Sweetwater Ranch is an Unincorporated community in the southeast section of Hardee County, Florida, United States. Long/Lat: 27°24.6’ N and 81°42.2’ W Peak altitude is 82 feet (25 meters), but the topography varies. Sweetwater is 15 minutes by car southeast of Zolfo Springs, Florida, and is bordered by U.S. 17 to the west, SR 66 to the North, and the unincorporated communities of Crewsville to the east and Fish Branch/Gardner to the South. It contains a significant portion of the Oak Creek watershed and borders on the Charley Creek watershed, both of which empty into Peace River. For many years, Sweetwater was the location of Hardee County's only lake, Lake Frances, which is privately owned. Sweetwater is only 15 minutes from Highlands Hammock State Park, and 20 minutes by car from Highlands County, and the city of Sebring, which offers regional shopping, recreational and medical centers.
While the center of the community was roughly considered the Sweetwater Church of Christ, the congregation was disbanded in the early 1970s and the building demolished. The Church's cemetery remains and was renamed the Mercer Cemetery as a significant number of the population are from that family. The center of the community is now the intersection of Sweetwater (formally County Road 656 and Merle Langford Road) and Crewsville Roads.