Formerly the Island Hiking Trail, the Dune Ridge Trail at Little Talbot Island State Park makes a loop from the uplands to sea level.
Previously hiking only, it is now also open to off-road cyclists, but be prepared for soft sand and steep terrain.
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Overview
Location: Little Talbot Island
Length: 3.9 mile loop
Trailhead: 30.46045,-81.415794
Address: 12157 Heckscher Dr, Jacksonville
Fees: $5 per vehicle
Restroom: At the beach parking area
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 904-251-2320
Open 8 AM to sunset. Dogs are permitted on the forested portion of the hike but not on the beach.
Sand footing can be challenging. More than half of the hike is in full sun, so sunscreen, a hat, and plenty of water are a must.
Directions
From Jacksonville, drive north via I-295E over the Dames Point Bridge and exit at Heckscher Dr (SR 105). Drive east. After the highway passes the Mayport Ferry dock 9 miles into the drive, the road becomes A1A. Continue 5 more miles to the park entrance on the right. Park in the first parking area past the entrance station and walk back along the park road to the trailhead.
Hike
It’s a little more than a half mile walk from the beach parking area to backtrack to the trailhead for the Dune Ridge Trail.
The trail starts within sight of the park entrance station at a crossover for the Timucuan Trail. A kiosk and bench mark the entrance.
It begins as a broad mowed path within coastal scrub. Cabbage palms rise from the undulating dunes, while grapevines and greenbrier cover the sand.
The start of the trail is hidden in shadeStay on the footpath, as the dune zone is delicate. The trees are gnarled and windswept, yaupon holly and wax myrtle, red cedar and red bay.
Descend into a deeply shaded coastal hammock where sand live oaks form a low canopy. Stringers of old man’s beard wave from the twisted branches of a crabapple tree.
Pass a bench. The roar of the waves carries, despite the deep bowls of forest surrounding the trail.
Shade deepens by 1.2 miles beneath a canopy of live oak and red bay under tall slash pines. A slender Spanish bayonet grows along a curve just beyond a shaded bench.
Lichens love this humid settingIn another half mile, the trail becomes a causeway through a forest of pines. Scattered cabbage palms lift their fronds through the limbs of taller oaks.
Beyond a low spot in the causeway, the trail swings to the right past a directional arrow after 2.1 miles. The strum of the surf increases.
Walk into a stretch of open dunes with spectacular hills rising up to the right. The soft white sand reflects the sun’s glare.
Cabbage palms top the dunesLook for the scrape marks of gopher tortoises crossing the trail as you weave in and out of the open dunes and small pockets of pine forest.
Head up and over the dunes following the suggestion of a trail, footprints swept clean by prevailing ocean breezes.
By 2.6 miles, descend to sea level through a sandy gap at a hiker marker and walk south along the beach. A sea mist often obscures the distant horizon.
Wind and waves tear at the foredunes, with sheer walls of sand rising up to ten feet high on the dune side of the beach.
Fluttering ribbons and string mark the locations of sea turtle nests. Sea wrack contains a jumble of natural sargassum and shells along with man-made trash.
Enjoy the silence and the shelling. It’s a little more than a mile along the beach before you reach the first sign of beachgoers at the day use area.
An eroded dune frontAs the horizon clears, look straight ahead and slightly left into the waves, and you can see the buildings of Mayport on the south side of the St. Johns River, home to Naval Station Mayport.
The dunes are more stable by 3.3 miles, held in place by thick patches of sea oats. Vines spreading across the dunes are topped with numerous glowing white blooms—beach morning glories.
Within another half mile, the dune crossover boardwalk comes into view. Climb up and over the dunes using it, past the restrooms to finish your hike at the main beach parking area.
Beach morning gloryTrail Map
Explore More!
Learn more about Little Talbot Island State Park
Little Talbot Island State Park One of the closest wild beaches to Jacksonville, Little Talbot Island State Park provides a front-row seat to the tumultous flow of Fort George Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean. Video
Our hike on the Dune Ridge Trail
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Big Talbot Island State Park Wind and water perpetually reshape the landscape along this rugged Atlantic shoreline with tidal pools, black rock beaches, and a boneyard of sand-scoured trees.
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.
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve Trails With interconnections to adjoining public lands, the extensive trail network at Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park connects more than 15 miles of trails to many miles more. 
Betz-Tiger Point Preserve On a peninsula where the Timucua used the surrounding estuary for sustenance, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve provides more than six miles of breezy trails.
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