligator is sunning near the boardwalk — a genuine possibility — the local etiquette is simple: admire it from the boards, photograph it from the boards, and let it keep the shoreline.
Pairing it with the rest of town
The lighthouse walk pairs naturally with a boat: Premier Boat Tours’ narrated cruises leave from the Lakeside Inn dock for the Dora Canal, and seeing the tower from the water reframes the whole waterfront — details in our on-the-water guide. On land, the point makes an ideal end to a downtown day in our Mount Dora guide, or the golden-hour opening to date night. Find Grantham Point on the Orlando Top Spots Map.
Photo: Jokergirloftheworld, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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