Chain of Lakes (Winter Haven)

The Chain of Lakes are a famous series of lakes in Central Florida. There are two chains of lakes, the northern chain and the southern chain. The northern chain extends across three cities; Winter Haven, Lake Alfred, and Lake Hamilton. It has ten lakes, connected by a series of canals. The ten lakes on the northern chain are: Lake Haines, Lake Rochelle, Lake Echo, Lake Conine, Lake Fannie, Lake Smart, Lake Henry, Lake Hamilton, Middle Lake Hamilton, and Little Lake Hamilton.

The southern chain is located almost entirely within the city of Winter Haven. It has 16, sometimes 18, lakes connected by a series of canals. The principal 16 lakes on the southern chain are: Lake Howard, Lake Cannon, Lake Shipp, Lake Jessie, Lake Hartridge, Lake Lulu, Lake Roy, Lake Eloise, Little Lake Eloise, Lake Winterset, Little Lake Winterset, Lake May, Lake Mirror, Lake Idylwild, Spring Lake and Lake Summit. When water levels are high, Lake Blue and Lake Marianna also connect to the southern chain.