The most distinguished options of Florida’s nationwide park websites are coasts and seashores. Long seashores, crystal clear water, coastal wildlife, and countless alternatives for water actions. But that’s not all these eleven nationwide park websites provide. You can discover America’s oldest fort, fly in a seaplane to the most important fort, and go to the positioning the place De Soto’s expedition landed within the 1500s.
Florida is named the “Sunshine State,” a moniker that precisely describes the tropical local weather. The nationwide park websites capitalize on this attribute with seashores, coastal campgrounds, mountaineering trails, and water trails.
Some nationwide park websites are excellent for day journey visits whereas exploring Florida. But others, like Dry Tortugas National Park, require planning to get essentially the most out of your journey.
Read this listing of the 11 Florida nationwide park websites to study what to do at every website, discover hyperlinks to extra info, and save the tackle to your Google Maps account.
Note | The nationwide park websites are listed so as of look on the map from left to proper. This isn’t a rating of the nationwide park websites.
Florida National Parks Map
How to make use of this map | Click the icon within the top-left nook to open the Map Legend, then click on on any of the legend objects to show extra info. If you’ve a Google account, click on the (very faint) star on the finish of the map’s identify to save lots of this map to your account, then entry the map out of your smartphone throughout your journey.
National Park vs. National Park Unit
When somebody searches for a “national park,” they’re normally in search of details about one of many 63 nationwide parks—the top of the National Park System. However, nationwide parks solely account for 15% of the system’s items.
What about nationwide monuments, nationwide seashores, and nationwide army parks? What are these parks collectively known as?
The National Park Service explains, “While there are at least 19 naming designations, these units are commonly referred to as parks.” However, two adjectives had been used of their clarification: items and parks.
I take advantage of the time period “national park unit” to explain any of the 429 particular person named items of the National Park System, after which I take advantage of the time period “national park” particularly for these vaunted parks.
When I write a roundup of National Park Service websites, I embody all of the nationwide park items as a result of every park is value visiting for its personal purpose.
Read More | Complete List of All 429 National Park Units | Interactive Map + NPS Websites
National Park Service App
The official National Park Service app is an all-in-one instrument for planning a nationwide park journey and discovering your approach across the park. The app has details about each nationwide park website throughout the nation, basically placing all the web info at your fingertips.
The free app options interactive maps, self-guided excursions, facilities like restrooms, and lists of issues to do. The highly effective app has an offline mode – with a single faucet, it can save you the park for offline use to entry all the knowledge later. You’ll even have entry to essential info like alerts, contacts, charges, and working hours.
America the Beautiful Pass
Most of the National Park Service’s items are free to go to, however some require an entrance payment. Fortunately, there are methods to economize on these charges in case you frequent the items.
The Standard Pass permits one individual to enter one park for seven consecutive days. The Annual Pass gives entrance to 1 park for a 12 months.
The America the Beautiful Pass is the golden ticket hidden in a chocolate bar. This move covers the doorway and day-use charges for as much as one car or 4 adults for all National Park Service items.
There are a number of varieties of America the Beautiful Passes catering to completely different segments of society and with completely different worth tags:
- Annual Pass is on the market for everybody for $80
- Annual Senior Pass is on the market to US residents 62+ for $20
- Lifetime Senior Pass is on the market to US residents 62+ for $80
- Annual Military Pass is on the market to energetic obligation US army and dependents totally free
- Lifetime Military Pass is on the market to Gold Star Family members and veterans totally free
- Access Pass is on the market for US residents with a everlasting incapacity totally free
- 4th Grade Pass is on the market to US fourth graders totally free
The finest place to buy an America the Beautiful Pass is at a nationwide park unit. Visit the National Park Service’s web site to study extra about interagency passes.
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Gulf Islands National Seashore is an fascinating combination of nature and historical past on barrier islands in Mississippi and Florida. Explore historical past at locations like Fort Barrancas and Fort Pickens, forts constructed through the nation’s early years. Then, spend a day on the seashore at Okaloosa, Perdido Key, or Santa Rosa.
Spend a couple of nights in coastal consolation on the 200-site Fort Pickens Campground. The campsites function electrical hookups and are appropriate for tents or RVs.
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve covers 46,000 acres of wetlands and waterways close to Jacksonville, Florida. Established in 1988, the protect is a wonderful alternative to observe coastal wildlife and revel in water actions like kayaking and scenic coastal views.
Visit Kingsley Plantation, the oldest extant plantation within the state, after which take a self-guided tour of Fort Carolina National Memorial.
Fort Caroline National Memorial
In 1564, René Goulaine de Laudonnière established a French settlement on the banks of the St. John River. A 12 months later, Spanish troops from St. Augustine, led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, captured the settlement and finally destroyed it.
Fort Carolina National Memorial preserves the positioning of the French settlement. Nothing stays, however the customer heart has displays concerning the early colonial historical past and the battle between France and Spain.
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés based St. Augustine, Spain’s first settlement in North America. After 100 years of relative peace, the settlement was brutally attacked by English pirate Robert Searle. Queen Regent Mariana of Spain ordered the Florida governor to construct a masonry fort – the Castillo de San Marcos.
Construction on “Castle of Saint Mark” started in 1672 and was accomplished in 1695. It’s America’s oldest fort within the oldest city.
Read More | Exploring America’s Oldest Fort – Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
Visitors to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument can take self-guided excursions of the fort’s inside, discover the canons mounted alongside the fort’s partitions, and go to the cell the place Patriot Christopher Gadsden was held in solitary confinement through the Revolutionary War. It takes about two hours to see all the things within the fort.
Pro Travel Tip | A big parking zone on the nationwide park website’s entrance is usually stuffed early within the day. The Historic Downtown Parking Facility behind the St. Augustine Visitor Center is the perfect place to park. It’s a 10-15 minute stroll from the parking storage to the fort.
Fort Matanzas National Monument
In 1742, Fort Matanzas was constructed alongside the Matanzas River to guard St. Augustine from a southern strategy. The fort isn’t typical – there are not any partitions, motes, or courtyards to discover. It’s a blockhouse constructed from native coquina.
Visitors should journey a free ferry from the park’s customer heart on Florida Highway A1A. The ferry takes about 10 minutes to cross the river to Fort Matanzas.
Canaveral National Seashore
At 24 miles lengthy, Canaveral National Seashore is the longest stretch of undeveloped beachfront remaining in Florida. The seashore stretches from the Kennedy Space Center to New Smyrna Beach.
One of the park’s hottest actions is watching launches from Kennedy Space Center. Playalinda Beach is the closest viewing spot on the seashore. But arrive early in case you plan to observe a launch – there are a restricted variety of parking spots, and the park workers closes the doorway when it’s full.
Apollo Beach is the closest parking space to the northern finish of the seashore. There are not any roads for 13 miles between Apollo Beach and Playalinda Beach. It’s a uncommon alternative to take pleasure in a spectacularly peaceable Florida seashore.
De Soto National Memorial
In 1539, Hernando de Soto landed on Florida’s Gulf Coast with over 600 troopers. Lustful for gold and below orders from King Charles V to overcome the natives, de Soto led the expedition on a 4,000-mile journey throughout North America.
De Soto National Memorial in Bradenton, Florida, preserves the commonly accepted website of De Soto’s touchdown. Visitors can discover historic artifacts and study concerning the expedition’s historical past on the customer heart.
Big Cypress National Preserve
In 1974, Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida and Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas turned the primary nationwide preserves within the National Park System. The 720,000-acre Big Cypress National Preserve covers an enormous space of southern Florida between Miami and Fort Myers.
The best solution to discover the large protect is the 27-mile Loop Road Scenic Drive or the 17-mile Turner River / Wagonwheel / Birdon Roads Loop Drive. It’s a superb alternative to benefit from the protect’s wildlife and landscapes.
Other actions embody bicycling, kayaking, and mountaineering alongside dozens of trails all through the protect.
Biscayne National Park
95% of Biscayne National Park’s 172,000 acres is underwater. The park preserves Biscayne Bay, islands and keys, and coral reefs, together with the northern portion of the Florida Reef. Ten thousand years of human historical past lay inside the park’s boundaries – most of it in sunken ships on the backside.
One of the park’s hottest actions is scuba diving to the shipwrecks on the ocean flooring. Other actions embody snorkeling, kayaking, boating, and fishing. The Biscayne National Park Institute provides a collection of guided excursions to discover the watery parts of the park.
Everglades National Park
The 1.5 million acre Everglades National Park is the most important tropical wilderness within the United States and the third largest unit of the National Park Service. The park preserves 20% of the southern Florida Everglades south of Miami.
The hottest actions within the park are mountaineering, birding, kayaking, and fishing. Must of the park is an authorized Dark Sky Park, excellent for astronomers of all ranges to take pleasure in stargazing.
The park’s tropical local weather hardly ever sees in a single day lows under 40 levels. Average highs all year long vary from 78-94 levels. The finest time of 12 months to go to Everglades National Park is February, March, October, and November.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is without doubt one of the most unusual items within the National Park Service. However, that uniqueness additionally makes it the most costly nationwide park within the nation.
The nationwide park is 70 miles west of Key West within the Gulf of Mexico. The 100-square-mile park contains a number of keys – Loggerhead Key, Garden Key, Bush Key, Long Key, Hospital Key, Middle Key, and East Key.
Fort Jefferson was constructed between 1846 and 1861. Comprised of 16 million bricks, it’s the most important masonry fort within the Western Hemisphere. Despite the heavy funding in constructing the distant fort, it was solely used for a couple of years till 1874. During its brief tenure, the fort was a jail for Confederate troops captured through the Civil War.
In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Fort Jefferson National Monument. The deserted fort was stabilized and renovated. In 1992, the positioning was redesignated as Dry Tortugas National Park.
Visitors to the distant nationwide park take pleasure in snorkeling the crystal clear water, taking self-guided excursions inside Fort Jefferson, and spending a couple of hours on one of many keys. A primitive campground with eight campsites, every website giant sufficient for 3 2-person tents.
There are solely two methods to get to Dry Tortugas National Park; both possibility makes it the nation’s most costly nationwide park to go to. One possibility is a 4-hour roundtrip journey on the Yankee Freedom III, a passenger boat with a capability for 150 passengers. The boat journey is $220 per grownup and $165 for youngsters aged 3 to 17.
The second possibility is a 2-hour roundtrip flight on a seaplane. Tickets for the half-day tour are $466 per grownup and $372 for youngsters aged 2 to 12. Tickets for the full-day tour are $820 for adults and $655 for youngsters.
Pro Travel Tip | Although the seaplane is the quickest solution to Dry Tortugas National Park, I like to recommend taking the extra inexpensive boat. The boat has two totally stocked bars, sodas, and snacks for the lengthy journey.