Fruitland

Fruitland is a crossroads community just north of Welaka, where the citrus orchards that gave the town its name once filled the landscape. Today it's a small unincorporated cluster of homes, a hardware store, a ferry crossing, and a handful of places that anchor everyday life for the surrounding rural Putnam County area.

The big draw is Fort Gates Ferry — one of the last operating cable ferries in Florida, running across the St. Johns River between Fruitland and the Ocala National Forest on the west bank. Riding the ferry is itself the activity: cars, motorcycles, and the occasional pickup truck with kayaks get loaded onto a flat steel deck and pulled across the river by a tugboat. It runs daily and costs less than most coffee. If you're staying in Welaka and want to spend a half-day on the back roads of Marion County, Fruitland is your launch point.