Islamorada Parks, Florida Keys
Starting with the gorgeous Islamorada Founder’s Park, the island has numerous Parks and recreation facilities for every taste. Founder’s Park offers a white sandy beach, marina, Olympic size pool and picnic facilities. Lignumvitae Key State Botanical Site is only accessible by boat, Virgin forests cover this protected island that was formed from a living coral reef ages ago.
Long Key State Park at the south end of Islamorada offers picnicking, swimming, fishing and camping. Canoe trails through tidal lagoons are available in this well preserve park.
LIGNUMVITAE KEY STATE BOTANICAL SITE
Islamorada, 305-664-4815.
Accessible by boat only. Boat transportation is available here as well as to Indian Key. Virgin forests cover this protected island that was formed from a living coral reef ages ago. When you step ashore here, you step back into Florida’s past — into an age before man inhabited the keys and began to strip away the vegetation that once covered the entire Keys. A key attraction is the Matheson House, built in 1919. A windmill provides power to the house and fresh water comes from a cistern filled by falling rain on the roof of the home.
LONG KEY STATE RECREATION AREA
MM67.5, Long Key, 305-664-4815.
Among the activities here, where Calusa Indians lived long before Spanish explorers arrived, are picnicking, swimming, fishing and camping. Canoe trails through tidal lagoons. In the evening, Park Rangers present campfire programs. During the day, the Rangers lead guided walks as well as conduct programs on snorkeling, fishing, canoeing and marine ecology. Once the site of the Long Key Fishing Club, a Mecca for the world’s greatest saltwater fisherman during the days of the Flagler railroad, the era came to an end when the hurricane of 1935 destroyed the club and the railroad.
INDIAN KEY STATE HISTORIC SITE
Located less than a mile from the ocean shore off Lower Matecumbe, 305-664-4815.
A 12-acre lush with tropical vegetation. The island’s former inhabitants included New York seaman John Jacob Housman, who in 1831, established a colony of homes laid out along paved streets with a lavishly landscaped central courtyard in 1840, the island was raided by hostile Indians and most of the buildings were destroyed.
MATECUMBE PUBLIC BEACH
Mile Marker 73.5, Islamorada.
Long stretch of beach suitable for jogging or sunbathing, shallow swimming, no restrooms.
PLANTATION YACHT HARBOR
MM86, Islamorada.
Beach and amenities open to the public, watersports rentals, full facilities, and restaurant.
SAN PEDRO UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL PRESERVE
A shipwreck park named after the sunken Spanish ship “San Pedro”, the underwater park is located under 18 feet of water approximately 1.25 nautical miles south from Indian Key. In 1773, the San Pedro, sailing under the Spanish flag, wrecked and went to the bottom off the Florida coast. The remains of the 287-ton San Pedro rest on a white sand pocket — the home of sea creatures living amidst ballast stones and coral heads.