A coconut palm plantation. An exclusive fishing resort. Long Key has been many things over the past century. We can be glad it’s now a Florida State Park, a place where you can camp along the oceanfront and wander its interesting habitats. The Golden Orb Trail starts and ends near the campground, offering a loop through some of the stranger botanical sights on this salt-rich island. Along this 1.2-mile nature trail, enjoy fantastic scenic views along the calm Atlantic Ocean (the waves break out of sight on the coral reefs) as well as a great introduction to the unusual coastal berm habitat of the Keys, where the “soil” underfoot is sun-bleached pieces of coral.
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Overview
Location: Long Key
Length: 1.2 mile
Lat-Long: 24.815875,-80.821624
Type: loop
Fees:
Difficulty: easy to moderate
Bug Factor: moderate to annoying
Restroom: yes, at the trailhead
Expect mosquitoes; use insect repellant. Do not touch oozing tree bark in the tropical hammock—there are poisonwood trees scattered throughout the hammock
Directions
The park entrance is 0.5 mile south of MM 68 on the left. Follow the park entrance road and keep to the left at the fork; the trailhead starts along the boardwalk behind the restrooms.
Hike Details
Starting at the trailhead, follow the boardwalk out through the restrooms and into the mangrove swamp. At a staircase, the boardwalk continues straight ahead to connect to the campground. Turn left and go down the stairs. Meandering along the edges of the mangrove forest, the trail follows the water’s edge, dipping in and out of shady tropical hammocks with views of quiet beaches and the Atlantic Ocean.
You cross a bridge over a mangrove-lined canal and rise up into the open, desert-like coastal berm with its salt-rich soil and stunted plant life.
After skirting tidal flats and mangrove forest, you enter a tropical hammock and walk along the edge of a mangrove forest on the inner lagoon before returning to the far end of parking area.
