A museum started by seashell collector St. Clair Whitman also honors the legacy of John Muir’s travels through Florida on foot at Cedar Key Museum Historic State Park.
In 1867, naturalist John Muir followed the path of the Florida Railroad on his Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf of Mexico, ending at the Cedar Keys.
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Overview
Location: Cedar Key
Trailhead: 29.1507,-83.048557
Address: 12231 SW 166th Ct, Cedar Key
Fees: Grounds are free. Museum admission $2 per person
Restroom: At the museum
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 352-543-5350
Grounds open 8 AM until sunset daily. Leashed pets welcome outdoors.
Museum open Fri-Sun 10-5. Check ahead regards status of the Whitman House as it is undergoing renovations.
Directions
From US 19 north of Chiefland, take SR 24 west to Cedar Key. Once on the island, watch for the first right turn off 24 and follow brown signs through a residential area to the park.
About the Park
Soon after arriving, Muir fell ill with malaria and spent several months living in the village, which had a booming pencil industry.
The fine southern red cedars and white cedars growing on these scattered islands throughout the shallow estuaries created by the Suwannee and Wacassassa Rivers made the perfect housing for pencil leads.
Muir departed by boat to Cuba while Cedar Key was in its heyday. Thanks to its remoteness along this forgotten Florida Coast, it’s still a charming village full of historic architecture and a reliance on the salt flats for a living.
When St. Clair Whitman, a colorful local man, started his own personal museum of artifacts and seashells, that history was captured for the first time. It became Cedar Key Museum State Park in 1962.
Whitman’s house, restored to reflect the 1920s, is open for tours. A nature trail leads out to the estuary for excellent birding and views of the flats where Cedar Keys’ newest maritime industry, clam farming, thrives.
Cedar Key Museum Nature Trail
A quarter-mile nature trail behind the Whitman House at Cedar Key Historic State Park showcases views of the estuary surrounding the island.
Trail Map
Explore More!
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Atsena Otie Key
The original Cedar Key isn’t where you think it is. It’s offshore, within sight of the current historic waterfront, an island called Atsena Otie Key, part of Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.
Cedar Key Scrub Reserve
Along a gradient of habitats from scrub to coastal salt marsh, Cedar Key Scrub Reserve provides two loop trails open to hikers, cyclists, and equestrians.
Dennis Creek Trail
At the Shell Mound Unit of Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, the Dennis Creek Trail immerses you in classic habitats of the Gulf Coast along a 1-mile loop
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
One of Florida’s more remote National Wildlife Refuges, the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge spans two counties, protecting a sweep of more than 53,000 acres and 30 miles of coastline along the Big Bend