Clermont FL: Hills, Lakes & Local Eats Guide

Clermont's Hills and the 'Choice of Champions'

Clermont’s terrain did the talking long before the slogan. The National Training Center set up in 2001, turning the town’s brutal inclines into a destination for cyclists and runners. By 2014, the city had adopted Choice of Champions — not a boast about hometown teams, but a nod to the athletes who come to suffer on these roads. For a visitor, that means the best view of Clermont isn’t from a car window. It’s from the top of a climb you earned. Bring a bike or good shoes if you want to see the town the way the training center sees it.

The Citrus Tower and the End of the Groves

Citrus built Lake County’s economy into the mid-twentieth century. Then the freezes came, and the groves thinned out fast. The Florida Citrus Tower, built in 1956, still stands, but it’s now a monument to an industry that mostly disappeared under cold snaps and subdivisions. The view from the top shows hills that used to be green with oranges; now they’re green with oaks and rooftops. It’s still worth the stop if you want to understand what this landscape was. Don’t expect to smell blossoms on the breeze.

Best Lakes in Clermont: Waterfront Park & Lake Louisa

If you’re here for the water, start at Waterfront Park on Lake Minneola. It’s got swimming, fishing piers and a playground — the most direct way to get wet without driving far. For something bigger, Lake Louisa State Park offers hiking and paddling across a much larger stretch of natural ground. Both are the highest-rated outdoor spots in town, and they complement each other: one is a quick lake fix, the other is a full day in the woods.

Top-Rated Restaurants in Clermont on Hwy 27 & 50

The Hwy 27 and Hwy 50 corridors are lined with the usual suspects. A few stand above the pack by review count and rating. Pepe's Cantina Clermont leads the local flavor at 4.7 with nearly 5,000 reviews, and it’s tucked off the main drag on W Minneola Ave. Keke's Breakfast Cafe matches that rating for breakfast, and IHOP sits at the same number if you want a safer bet. Miller's Ale House and Outback Steakhouse both hold 4.6; Texas Roadhouse is close behind at 4.5. None of these are hidden — they’re on the main roads — but they’re the most reliable stops in town if you want a meal that doesn’t disappoint.

Pig on the Pond and Other Annual Events Near Clermont

The biggest event in south Lake County is Pig on the Pond, three days at Waterfront Park that draws over 20,000 people. It’s run by Project Scholars, a non-profit, and the 2026 edition was the 27th. It’s a barbecue-and-community affair, the kind of thing that fills the park and reminds you Clermont has a civic core beyond the strip. If you’re planning a trip around it, the rest of the year offers nearby festivals in Mount Dora, Dade City and Sanford — all within about 35 miles — so you can string together a few weekends of small-town events without repeating yourself.

A Basecamp for the Roller-Coaster Region

Clermont’s median home value sits at $368,600 and the median gross rent is $1,774 — a practical base for exploring central Florida’s hills, lakes and festivals without the theme-park crush. The population is just under 45,000, with a median age of 42.4, and the town’s central location puts Mount Dora, Dade City and Sanford within an easy drive. You get the training-center energy, the lake access, and a highway corridor full of dependable food — all without a single mouse-eared silhouette on the horizon. The groves are gone. But the hills they left behind are still the best reason to stay a while.