St. Cloud, FL

St. Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, about 26 miles southeast of Orlando, on the south shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga. It keeps a small-town feel apart from the theme parks, and people come for the lakefront park, fishing on East Lake Toho and a downtown with real history.

Things to do in St. Cloud

Lakefront Park is the city’s front porch: about two miles of paved, wide trail along Lakeshore Boulevard, a swimming beach, fishing piers, a playground and splash pad, and a marina with a boat ramp onto East Lake Tohopekaliga, a nearly round lake of about 12,000 acres. From the marina the Florida Avenue trail leads into downtown, where many Spanish Revival buildings were designed by the Orlando firm Ryan and Roberts. St. Cloud was founded in 1909 as a retirement colony for Union veterans of the Civil War, earning the nickname “The Friendly Soldier City,” and Mt. Peace Cemetery holds many of them. The St. Cloud Heritage Museum covers that story. Sunsets over the lake are the reason to stay into evening.

Getting to St. Cloud

US 192 (shared with US 441) is the main road through town, linking St. Cloud west to Kissimmee. Florida’s Turnpike passes the north side of the city. Orlando International Airport is about 30 minutes away. St. Cloud is part of Central Florida.