For as easy as it is to see on a map …
Lake Okeechobee is deceivingly hard to find on the ground.

The reason?
Hoover Hill would seem partly to blame.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Sometimes called a levee and other times a dike …
The earthen embankment both blocks the view from its base and promises a scenic vista from its top only to leave you wondering –standing at its crest and looking inward — where the lake starts and if it’s there at all.

With everyone thinking about how to optimally regulate the Lake’s stage, its important to remember that from a design standpoint, the dike-turned-levee was built first and foremost to control (repress) water levels on the outside, not inside, of the levee …
And with the design goal (on the outside) being dry arable ground.