At Anastasia State Park, the beach is hard-packed and colorful, one of the best in Florida for a beach walk.
There is so much space that a simple ramble away from sunbathers brings solitude and seashells, squawking seagulls and pelicans floating overhead.
The beach at Anastasia State ParkBut that’s not all you’ll find on these ancient shores. A lengthy lagoon, Salt Run, parallels the park road, beloved by paddlers. Picnic areas sit in the shade of windswept oaks.
Two nature trails showcase coastal habitats, both very different from each other. The Marsh Trail stays along the soggy lagoon edge, while the Ancient Dunes Trail climb hills.
Curving staircase along the Ancient Dunes TrailSeven camping loops are deeply tucked into the coastal hammock, making for a shady stay that’s a short walk to a long stretch of beach.
Dune crossovers and accessibility mats add to the ease of reaching the shoreline, but once you’re there, it’s one of the firmest beach surfaces in Florida.
Walking the coquina shoresResources
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Overview
Location: St. Augustine
Trailhead: 29.88016,-81.285451
Address: 300 Anastasia Park Rd, St. Augustine
Fees: $8 per vehicle
Restroom: At the Salt Run picnic area and by the gift shop at the beach
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 904-461-2033
Open 8 AM until sunset daily. Leashed pets welcome but not on the beach.
Directions
From downtown St. Augustine, cross the Bridge of Lions to follow A1A south. Just past the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, the road curves; the park entrance is on the left.
About the Park
Why Anastasia? The coquina. Geologically, the coquina bluffs that emerge here and are up and down the Atlantic Coast of Florida are known as the Anastasia formation.
Tinted orange and yellow from crushed coquina shells, the shoreline is ever-changing, often sporting tidal pools and rills.
Coquina shellsMany footsteps have pressed into these sands, starting with the ancient peoples who thrived on these bountiful shores.
Their descendants, the Timucua, explored the coastline in their canoes. They were living here when Spanish explorers claimed this coast for Spain in 1565.
Jellyfish on the beachThe Spanish established St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied European settlement in America. Just inside the park entrance are quarries established in 1671 to define their city.
Massive coquina blocks were sliced out by enslaved Timucua under Spanish direction and moved across the Matanzas River to build Castillo de San Marcos.
One of the historic coquina quarriesAlthough this site is rich in history, most visitors come for the beach and for the outstanding coastal camping near the beach.
Salt Run, an extensive lagoon the length of the park, lies behind the dune line and within sight of the park road, a protected place to paddle.
Kayaks at the Salt Run launchPast the paddlesports concession and the turnoff to the campground, the park road ends at a turnaround into parking areas for beach access.
An open-air snack bar and adjacent camp store occupy the same structure as the restrooms for beachgoers.
Snack bar and camp storeAn at-grade beach mat stretches from the outdoor shower area through a gap in the dunes to the oceanfront.
A dune crossover serves the far parking area. An accessible ramp ascends the dunes to an observation platform with an excellent overlook to preview the oceanfront.
View from the overlookHiking
No admission fee is needed to explore the Old Spanish Quarry just inside the front gate, on the right before you reach the entrance station.
A short interpretive walk leads you through the history of the giant swales in the dunes from which coquina was carved to build Castillo de San Marcos.
Interpretive trail entranceA trailhead along Salt Run just past the paddlesports concession provides access to the Marsh Trail, which explores wetlands and the mangrove fringe along the lagoon behind the dunes.
Anastasia State Park Marsh Trail On the Marsh Trail at Anastasia State Park, sea oats sway in the breeze alongside a scenic path flanked by tall dunes and a saltwater lagoon teeming with wildlife. There is also a connector to the Marsh Trail past the picnic pavilion under the oaks between the restroom and concessionaire.
A connection via the sidewalk is signposted to the Ancient Dunes Trail, which hides within a deep blanket of forest between the campground loops.
Sidewalk connecting the trailsTo reach the Ancient Dunes Trail trailhead by vehicle, turn in at the campground and make the first right past the dump station.
The trailhead is on the right; the relocated start of the Ancient Dunes Trail begins across the crosswalk.
Anastasia State Park Ancient Dunes Trail Scramble sharp inclines and woodland staircases beneath a canopy of ancient oaks and magnolias on the surprisingly rugged Ancient Dunes Trail at Anastasia State Park.While it gets busy on summer weekends, the sweep of hard-packed sand on Anastasia Island provides one of the best beach walks in Florida.
The busy waterfront of St. Augustine beach lies south. Walk in the opposite direction, the pounding surf and the wheeling flocks of gulls and terns companions.
Walking along the dune lineSwinging northwest to west, the line of dunes separates Salt Run and the beach, protecting Anastasia Island from the fury of Mantanzas Pass.
The distance you can walk varies according to tide and erosion. Sweeping all the way around to face Castillo de San Marco, our ramble along the beach was an 8.9 mile round-trip.
The sand is most firm along the water’s edgeCamping
Anastasia State Park has 139 campsites tucked away in its coastal hammock, grouped into two areas separated by the dunes of the Ancient Dunes Trail.
All sites have water and electric. Seven sites are fully accessible and located near the bathhouses. A communal dump station and trash compactor are at the campground entrance.
The Coquina Loop is in the woods behind the Sea Turtle pavilion near the beachThe Coquina Loop is the original campground, sites 106-139. It is most coveted for its short walk to the beach and the resounding pounding of the surf at night.
The bulk of the campground is north of the Ancient Dunes Trail trailhead, with three sets of loops: Sea Bean and Queen Conch, Shark Eye and Sand Dollar, Sea Urchin and Angel Wing.
You can walk the Ancient Dunes Trail between the Coquina Loops and the newer loopsEach pair shares a central bathhouse with laundry facility. Both Angel Wing and Queen Conch have a pair of sites explicitly set up for hammock camping.
Sites must be reserved online. As with all Florida State Parks, Reserve America charges a fee on top of your reservation plus cancellation and change fees.
Picnic pavilion at Salt RunTrail Map
Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos of Anastasia State Park
Video
A hike on the Ancient Dunes Trail
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Castillo de San Marcos The only remaining 17th century fortress in North America, the Castillo de San Marcos defended the Spanish colony of St. Augustine from two British sieges in the 1700s.
Fort Mose Historic State Park Interpreting the first free African settlement in what would become the United States, Fort Mose educates through storytelling along 1.1 miles of trails and within its museum. 
Princess Place Preserve Explore wild spaces and cultivated grounds along eight different trails at Princess Place Preserve, an 1880s homestead at Cherokee Grove on Pellicer Creek. 
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park Notable for its historic landscaped gardens under a canopy of ancient live oaks, Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is also the home of one of Florida's rare rocky shorelines.
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