Fort George Island State Park- Jacksonville Duvall County Northeast District

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No entrance fee is required to enter this park.

                    

                   Welcome to Fort George Island Cultural State Park

Native Americans feasted here, colonists built a fort, and the Smart Set of the 1920s came for vacations. A site of human occupation for over 5,000 years, Fort George Island was named for a 1736 fort built to defend the southern flank of Georgia when it was a colony. Today´s visitors come for boating, fishing, off-road bicycling, and hiking. A key attraction is the restored Ribault Club. Once an exclusive resort, it is now a visitor center with meeting space available for special functions. Behind the club, small boats, canoes, and kayaks can be launched on the tidal waters.

Location	Duval County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Jacksonville, Florida
Coordinates	30°25′34″N 81°25′55″W / 30.42611°N 81.43194°W / 30.42611; -81.43194Coordinates: 30°25′34″N 81°25′55″W / 30.42611°N 81.43194°W / 30.42611; -81.43194
Established	1989
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Tabby ruins

Ribault Inn Club, a winter resort now used as visitor's center

Fort George Island State Cultural Site is a Florida State Park located on Fort George Island, about three miles (5 km) south of Little Talbot Island State Park on SR A1A. It is home to the Ribault Inn Club, constructed in 1928 as a winter resort and now used as a visitor's center.^[1] The 46,000-acre (190 km²) Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, in Jacksonville, Florida is nearby. Fort George has the highest point along the Atlantic coast south of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and contains Timucua oyster shell mounds. The park is part of the Talbot Islands GEOpark complex.
The park contains several distinct periods in human history. During the early historical period Fort George Island was known as Alicamani. It was the location of the village of Alicamani, a major village of the Timucua chiefdom known as the Saturiwa. Timucua influence is noted by the presence of middens, large mounds that are compiled of massive middens or shell mounds filled with discarded food byproducts. On Fort George Island, the shells were primarily oysters. The island was later home to the Spanish mission of San Juan del Puerto, the primary mission to the Saturiwa.
Under British rule in 1765, colonists developed a plantation on the island. It is now known as Kingsley Plantation, after Zephaniah Kingsley, who held it for 25 years. The main house, kitchen and numerous slave quarters have survived.
Activities include off-road bicycling, hiking, boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. Amenities include a 4.4-mile (7.1 km)-long loop bicycle trail, boat ramp, a 3-mile (4.8 km) hiking/biking trail, and a beach. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.

Bill Baggs/Cape Florida State Park - Southeast Region Key Biscayne, Florida

Date Visited:  Tuesday,, February 18, 2014

I combined this with two other Metro Miami stops today-  The park is located at the very end of Key Biscayne, and is quite large.  The highlight other than a terrific beach is the Cape Florida Lighthouse, and I was able to walk the grounds, but the lighthouse was closed today.