Only a Short drive from Jacksonville’s urban core lie miles of unspoiled beaches and priceless coastal marshland, much of it practically untouched for hundreds of years. These natural spaces are national treasures worth protecting and exploring.
Photos by Andy Varnes
The words “pristine” and “unspoiled” are frequently tossed around on travel websites and articles to describe stretches of Florida shoreline or wilderness. More often than not—beautiful as the beaches or forests may be—the descriptions aren’t particularly accurate. The slices of the Sunshine State that remain truly undeveloped are increasingly rare and shrinking in size. That said, there is a portion of Northeast Florida that exists today much as it did when the first Spanish explorers waded ashore here some 500 years ago.
Following Hwy. A1A north as it exits Duval County, drivers enter a collection of watery preserves that remain free of condo towers, Airbnb rentals, coffee shops and convenience stores. Instead, the landscape consists of sandy beaches, maritime forests, and salty marsh as far as the eye can see. Kayakers who paddle up Simpson Creek or Mud River may feel as if they’ve have gone back in time, surrounded by swaying grasses, the occasional heron or egret adding color and movement to the scenery. Same goes for hikers who trek to Tiger Point and the terminus of the Edward’s Creek Trailhead.
There are seven protected nature parks that collectively compose the Talbot Islands State Park, including Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve, Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park and Fort George Island. It would erroneous to call the area “pristine,” because the parks are laced with hiking and biking trails and there are various visitor amenities such a picnic tables and parking lots, as well as boat and kayak launch sites. However, with five miles of undeveloped beach and more than 10,000 acres of preserved land, this corner of Jacksonville is a true natural gem.
Among the most visited portions of the park, and certainly its most photographed, is Boneyard Beach. The shoreline here is famous for the salt-washed skeletons of live oak and cedar trees that have succumbed to time, wind and the ocean. Sculpted by the elements, the beach is peppered with driftwood trees and sandy bluffs up to 30 feet high.
Neither solid ground or ocean waters, much of the park is vast salt marsh grasslands that skirt the west sides of Big Talbot and Little Talbot islands. According to the Florida Parks Service, these tidal flats are located at the confluence of freshwater river mouths draining from inland and the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The mix of fresh and salt water, also known as estuarine or brackish, creates an incredibly nutrient-rich environment that supports a diversity of life.
More than just beautiful, the park land has priceless benefits it provides to the region. The dense marsh muck provides an anchor for plants that give structure to the underwater environment, providing hiding places for young marine life as they seek out morsels delivered by the currents of the rivers and the tides. These expansive grasslands further server to protect surrounding uplands during storms, acting like a giant sponge and soaking up the flood waters and reducing much of the destructive surge impacts from penetrating far inland.
Big Talbot Island State Park is open from 8 AM till sundown, 365 days a year.
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