The short way to Lake Kissimmee is closed: the G-103 weir divides the Zipprer Canal — no lock, no boat passage, motorized boats prohibited west of it, and even paddlers portage. The long way is real: Rosalie Creek runs two miles into Tiger Lake, Tiger Creek two more into Lake Kissimmee — the state's Buster Island paddling loop. No published depth says a powerboat makes it; call the state park at (863) 696-1112 first. Weohyakapka Creek enters the south shore; its navigability is unpublished.
Rosalie is one of the few lakes out here with its own gauge — USGS 02268600, which read 52.16 ft NGVD29 on July 28, 2026 (provisional). The lake sits behind the G-103 weir on no regulation schedule, so the Kissimmee chain's 2026 deficit is not this lake's story; check the gauge itself before a trip. Lake Rosalie has never had a blue-green algae advisory; February 2025 sampling found Microcystis, no toxin detected. Tiger Lake, one creek east, is the one with the 2025 alert history — check FDEP's dashboard. On eating the catch, the state guide lists one Rosalie entry: bluegill, one meal a week for women of childbearing age and young children, two for everyone else, on mercury. Seasonally this is a big, shallow, grassy lake where wind runs the show — spring spawn, hard summer afternoon storms, crappie and the clearest water in winter. Alligators year-round; stumps where the grass thins.
Plain English Summary
| Black bass | No special Kissimmee-chain rule applies — statewide limits govern: 5 black bass, only one of which may be 16 inches or longer, with no minimum length for largemouth bass (as published by FWC, checked July 2026). |
| Zipprer Canal west of the weir | Motorized boats are not allowed in the canal west of the G-103 weir, per Florida State Parks, and the park maintains a wire gate at the Lake Rosalie end. There is no lock and no boat passage through the structure. Lake Kissimmee State Park: (863) 696-1112. |
| Ramp gate hours | Polk County's Lake Rosalie Public Boat Ramp is open 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., corroborated across the county's own pages. Hours in FWC's boat-ramp layer come from a 2009 field survey and are not the county's current gate policy — plan on 6 to 10. Parks and Recreation: (863) 534-4340. |
| Airboats | Airboats work these waters — FDEP's Buster Island Loop guide warns paddlers about them "especially on Tiger Creek" — but they cannot launch from Lake Kissimmee State Park, which states that "air boats are not permitted to launch from the park due to limited space and safety concerns in the marina area." Polk County boating and airboat conduct is governed by County Code § 4.2-27. No lake-specific no-wake zone, idle-speed zone or horsepower limit is documented for Lake Rosalie. That is an absence, not a permission — it means nothing was published, and posted signage at the ramp governs. |
| Camping at Lake Rosalie Park | Polk County publishes a 14-consecutive-day limit and a 100-day annual limit, quiet hours 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and noon checkout. Sites are $20 per day with water and electric, $10 per day primitive, with a $10 dump fee for non-campers. |
| Full legal text | Official boating regulations → |
Did the Lake Rosalie boat ramp close in 2025?
Where do I launch, and what does it cost?
Can I run from Lake Rosalie to Lake Kissimmee?
Which way does Rosalie Creek flow, and does it connect to Lake Weohyakapka?
How high is the lake, and how do I check?
Is there a fish consumption advisory for Lake Rosalie?
Is this Lake Rosalie the only one? And what about Lake Marion?
Is there camping, and did that change?
Lake Rosalie is 4,536 acres of Polk County water southeast of Lake Wales, quieter than its size suggests because the short way in is closed. A 1947 canal through Rosalie Drain connects it to Lake Kissimmee on the map only: since 1979 the G-103 weir has divided the canal — no lock, no boat passage, motorboats prohibited west of it, and even the paddlers portage. It keeps its own level behind the weir, on its own USGS gauge, and fishes like a wind-driven grass lake with a stumpy edge: sixteen feet at the deepest, deeper than Tiger Lake next door — bass, crappie, bluegill, redear, catfish. FWC publishes no forecast page here; Rosalie-specific numbers elsewhere are borrowed from Lake Kissimmee.
Launch at the county ramp on Lake Rosalie Road — free, one good concrete lane, a staging dock, gates 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The ramp never closed in 2025; that was the campground renovation. Fish the grass edges and creek mouths early, work the southeast corner when the wind gets up, and the lot is the real constraint: ten rigs on grass and sand, fine on a Tuesday, tight on a spring Saturday. More water means a trailer: Camp Mack (14900 Camp Mack Road, Lake Wales, 863-696-1108) runs a 24-hour ramp on the C-37 connector, $6.00 self-serve. For the Buster Island ring — 10 to 11 miles by kayak, counter-clockwise for the Rosalie Creek current — call the state park at (863) 696-1112 first; no published depth says a bass boat makes it. Remote country — plan for limited services and spotty signal.