Eustis Eichelberger Sink

This sinkhole and surrounding area are now called the Hidden Waters Preserve. It encompasses 90 acres, and has a lake (Lake Alfred) formed at its base. It serves as a recharge area for the Florida Aquifer. In the 1950's a golf course and clubhouse were here on the property..and then the sink opened up, and voila! no golfcourse! It's a truly great natural area...and part of the real Florida!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• raconter1
• Sinkhole
• Eustis
• Eichelberger
• Hidden
• Waters
• Preserve

[biarritz59]

Very interesting!

[raconter1]

@biarritz59 Thanks, Paco! One of Florida's many interesting sites!  :) Jack

[BRENTHENRY1989]

anyone get killed there? there interesting,but its a sad day when people get killed in them,also when did this happen? in the 50's? also how did they have a Orange grove in there in the 80's? it must have been interesting to harvest! also we had a sink hole here in Canada recently,up in Quebec, unfortunately a family was lost in there basement as they watched the Montreal Canadiens play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs, the dog survived outside, it was 4 Football fields large and 40' deep

[raconter1]

@BRENTHENRY1989 Hey, Brent! I don't know what the details were of the original collapse...they have a local museum here, which I am embarrassed to say, I haven't visited. Maybe they will have more information It happened in the 50's. The groves must have been on the margins of the property...the part that hadn't sunk in. Wow..I didn't know Quebec had the problem..I know PA does...anywhere where there is extensive limestone. Thanks! :) Jack

[BRENTHENRY1989]

i wonder if there's some Gator's in there! :) i wouldn't want to swim and find out! also you have Cougars down in Florida, not as common, but there still out there, also good thing you didn't stumble into Yogi out there, you didn't have any Picnic baskets to bribe him with!, nice video, and i would agree, that steep grade is also a great work out! its amazing how much effect it can have, to bad you couldn't walk up the incline on a long angle, that tends to reduce the effect of a steep grade,

[raconter1]

@BRENTHENRY1989 Hey, Brent! You have to assume that any body of water here has a gator...so swimmers had better keep that in mind! Cougars are VERY rare..haven't heard of one sighted in central Florida for a long time...the population that's left is more likely near the Everglades. Black Bears, Yogi included, are a concern here...the fence around the property probably keeps most animal intruders out. However, they could walk thru the gates, just like humans! Yeah! Steep! Workout! Thanx!:)

[raconter1]

@MrLambFries Hey, Brian! Yeah...these are alarming when they encroach upon homes...they usually wait until the thing stabilizes, then see how feasible it is to simply fill them up. I feel bad when they rope the houses off, declaring them unstable..and won't allow the people back in...I guess it's better to lose valuables than it is to risk your life. Thanks! :) Jack

[MrLambFries]

There was a sinkhole that swallowed up the road right in front of our house when i was about 8 or 9 years old....i remember going down into it with friends and we would collect very old seashells inside the pit from when florida was completely underwater. this was in a residential neighborhood so they ended up filling in the hole withink a few weeks. by that time it was largely filled with water and we could no longer walk around in it.

[raconter1]

@bimjales Hey, Jim..the climb up was pretty steep! The good thing about technology is it comes down in price! I'll keep that in mind when it comes time to replace or augment this one! Thanks! :) Jack

[bimjales]

I would be huffing and puffing too climbing up out of there. Trying to talk at the same time is a feat. By the way, and I don't mean this to be critical, but and HD camera would be great for these nature tours. It works great on the car shows. My camera is not HD either but I am saving my pennies. The good ones are pricey.