History aficionados will enjoy touring St. Augustine, the oldest permanent European settlement in North America. Stop by the Colonial Spanish Quarter for a glimpse at life in 18th Century Florida. Here, costumed tradesmen will show you the ropes in candlemaking, blacksmithing and carpentry. Learn more about military might while visiting Fort Matanzas, Castillo de San Marcos, and Fort Mose. These national treasures offer tours and historical re-enactments where you can become a part of history.
A popular destination for over 400 years, the Florida coast and A1A Scenic and Historic
Coastal Byway won't disappoint!
A1A Bicycle and Pedestrian Path This separated bicycle/pedestrian Path begins at Marineland and runs parallel to A1A for the entire length of the southern portion of this scenic corridor. It meanders through the maritime oaks and connects to trails within the parks and with the mainland at the Hammock Dunes Bridge and the bridge at State Road 100. This path has the distinction of being the first Florida segment of the East Coast Greenway. The path passes through all four River to Sea parks and preserves. Travelers of the path can encounter the ecosystems of the barrier island including the environmentally significant communities connecting the ocean and the river: beaches, ocean dunes, coastal scrub, and maritime hammock. The A1A bicycle/pedestrian path not only provides an alternative mode of transportation within the corridor, but it also provides opportunities for the bicyclist, rollerblader, jogger, and walker. The path provides all the scenic vistas of the corridor. |
Bings Landing County Park Bings Landing County Park is an eleven-acre park and historical site located on the west side of A1A. Bings Landing is located within a maritime oak hammock and is adjacent to the Matanzas River and included in the NERR. The park overlooks the marine estuary and provides important public access to the estuary. Bings Landing facilities include a free public boat launch, fishing docks, picnic pavilions, barbecue grills, gazebo, restrooms and play equipment. Bings Landing is the site of the historical ruins of the Mala Compra Plantation, owned by General Joseph Hernandez. Also, pre-historic artifacts have been found on the site. The county is working with the state to build a museum/interpretive center around the ruins. |
Flagler Beach Pier and Boardwalk The Flagler Beach Boardwalk and Pier are located "downtown." This is the center of many activities associated with a beachside community. The Pier offers one the opportunity to fish or to see the ocean and beaches from a different perspective. One may observe the surfers and other beach activities or just relax and have a picnic at one of the shelters along the boardwalk. The corridor reflects the community's ties to its recreational and natural surroundings. This is done with the "Old Fashioned Fourth of July at the Beach," "Columbus Day," and "Holiday at the Beach" festivals and parades. These events, along with special events such as surfing contests and fishing contests, offer the resident and visitor an opportunity to see and participate in the traditions of "Old Florida." |
Flagler Beach Museum
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Flagship Harbor Preserve Flagship Harbor Preserve is a 300-acre preserve along the Intracoastal Waterway. The Preserve offers the visitor hiking trails, a 3000-foot boardwalk through saltwater marsh, restrooms, parking, and picnicking facilities. It connects with the Wickline Center and its additional active recreational opportunities of playgrounds, tennis courts, and a basketball court. Moody Boat Launch is located on the northern edge of the Preserve. Free boat launch facilities are available here, as are restrooms and a connecting boardwalk to the preserve. |
Gamble Rogers State Park A1A passes through Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area, which provides the visitor with a unique "river to sea experience." The park provides visitors with the opportunity to observe nature within the various biological communities. The east side of the park offers an oceanfront camping area (34 campsites), bathhouse, and dune walkovers, as well as parking, picnic shelters, and restrooms for the beach swimming area. The west side of the park has a boat basin and launch area, picnic pavilions, and a nature trail. |
Fort Matanzas
Since its founding in 1565, the military outpost town of St. Augustine had been the heart of Spain's coastal defenses in Florida. After the completion of the Castillo de San Marcos in 1695, the town had only one weakness: fourteen miles to the south Matanzas Inlet allowed access to the Matanzas River, by which enemy vessels could attack the town from the rear - out of range of the Castillo's cannons. The presence of Ft. Matanzas physically demonstrates the determination of the Spanish colonial authorities to improve their defensive posture in northeast Florida. Completed in 1742, the fortification was erected on the West Bank of the Matanzas River, immediately north of an inlet from the ocean, in order to prohibit enemy ships from proceeding northward along the river in an attack against the settlement at St. Augustine. Cannons mounted on the gun deck of the fort could easily menace any ship proceeding along the waterway. |
Marineland Marine Studios, founded in the 1930s by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Douglas Burden, and Count Ilia Tolstoy, was the world's first oceanarium. The Oceanarium, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, became one of Florida's earliest tourist attractions. This historic site was used to make many early underwater movies, such as "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Return of the Creature," Clint Eastwood's first movie role. The Dolphin Restaurant next door was also known to be the "local hangout" of such notables as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Ernest Hemingway. |
Beverly Beach Over 6 miles of the corridor from southern Beverly Beach through Flagler Beach offers unobstructed views of the ocean and its beaches where A1A runs along the dune. Amenities such as restrooms are located at the fishing pier boardwalk area and at the parks. It offers an overview of the ecosystems of the beach and dune on the east. The least tern and sea turtles use the area beaches for nesting. Right whales navigate along the coast in the spring. There are extensive recreational and scenic opportunities as well. |
River to Sea Preserve This 90-acre public preserve of ecologically sensitive lands from the Matanzas River to the Atlantic Ocean is accessible from A1A, with the ocean and dune system on the east and the scrub and maritime oak ecosystems on the west. |
Washington Oaks The gardens at Washington Oaks are a primary focal point of the park. However, it is the integrity of the surrounding area, the rocky shore, the barrier island setting, the vanishing coastal scrub, the dense hardwood hammock and the open expanse of its saltwater marshes that offers the visitors an exceptional river to sea experience. There are trails along the canopy road, which was once "Old A1A," a historic, scenic resource within the park. The park contains significant natural, recreational, historic/cultural, educational, and scenic resources. |
Tomoka Marsh Preserve The Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve extends into Flagler County and Flagler Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway and its associated marshes as far north as South 23rd Street. The aquatic preserve is also designated an "Outstanding Florida Water." This designation acknowledges the exceptional recreational and ecological significance of the waterway. The preserve is accessible by water from the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area. |