Amelia Island State Park offers over 200 acres of undeveloped sea island to enjoy and explore. This is a perfect place to relax and unwind, search for seashells, or even see some rare wildlife, such as the right whale or piping plover. Fishing along the shore or the mile long fishing bridge is great anytime of year. For a truly memorable experience, take a horseback ride with the Kelly Seahorse Ranch, one of the few places on the East Coast offering horseback riding on the beach.

Nassau Sound is one of the best fishing areas innortheast Florida and home to the state record Flounder. The park's mile long fishing bridge spans Nassau Sound. The bridge/pier is closed to vehicle traffic and offers the bridge angler ample room to wet his hook. Many different species of fish, such as whiting, jacks and tarpon, can be caught. Kelly Seahorse Ranch offers guided, beachfront horseback riding. Saddle up and take a ride with experienced staff, and gentle, well-trained horses and enjoy the beautiful beaches of Amelia Island. Ride horseback on miles of beach where you may witness many of the island animals in their natural habitat. Dolphins at play, soaring Great Blue herons, wood storks, and ospreys, or an occasional Right Whale sighting are possibilities.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
8:00 a.m. to sundown, 365 days per year

DIRECTIONS:
Amelia Island is located 7 miles north of Little Talbot Island State Park on S.R. A1A, or 8 miles south of Fernandina Beach.

ACTIVITIES:
Hiking, fishing, sunbathing, horseback riding

Fort Caroline National Memorial was created to memorialize the Sixteenth Century French effort to establish a permanent colony in Florida. After initial exploration in 1562, a colony was established in 1564, only to be eliminated by Spanish forces from nearby St. Augustine in 1565. Nothing remains of the original Fort de la Caroline; a near full-scale rendering of the fort, together with exhibits in the Visitors Center, provide information on the history of the French colony, its interaction with the native Timucuans, and the colonists' brief struggle for survival.

The Visitor Center at Fort Caroline National Memorial also serves as the principal interpretive center of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. The Visitor Center provides information about the maritime estuarine environment of northeast Florida, and about the other visitor use sites within the Preserve, including the Theodore Roosevelt Area, Cedar Point, and Kingsley Plantation.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, except December 25.

DIRECTIONS:
Fort Caroline National Memorial is located near the intersection of Monument Road and Fort Caroline Road, approximately 14 miles east of downtown Jacksonville.

ACTIVITIES:
Hiking, living history, museum

Fort Clinch was named for General Duncan LamontClinch, an important figure in Florida's Seminole War of the 1830s. Construction of the fort started in 1847 by the federal government and continued during the Civil War. Occupied by Confederate forces when the war began in 1861, it was taken by federal troops when a withdrawal was ordered by Gen. Robert E. Lee the following year. The garrison operation was greatly reduced in the years following the Civil War and eventually ceased altogether. In 1898, the fort was reactivated for several months during the Spanish-American War. Today, it remains in a remarkable state of preservation.

Surrounded on three sides by water, Fort Clinch State Park offers a myriad of water based recreation. One can fish along the Amelia River on the west side of the island, along the Cumberland Sound where finger jetties provide excellent haven for game fish, or off the half-mile long fishing pier that divides Cumberland Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. Surf fishing in the Atlantic Ocean is also quite popular. In addition, swimming and surfing in the ocean and kayaking on the Amelia River are popular activities enjoyed by park visitors. Shell collecting is excellent on the beaches and avid shark tooth hunters will have plenty of sand to cover in their search.
Beyond the beach, Fort Clinch State Park offers picnicking, camping, hiking, and living history as well as other interpretive programs. The history of Fort Clinch comes to life as park rangers, in Union uniforms, carry out the daily chores of the 1864 garrison soldier. Visitors can observe them maintaining the fort, cooking meals and performing sentry duty, among other tasks. The visitor center houses exhibits explaining the history of the fort.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
8:00 a.m. to sundown, 365 days per year

DIRECTIONS:
If traveling north on I-95, get off on exit 129, the Fernandina Beach / Callahan exit, and stay to the right. You will then be traveling east on A1A. (This road becomes 8th Street within the town limits of Fernandina.) Stay on this road, (A1A), for 16 miles until you come to the intersection of 8th Street and Atlantic Avenue. Turn right on Atlantic Avenue and go about two miles, Fort Clinch State Park will be on the left. If traveling south on I-95, get off on exit 129 and stay to the left then follow same instructions as above.

ACTIVITIES:
Swimming, fishing, hiking, camping, picnicking, nature study, living history

A 1592 account by a Spanish historian has led present day historians to believe that Guana River was the site of Ponce de Leon's first landing in Florida. Its precise location is unknown. The park contains seventeen known significant historic or pre-historic cultural sites. Extensive shell middens exist, especially at Shell Bluff Landing and Wright's Landing, along the Tolomato River. The Shell Bluff site also contains an early I9th century Minorcan coquina block well and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wright's Landing site is believed to be the location of a 17th century Spanish mission, the Nativity of our Lady of Tolomato. The site also contains a prehistoric earthen burial mound and has been nominated as a National Register site.

Most summer visitors to Guana River State Park are here to enjoy a day at the beach. The park currently has two public access facilities, consisting of parking lots and associated dune crossover boardwalks, along a 4.2 mile stretch of otherwise undeveloped beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The north beach use area includes an observation platform located atop one of the highest sand dunes in Florida, approximately 35-40 feet above sea level. This spot offers spectacular views of the coastline and of the marshes of Guana Lake to the west. Swimming, sunbathing, surfing, fishing, shelling and other traditional beach activities are enjoyed here.

Recreational activities at Guana River State Park are many and varied. Hiking and biking are popular along the more than nine miles of nature trails and old service roads that wind through the hammock, scrub and flatwoods in the interior portion of the park. Scenic vistas of interior freshwater marshes as well as salt marshes, tidal creeks and estuaries await those who seek the more peaceful aspects of a park visit.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
8:00 a.m. to sundown, 365 days per year

DIRECTIONS:
Guana River State Park is located off A1A, north of St. Augustine.

ACTIVITIES:
Swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, and nature study

The Kingsley Plantation, administered by the National Park Service, is located on Fort George Island and includes the plantation house, a kitchen house, a barn, and the ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. The history of the island spans more than 1000 years beginning with the Timucuan Indians. The structures at the site, however, date to the plantation era of the island. The Kingsley Plantation was named for one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839. Kingsley operated under a "task" system, which allowed slaves to work at a craft or tend their own gardens once the specified task for the day was completed. Proceeds from the sale of produce or craft items were usually kept by the slaves. Purchased as a slave, Kingsley's wife, Anna Madgigine Jai, was freed in 1811. She was active in plantation management and became a successful business woman owning her own property. As an American territory, Florida passed laws that discriminated against free blacks and placed harsh restrictions on African slaves. This prompted Kingsley to move his family, impacted by these laws, to Haiti, now the Dominican Republic, where descendants of Anna and Zephaniah live today.

The drive into Kingsley Plantation is along a scenic, narrow (and sometimes bumpy), dirt road. Stately sabal palms line the historic road as it nears the plantation entrance. The historic site of today is on about 25 acres of mostly open land. One trail takes visitors from the planter's home to the slave quarters; the return trail winds slightly through the forested landscape. The total loop is approximately one-third mile. The site is self-guiding and a staff member is available throughout the day. Scheduled Ranger talks are posted on-site.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Open daily 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Closed December 25.

DIRECTIONS:
From Interstate 95, exit on Heckscher Drive (FL 105); follow Heckscher East to Florida 9A. Continue straight on Heckscher about nine miles; turn left at the NPS sign onto Fort George Island; follow signs, the road leads directly to the plantation parking lot.

ACTIVITIES:
Hiking, picnicking, living history, nature study