Two Rivers Ranch is a privately held cow/calf ranch business on 14,000 acres in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The property crosses into Hillsborough County,

Pasco County Pasco County is a county located on the west central coast in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2024, the population of the county is 656,851, making it the tenth-most populous county in the state. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest c ...

and Hernando County and is named for the two rivers converging on the property, the Hillsborough River and Blackwater Creek. The land includes pasture, planted pines and wetland habitats.

History

It was acquired in 1932 by Wayne Thomas as relatively barren land following clearcuts that occurred around the start of the 20th century. It is now owned by Robert Thomas and is a supplier of spring water. A plan to sell off and develop 3,500 acres with residential and commercial construction was proposed in 2005. In 2007 the plan was dropped over road construction while zoning changes continued to be pursued.

Land use

The area provides habitat for

fox squirrel The fox squirrel (''Sciurus niger''), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. It is sometimes mistaken for the American red squirrel or eastern gray squirr ...

gopher tortoise The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide she ...

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, deer, and

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

. It is the largest privately owned undeveloped property in Hillsborough County and is about 20 miles (30 minutes)JACQUIN SANDERS eef ranch has wealth of historyMarch 23, 1989 Page: 1.B Section: TAMPA BAY AND STATE Text Word Count: 663 St. Petersburg Times TATE Edition/ref> away is the city of

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

with approximately 3 million people living within a 50-mile radius. The ranch is home to Crystal Springs (Hillsborough County), producing about 40 million gallons a day for the Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water Company. The property is part of land holdings that included Hillsborough State Park, donated in 1936, and another 115 acres donated for the restoration of

Fort Foster Fort Foster (now known as Fort Foster Historic Site) is a Second Seminole War era fort in central Florida, located south of current-day Zephyrhills in Pasco County. Fort Foster was originally built in December 1836 under the direction of L ...

. Canoe access to the Hillsborough River is available on the property. Habitats on the property include upland ridges, oak hammocks,

slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

s, herbaceous

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

, native range, plantation pines,

cypress dome A cypress dome is a type of freshwater forested wetland, or a swamp, found in the southeastern part of the United States. They are dominated by the ''Taxodium spp''., either the bald cypress (''Taxodium distichum''), or pond cypress ('' Taxodium a ...

flatwood Flatwood is a soil series with impaired drainage that occurs in the southeastern United States. Flatwood soils are upland soils formed from marine sediments. A shallow water table plays a role in soil formation; typically the water table is only a ...

s, and flood plain forest.

References

{{Reflist Ranches in Florida