The coastal region around Jacksonville offers many hikes along the estuaries and a handful along its beaches, as well as a surprising number of urban parks with short walks ideal for families.
Anastasia State Park – Ancient Dunes Trail
Many footsteps have pressed into the sands of Anastasia Island, from the most ancient peoples who thrived on its bountiful shores to the Timucua who explored the coastline in their canoes, and the Spanish explorers who claimed this coast for Spain in 1565, establishing what is now the oldest continually occupied European settlement in America,… [Continue Reading]
Arlington Lions Club Park
A breezy walk along the St. Johns River is an easy way to start your day in Jacksonville at the Arlington Lions Club Park. With a 3/4-mile unpaved trail, 1/4-mile accessible trail, and connecting boardwalks along the river, all with plenty of park benches for resting, this trail system is a comfortable excursion for visitors… [Continue Reading]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Big Pine Trail
The southernmost trail on Big Talbot Island is the 0.8-mile Big Pine Trail, a short walk out to a bluff above the estuary. A maritime hammock surrounds a slash pine forest which the trail meanders through, always riffled by a stiff salt breeze. A spur trail leads to the scenic view, and you can clamber… [Continue Reading]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Blackrock Beach
THIS TRAIL IS CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION OF A MULTIUSE TRAIL BISECTING IT. SIGNS SAY IT WILL REOPEN IN JULY 2012 A barrier island on the Atlantic Coast between Amelia Island and Little Talbot Island, Big Talbot Island is best known for its unusual rocky shoreline called Blackrock Beach. One step on this beach,… [Continue Reading]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Bluffs Beach Walk
From the high bluffs at Big Talbot Island State Park, you can see forever—or at least to the horizon, the Atlantic Ocean shimmering in the sun. Within the main state park complex, the Bluffs Picnic Area, with its picnic tables and popular fishing spots, the park offers access down below the high bluffs to some… [Continue Reading]
Big Talbot Island State Park – Jones Cut Trail
Jones Cut provides a meander into the heart of the maritime forest that carpets Big Talbot Island, but it’s not the easiest trail to find. It lets you explore the heart of a dense maritime forest which was once home to the Timucua. The trail follows a broad old forest road through a mature forest… [Continue Reading]
Cary Nature Trail
At Cary State Forest, you have the opportunity for a highly accessible, close-up look at carnivorous pitcher plants in the wild. While the 3,413-acre forest has dozens of miles of multi-use trails and is popular with local equestrians, the 1.4-mile Cary Nature Trail is hiking only, a great short walk for kids and persons of… [Continue Reading]
Castaway Island Preserve
Protecting more than 300 acres of coastal habitats along the meandering, estuarine San Pablo River, Castaway Island Preserve is a breezy spot to get away from the city neighborhoods and enjoy a breath of fresh air outdoors. A peninsula on the edge of suburbia, it’s its own world once you pass through the gates. Ibis… [Continue Reading]
Florida Trail, Gold Head Branch State Park
One of Florida’s oldest state parks, the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park opened in the 1930s, its facilities built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is one of the few state parks that the Florida Trail traverses, and a pleasant place to camp thanks to its many camping options. You can rent a… [Continue Reading]
Fort Caroline – Hammock Nature Trail
Three years before the Spanish colony at St. Augustine took root, French Huguenots landed on the St. Johns Bluff and claimed Florida for France, naming the river “The River of May,” as they landed on May 1, 1562. More than 200 colonists established a settlement near the bluff. They built Fort Caroline for their protection,… [Continue Reading]
Gold Head Branch State Park – Ridge and Ravine Trails
The steephead ravine that forms Gold Head Branch is a riot of green: deep green needle palms, ferns of every shape and size, water trickling, merging, and flowing downstream, and the canopy of native trees above, from hickory and sweetgum to longleaf pine and live oak. You can follow the trails from the ravine downstream… [Continue Reading]
GTM Reserve
Circling a peninsula of land between the Guana River and the Tolomato River, the extenstive trail system at GTM Reserve is open to biking and hiking. Enjoy a walk through maritime forests riffled by a salt breeze. The trail traverses a broad variety of habitats, including open freshwater savannas, scrub, live oak hammocks, salt marshes,… [Continue Reading]
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park
With cool ocean breezes and a plunge in the surf after your hike, the 2.7-mile trail at Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park in Jacksonville is a great choice for a summer outing. Hanna Park, as it is best known, is one of the region’s largest, with recreational opportunities ranging from camping and fishing to mountain biking… [Continue Reading]
Little Talbot Island State Park – Campground Nature Trail
Most people come to Little Talbot Island for the beach; after all, it’s not far from downtown Jacksonville, and the shoreline is wild and pristine. While the 3.5-mile Island Hiking Trail is relatively well-known, the 0.8-mile Campground Nature Trail offers a side of Little Talbot that the whole family can enjoy—along the estuary. The trail… [Continue Reading]
Little Talbot Island State Park – Island Hiking Trail
A barrier island on the Atlantic Coast at the mouth of the St. Johns River, Little Talbot Island attracts a steady stream of beachgoers from nearby Jacksonville. But if your idea of a day at the beach isn’t just to lie around, the park has two trails – one long, one short – to introduce… [Continue Reading]
Loftin Nature Trails
In a densely wooded corner of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, the Robert W. Loftin Nature Trails are a prime place for trail runners and hikers to play. Protecting 500 acres, this sanctuary includes cypress swamps, sandhills, pine flatwoods, and Lake Onieda, a popular launch point for exploration by kayak. Part of the… [Continue Reading]
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park
Within the city limits of Jacksonville yet certifiably wild, this Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve is a high dry wilderness on bluffs above the Nassau River. Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park protects more than 4,000 acres along the Nassau River, encompassing tall bluffs, scrub, and salt marshes. I’ve hiked out to the bluffs (where you’ll… [Continue Reading]
Simmons State Forest
Sitting right on the state line southeast of Folkston, Georgia, the Ralph E. Simmons Memorial State Forest is certainly a place to get away from it all. The sluggish tannic waters of the St. Marys River form the state boundary, snaking around bends marked by sandy beaches. The dips and slopes where upland and riverine… [Continue Reading]
Stokes Landing Conservation Area
Tucked away behind a suburban St. Augustine neighborhood, Stokes Landing Conservation Area is a hidden gem of the St. Johns Water Management District, providing an outdoor classroom for local schools and beautiful panoramic views of the salt marshes along the Tolomato River for hikers. Pick up a map and interpretive guide at the trailhead kiosk,… [Continue Reading]
Tillie K Fowler Regional Park – Island Trail
Protecting 509 acres in an otherwise crowded urban area, a large swath of floodplain forest and pine flatwoods along the Ortega River – a tributary of the St. Johns River – Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park sits right along US 17 across from the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. While the Nature Center and its trails… [Continue Reading]
