Today's daytrip explores the history of some of the first people in Florida. In fact, the most powerful people in the state; the Calusa tribe. You'll have the opportunity to climb to the top of the top of the ancient Calusa world here at the Calusa Heritage Trail at the Randell Research Center.

Michael Wylde says "The Randell Research Center and Calusa Heritage Trail are on an ancient Calusa site. This site has been inhabited by people for 2000 years."

Wylde takes us on a tour of the 50-plus acres that make up the archeological site. The Randell Research Center is a program of Florida's Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

"We do archeological work here and we set up the trail to make it easy for the public to learn a little about our history here in Pineland," according to Wylde.

The Calusa Heritage Trail is set up in 2 loops. If you walk both loops, it is just a few feet short of a mile. Along the way you'll find fifteen interpretive signs, each detailing the Calusa tribe's existence on Florida's gulf coast.

Wylde explains, "By the time the Spanish showed up in the 1500s, the Calusa controlled all of south Florida. Five or six other tribes of people on the other coast were paying taxes to the Calusa king. It was just a big, active site and if you use a little imagination, it's a pretty interesting place."

Not only did the Calusa tribe dictate life in this area thousands of years ago, they also changed the landscape. You can climb to the top of two mounds, both about 30 feet above sea level, and look out to Pine Island Sound or back over the Calusa kingdom. These midden mounds were once considered trash. The Calusa piled broken shells, pottery, and bones over time. These mounds leave clues to their history behind.

"We can learn a lot by picking through this trash and analyzing it," says Wylde.

Archeologists have been working this site, digging up artifacts and analyzing them for 20 years. They hope to soon put out a book with all the information and analysis. You can come and explore the Calusa history any time you want.