Mound Key

Category: Parks & Wildlife Refuges

Mound Key in Estero Bay is the site of large Indian shell mounds, dating to 1400 B.C. The main village of the Calusa tribe was positioned here, and the 125-acre site is protected by the state as a historical landmark. The northern mound is about 28 feet high; the southern one is 40 feet high, one of the tallest in Florida. A canal that once joined the two mounds is now little more than a marshy area. Some of the largest gumbo limbo trees to be found are on Mound Key—some as tall as 50 feet, and 10 feet around.