Day trip: Pepper Ranch Preserve native sunflower viewing, Oct. 9-11
Imagine a panoramic view of fields bursting with Southeastern native sunflowers. Well, now's your chance to experience it for yourself, thanks to the Collier County’s Conservation Collier Program
While the Pepper Ranch Preserve remains closed to the general public during the annual wet season till November, an exception is being made for a scheduled viewings while the flowers are expected to be in bloom.
Sunflower viewing schedule
Reservations required for the following days:
- DAYTIME: Oct. 9- 11, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- SUNSET: Oct. 10, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Tickets are FREE; registration required. Only 1 ticket needed per vehicle. Please limit 1 ticket per customer; limited entries available at specific times.
If you go:
- Pepper Ranch Preserve, 6315 Pepper Road Immokalee, FL 34142
- Entry is timed and access for vehicles will only be permitted during the times listed on your ticket.
- It's about a two-hour drive west on I-75, then north on State Road 29.
Visit the Pepper Ranch Preserve in Immokalee, FL, to experience the annual bloom event of native Southeastern sunflowers.
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the historical 2600 acre ranch and will be allowed to drive their personal vehicles through the preserve to the fields where the sunflowers are scheduled to bloom. The main road to the sunflowers is not paved; low-profile vehicles are not recommended.
And don't forget your sunscreen, sun hat and insect repellant while you're at it.
NOTE: It is 112 miles from Boca Raton to Immokalee via I-75 North.
Make sure you read the details and follow the regulations:
- No food or drink available on site; take your own and remember not to litter.
- Restrooms available at the visitor center and port-o-potties at the viewing fields.
As you travel to the sunflower fields, you may spot deer, turkey, hawks, sandhill cranes and members of the resident cattle herd that call Pepper Ranch Preserve home.
Questions? Email ConservationCollier@CollierCountyFL.gov or call 239-252-2961.
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Pepper Ranch Preserve, Immokalee
6315 Pepper Road
Immokalee, FL 34142
239-252-2961
