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Cedar Key mud flats

Cedar Key

Perhaps the most popular getaway on Florida’s Nature Coast, Cedar Key is at the end of a 24-mile highway that follows a railroad bed which naturalist John Muir walked.

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Cedar Key

Exploring Cedar Key

When John Muir finished up his 1,000 Mile Journey to the Gulf in 1867, it was at the terminus of the Florida Railroad, the first cross-state transportation system, in the Cedar Keys.

A collection of islands between the mouth of the Suwannee River and Wacassassa Bay, the Cedar Keys got their name from the forests of cedar that once covered them.

When this resource was discovered by early settlers, they started a pencil-making industry on Atsena Otie Key, the first of the keys to be chartered as a city. The remains of that factory, and a graveyard, remain on the island today.

Today’s Cedar Key is the town at the end of SR 24. What remains of the trestle has been turned into a nature trail. The waterfront is crowded with funky little seafood places with decent food.

To get to the other islands, you need to hop a cruise or bring a sea kayak and have some experience crossing open waters.

Two national wildlife refuges and several state parks protect much of the coastline and islands around this geographically isolated, artsy community.

Resources

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover 50 Hikes in North Florida book cover Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us continue to provide public information on this website.

Featured Destinations

Atsena Otie

Atsena Otie Key

Atsena Otie Key
Salt boiler and cannon

Cedar Key Museum Historic State Park

Cedar Key Museum Historic State Park
Cedar Key Museum

Cedar Key Museum Nature Trail

Cedar Key Museum Nature Trail
Grassy path edged by dense diminutive scrub forest

Cedar Key Scrub East Loop

Cedar Key Scrub East Loop
Dense thicket of Florida scrub vegetation

Cedar Key Scrub Reserve

Cedar Key Scrub Reserve
Interpretive sign at boardwalk to island

Dennis Creek Trail

Dennis Creek Trail
River flowing through salt marsh to the Gulf

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge

Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
River Trail, Lower Suwannee NWR

River Trail

River Trail
Sunset on Wacasassa Bay (Florida State Parks)

Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park

Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park

ALL Destinations

Articles

Lyonia Preserve

Florida Scrub-Jay Hikes

February 2, 2012//  by Sandra Friend

Natural lands in Florida with known Florida scrub-jay families or pairs that you might glimpse along the trails as you’re hiking.

ALL Articles

NEARBY: Bronson, Chiefland, Dunnellon, Inglis, Trenton, Williston | PART OF: North Florida

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