Fort George Island State Park

On Jacksonville’s Northshore, Fort George Island Cultural State Park protects both natural habitats and thousands of years of layers of human habitation.

Set amid a vast estuary when the St. Johns River meets the Atlantic Ocean, it is a green gem surrounded by what is now a National Park, the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve.

Entrance to the visitor center

Looped by a scenic drive, it offers hiking, paddling, off-road cycling, and an interpretive center and museum set within in a 1920s country club clubhouse.

It also provides a gateway to Kingsley Plantation, an important southern anchor along the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which stretches to Wilmington, North Carolina.

Visitor center exhibits

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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Overview

Location: Jacksonville
Trailhead: 30.428386,-81.425456
Address: 11241 Fort George Rd, Jacksonville
Fees: Free
Restroom: At the Ribault Club
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 904-251-2320

Open 8 AM until sunset. Leashed dogs welcome outdoors. Collecting artifacts, fossils, and plants is prohibited.

The Ribault Club Visitor Center is open Wed-Sun 9-5 (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Directions

From Interstate 295 north of the Dames Point Bridge in Jacksonville, follow Heckscher Drive (SR 105) east for 9.4 miles along the north shore of the St. Johns River. Turn left on Fort George Rd. After a half mile, at a fork in the road, stay right. Continue 1.5 miles to the parking area at the Ribault Club, which is also one of the trailheads for the Fairway Loop Trail.

About the Park

Opened in 1928, the Ribault Club attracted affluent guests with a yacht basin, lawn bowling courses, and nine-hole golf course.

But the island was first thousands of years before by the Timucua and their ancestors. In 1736, a fort protecting the Georgia colony lent the island its name.

The Scenic Drive

At the north end of the island is the historic Kingsley Plantation, first established in 1791 on a Spanish land grant.

Kingsley Plantation

One of the historic treasures of Timucuan Preserve in Jacksonville, Kingsley Plantation interprets the everyday lives of free and enslaved peoples on an early Florida plantation.

A driving tour circling the island along the canopied Saturiwa Trail will introduce you to its ancient history and provide access to Kingsley Plantation.

Paddlers and boaters can make use of a small launch behind the clubhouse to explore the island’s rim by water.

Watersports along the Fort George River

On the National Register of Historic Places, the Ribault Club offers a charm paralleled in era by the lodge at Wakulla Springs.

The architecture is understated but graceful, befitting its use as a getaway for the Jacksonville elite of the 1920s to “escape to the greens” for golfing.

The Ribault Club

The club’s original greens were not fully abandoned until the 1980s, when the State of Florida acquired the property.

Those were allowed to return to nature, but the large wooden clubhouse enjoyed a full restoration to its former glory.

A portion of it is used as a visitor center and museum. But its grand main hall and grounds may be reserved for meetings and events, including weddings. Call for details.

Main Hall of the clubhouse

Hiking and Biking

Both hikers and cyclists are welcome to loop the maritime hammock along the well-marked Fairway Loop Trail, which starts at the Ribault Club parking lot.

Fairway Loop Trail

Showcasing a slow restoration to maritime forest, this uplands loop on Fort George Island traverses what remains of a 1920s-era Scottish-style golf course near Jacksonville.