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Tropical forest in quarry

Flagler Quarry Trail

A short interpretive trail at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, the Flagler Quarry Trail leads you around the showiest of the quarries and the ruins of the railroad depot.

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park  |  Islamorada
( 24.949313,-80.596091 )      0.4 miles

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One of three short loop trails at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park, the Flagler Quarry Trail leads you around the showiest of the quarries.

Half of the loop through the Flagler Quarry is marked as the Quarry Station Trail, which leads to the ruins of the former railroad depot.

Rough rooty trail by rock wall Walking the walls of the Flagler Quarry


Resources

Resources for exploring the area

50 Hikes in South Florida book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover 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 provide public information on this website.


Overview

Location: Windley Key
Length: 0.4 mile loop
Trailhead: 24.949313,-80.596091
Address: 84900 Overseas Highway, Islamorada
Fees: $2.50 per person
Restroom: At the visitor center
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 305-664-2540

Open 8-4, Thu-Mon. No bicycles. Collecting of fossils or plants is prohibited.

Avoid leaving the marked trails as the tropical forest has a lot of poisonwood, one of the more common toxic trees in Florida.

Expect mosquitoes: make sure you use insect repellent. You may encounter great golden digger wasps along the park trails at certain times of year, as we did. According to a bulletin posted, “Great golden digger wasps are not aggressive and will not sting unless provoked.” We suggest wearing closed-toe shoes while hiking here and not walking through any wasp swarms.

Path along rock wall


Directions

 
Located 0.5 miles south of MM 85 on US 1 on Windley Key, the park entrance is on the bay side.

Hike

All trails begin on the rock ledge behind the Alison Fahrer Education Center. Stop in there before you start your hike to pick up a trail guide.

The trail system starts next to the antique channeling machine that cut the fossil slabs, and provides you a nice overlook across the Windley Quarry.

Lady in pink atop rock ledge The ledge and channeling machine at the trail entrance


The Flagler Trail branches off the Hammock Trail to the right at a signpost. Keep right.

All around you is the tropical forest, with the many types of tropical plum trees identified with labels.

Trail junction sign First trail junction


One of the more fascinating aspects of the tropical hammocks of the Florida Keys is the colorful, textured nature of the tree trunks found here.

As a sign says at another park, “look, don’t touch,” since not all of the trees are friendly. Some of the trees sport name tags.

Meet the second junction with the Hammock Trail. Continue straight ahead to walk towards the Flagler Quarry. The trail soon descends into this historic quarry.

Directional sign Directional sign at trail junction


In 1908, during the construction of the Overseas Railroad, Henry Flagler purchased this land and opened a quarry for crushed limestone. But that was truly a waste of such a unique resource.

By 1912, slabs of decorative stone were sliced from the quarry walls and ended up on buildings such as Vizcaya and the Miami and Key West post offices.

Signposts with numbers in front of rock walls Interpretive numbers refer to specific fossil formations


Reaching the base of the ramp at a quarter mile, keep right and start following the wall of the quarry. Tree roots snake into the walls and break off coral chunks.

Using your interpretive guide, identify the different types of fossil corals in the walls.

Quarry Station marker What little remains of a once-busy railroad depot


All of the islands from Biscayne National Park southwest through the Dry Tortugas are underlain by these fossil corals, making them geologically unique for the United States.

When you reach the next ramp out of the quarry, cross it and continue along the quarry walls by following the Quarry Station Trail.

Giant ferns and lush growth in a sinkholeGiant leather ferns in the hidden sinkhole near the old depot


Follow the markers to the ruins of the old Windley Key Depot, within earshot of current US 1.

A rough side trail leads to a solution hole exposed in this corner of the quarry. Giant leather ferns grow out of it, and fresh water sits inside.

Quarry with interpretive stations A stand-alone pillar of coral in the quarry


The trail emerges into the open quarry within sight of the pillar of stone capped with tropical forest that sits in the middle of the picnic area.

Turn left and walk up the middle of the grassy quarry center to the big ramp that leads out of the Flagler Quarry and back up to the visitor center to finish the 0.4 mile walk.

Picnic tables in tropical setting Picnic grounds in the Flagler Quarry near the parking area


Trail Map

Windley Key State Park Trail Map
Hammock Trail (Red), Windley Trail (Yellow), Flagler Trail (Orange), Quarry Station Trail (Blue)

Explore More!

Learn more about Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park

Tropical trees and quarry walls

Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park

See coral fossils up close in a tropical forest at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park to learn the natural history of how the Florida Keys were formed.


Slideshow

See our photos of Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park


Nearby Adventures

More worth exploring while you’re in this area.

Tropical trees in Florida Keys

Hammock Trail

Learn about the trees of the Florida Keys with a walk on the 0.6-mile Hammock Trail, a deeply shaded ramble in a tropical forest at Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park.

Mangrove roots in quarry wall

Windley Trail

Winding through an ecotone where tropical forest meets mangroves, the Windley Trail is a quarter mile loop that ends up amid interpretation of quarrying history.

Green Turtle Hammock Preserve

Green Turtle Hammock Nature Preserve

On a wild sliver of Upper Matecumbe Key, footpaths wind through a rockland tropical hammock where a rocky crevice emits sulfur fumes and you must beware of crocodiles near the mangroves

Plantation Hammocks Preserve

Plantation Hammocks Preserve

Adjoining Founders Park on Plantation Key, Plantation Hammocks Preserve showcases some of the Florida Keys most interesting flowers under a generous canopy of well-established tropical trees.

Trail Map (PDF) Official Website

Category: Hikes, Loop Hikes, Nature Trails, Southeast Florida, TrailsTag: Birding, Botanical, Family-Friendly, Florida Keys, Florida State Parks, Geology, Historic Sites, Islamorada, Picnic, Tropical Forests, Windley Key State Park

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