Duette Preserve consists of approximately 22,000 acres of land located in eastern Manatee County. This unique property is owned by the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners and managed by the Manatee County Natural Resources Department.

Duette Preserve is almost entirely contained within the northeastern portion of the Lake Manatee Watershed. This watershed is the primary basin within Manatee County. The Manatee River and its chief tributary, the Braden River, serve as the principal sources of water supply for Manatee and Sarasota counties including the municipalities of Bradenton, Palmetto, Longboat Key, Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, and Bradenton Beach. The Duette Preserve site is located in the area of the County with the highest quality and most productive, deep groundwater Floridan Aquifer.

Bodies of water and/or wetlands existing on the property include both the north and east forks of the Manatee River, numerous streams and creeks, wet weather ponds, sloughs, and Clearwater Lake, which can be found in the extreme southeastern corner of the property just east of Bear Bay Road at Trail 7.

The area is rich in both cultural, historic, and natural resources, including homestead sites and a mound site called Carruthers Mound. Many diverse species of game and non-game animals can be found on Duette Preserve, including species of special concern consisting of the burrowing owl, snowy egret, white ibis, gopher tortoise, and at least two endangered/threatened species, the Florida scrub jay and the eastern indigo snake.

Duette Preserve is host to many of the native plant communities of Manatee County, providing protection and preservation of pine flatwoods, hardwood swamps, xeric oak scrub, depression marsh, and vast dry prairie.