The southernmost hike in the United States is one of the lesser-known attractions of Key West, where pub crawls are more popular than nature walks.
Still, this classy and quirky historic city has its natural charms, if you just know the nooks in which to look.
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park isn’t just a fortAlthough the beach here is one of the best in the Keys, the highlight of the park is the fortress itself, a significant historic site and architectural gem.
The trail system at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park includes the Point Trail, the Fort View Trail, and the Tropical Hammock Trail, as well as an interpretive Native Plant Garden.
Footpath under tropical treesResources
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
Length: 1.4 miles
Trailhead: 24.546283, -81.810791
Address: 601 Howard England Way, Key West
Fees: $6 per vehicle
Restroom: Near the picnic area and at the fort
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 305-292-6713
Open 8 AM to sunset. Fort closes 5 PM. Some trails are open to bikes. Leashed dogs welcome but not on beach or in the fort. Fort tours are offered daily at 11 AM.
Directions
Follow US 1 (the Overseas Highway) all the way south to Mile Marker 0 in Key West. Continue a little farther down the street. You’ll see a sign for the park. Turn left, driving through a small residential community and around the Truman Annex of Naval Air Station Key West before entering the park. Drive down the entrance road and pass the fort, parking in the beach parking area at the very end.
Hike
When Fort Zachary Taylor was built, it was surrounded by the sea—and it’s obvious from your perspective in the parking lot that isn’t the case anymore.
The land surrounding the fort is fill that was added over the decades after the Civil War, so native vegetation isn’t as lush as on other parts of Key West.
Oceanfront walkwayThis is particularly noticeable along the Point Trail, which is open to bicycles. It’s a straight path along the shoreline. Keep left at the fork to reach a picnic area with barbecue grills.
You’re at the westernmost point of Key West on the southernmost hike in the United States: one for the brag book!
Picnic groveAt the “Foot Traffic Only” sign, cross the two-track and clamber up to the rocky seawall. It protects the shoreline from erosion from boat traffic.
The deep shipping channel didn’t exist before 1964, when the rock reef was blasted and dredged to create the channel. The dredged material became the land beneath your feet.
Along the seawallTurn right and walk along the seawall to get a sweeping perspective of Fort Zachary Taylor.
Notice fossils in the rocks underfoot, all part of the blasted rocky reef. Off to the left is Sunset Island, offshore from Key West, crowded with residences.
Windflowers among the rocksHuge pieces of driftwood wash up along the shore. One of the few bright spots of color in this rocky fill are the windflowers when they bloom, and it’s always breezy here.
At 0.3 mile, reach the back of a bicycle sign at a T intersection. Turn left and crunch your way down the footpath between tall, waving grasses.
View of the grassy spoil area from the fortFollow the trail to its next junction and stay to the right this time. The trail to the left goes along the fence of the naval base.
Hike towards the moat around the fort, with a good view of the exterior walls. Building Fort Taylor was a major undertaking.
View of the fort and its moatConstruction of this massive masonry structure began in 1850. Egrets stalk the edges of the moat, hidden by morning glories, and pink muhly grass waves in the breeze.
The bike trail rejoins the path from the left as you come up to the corner of the fort, where you have a good perspective of the moat from the corner of the fort.
A peek back at the grassy area from the shadeAt a fork of a narrow and broad path, keep left on the narrow one. At the next trail junction, a half mile into the walk, stay left to follow the edge of the moat.
Coming around to the far corner of the fort, notice how the concrete has been chipped away to expose the original brick and mortar fort beneath it.
Kiosk outside the fortMake a left at the kiosk to take a quarter mile walk through the fort. Once inside its walls, turn left and climb the the staircase to the Osceola Battery.
A second staircase leads to the roof, where excavations were done to uncover the original brick walls of the fort beneath the concrete batteries laid atop them in 1889.
Take the staircase on the leftBuilding those coastal defenses, the Army buried a treasure that wasn’t uncovered again until the late 1960s.
It’s the largest and most well preserved cache of Civil War-era cannons in the United States. You can look down over the guardrail and see them.
One of the intentionally entombed cannonsFollow the stairs back down and walk the inner perimeter of the fort past Battery Adair, then into the brick cannon casements.
As you wander inside, notice the gothic styling within the various chambers. There are some excellent views out the cannon ports.
Gothic archwaysThe “flushed by the sea” latrines are in the far corner of the fort. Climb up the concrete staircase nearby for a great view towards Mallory Square.
The longest wall of the fort faced the city of Key West, and in fact was not complete until after the Civil War.
View of the arc of the Point Trail from atop the fortAfter the Spanish-American War, the fort continued to be used for surveillance of the shipping channel.
It was turned over from the Army to the Navy in 1947 when President Truman periodically took residence at his nearby Little White House at the naval station.
The fort commands a view of the approaches by sea to Key WestNeglected, the massive structure fell into disrepair. Not until 1968, when a core group of volunteers led by Howard England found the cannons, was interest in the fort revived.
Fort Zachary Taylor was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, became a National Historic Landmark in 1973, and then a Florida State Park in 1976.
Interpretive recap of the fort’s rebirth as a parkCompleting your tour of the fort, exit through the gate and turn right, retracing your path along the edge of the moat. Look for Keys lilies hiding amid the sea myrtle.
As you get to the corner of the fort, pass the obvious walk along the moat and look for a nature trail sign on your right for the Fort View Trail.
Follow the Fort View TrailIt scrambles up the man-made berm into a tropical hammock overlooking the moat, a great perspective for birding.
When it ends, it leads back to the beach parking area after 1.2 miles. Cross over to the picnic area under the pines.
Native Plant GardenFollow the path to the native plant garden, where a simple trail is delineated by chunks of limestone between the labeled plants.
Continue a little farther to the entrance to the Tropical Hammock Trail for a brief loop beneath a shady canopy of gumbo-limbo.
Return along the beach to the beach parking area to wrap up a 1.4 mile hike.
Start of the Tropical Hammock TrailTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park A grand sentinel that protected the fledgling town of Key West from attack, historic Fort Zachary Taylor is an imposing presence looming behind a popular destination beach.Slideshow
See our photos of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Dry Tortugas National Park Our friend Bob "TruckrBob" Finley shares his experience with planning, and reaching, the toughest park to visit in Florida: Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles offshore from Key West. 
Little Hamaca Park A preserve along the historic Key West Salt Ponds, Little Hamaca Park has a boardwalk and footpath leading through a cross-section of the island's habitats.
Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park Within sight of the Atlantic Ocean, Sonny McCoy Indigenous Park is a rare patch of green space in the city of Key West, with native trees and a natural freshwater pond.
Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden Boardwalks and footpaths wind through curated plant collections against a backdrop of natural habitats at the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden.
- Hal Scott Yellow Trail - November 3, 2026
- Hal Scott Preserve - October 28, 2026
- Tradewinds Park - October 27, 2026