Forest Lake is a gated community consisting of 248 townhouses in buildings consisting of 6 or 8 homes, and a community Clubhouse that was built in 2004-5. It is located on Old Metro Parkway, the first right after the intersection with Metro Parkway, 2000 ft north of Winkler Ave, and about a mile north of Colonial Parkway. The community is less than 3 miles from the renovated waterfront area (River District) that constituted the original settlement along the Caloosahatchee River. The barrier island beaches of Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, and Captiva are 15 miles away on the Gulf of Mexico with swimming year around. Farther south is Naples-36 miles, Marco Island, and the Everglades National Park-72 miles. Orlando is 156 miles to the NW, Tampa 130 miles north, Miami 146 miles east, and Key West four hours by high-speed boat from Fort Myers Beach.