From Faver-Dykes State Park, you can easily explore the estuaries of the Matanzas River. Shaded by oak hammocks along Pellicer Creek, this peaceful park offers camping, hiking and biking trails, and some of the best paddling along this coast.
Resources
Overview
Location: St. Augustine
Lat-Long: 29.669345,-81.266734
Fees: $4-6 per vehicle
Open: 8 AM until sunset daily
Leashed pets welcome
Location
Details
Faver-Dykes State Park is a mecca for birders thanks to more than a hundred migratory species that pass through the marshes.
Glide through the Pellicer Creek Trail, a maze of needlerush leading out to the river. With dozens of uninhabited islands on which to stop and lunch or camp, the Matanzas River is tricky but fun, where manatees surface and dolphins race as you navigate between the oyster beds. Offshore extensions of the park, Mellon Island and Jordan Island are accessible only by water and open to primitive camping.
Canoe rentals are offered on site: $8 for two hours plus $3 for each additional hour. You’re welcome to launch your own watercraft as well.
Trail Map
Explore the park
Pine Loop Trail - Nestled in oak hammocks along Pellicer Creek, Faver-Dykes State Park has an easy nature trail, the Pine Loop Trail, for landlubbers to trace the route of the creek through old-growth pines.