We were staying about 1/2 mile down the road and wanted to take a couple mile walk. Our hotel…read moresuggested Long Key State Park. We started on the bike trail along the busy highway, then turned into the park. At the guard house, the nicest ranger asked us to come in while he waited on a car driving through. He was so pleasant and caring about having water, giving us directions, etc. I am so sorry I didn't get his name. if you are walking or cycling, it is $2.50 per person. We met another ranger who was maintaining the restroom down by the shore and he was friendly, too! Walking down, there are mangroves on each side. Then you see the shore. They have done such a great job carving out little areas for people to sit or eat, etc. We were very impressed with that. There was no litter and the restroom was also very clean. Highly recommend if you need a break going to or coming from Key West. It is also great if you are staying nearby.

This review is specifically about the PRICING policy for campgrounds in Florida State Parks…read more Camping in the Keys is a popular activity, and it's difficult to find availability. We were thrilled to find that Long Key had a site available for the March date that we needed. Our preference would have been for a site for a Class B RV, but we were willing to accept the only site available, a tent-only site. Our reservation for the site was quite expensive ($34.51) for a tent-only site in a public park, without hookups. The fees in Florida state parks really add up. The site itself was "only" $22.50, but there's also a non-refundable $6.70 reservation fee and an assortment of taxes that totaled $5.31. Unfortunately, due to wildfires near Homestead, FL, we needed to reschedule our trip into the Keys, which also involved cancelling our reservation at Long Key. Of our initial outlay of $34.51, our refund was only for $10 and some change. There was a $17-something cancellation fee, and the initial reservation fee was non-refundable. Of the $10+ returned, over $5 of this was the sales taxes.

What a beautiful park! I can't believe I've never visited before…read more The trail is really nice and there are several things to see. The park happened to be decorated for Halloween. Lots of shade to enjoy a walk in nature. The fish pedicure is a perfect place to rest for a while, I loved it. The museum is great with very interesting artifacts and history.

We stopped by Crane Point Nature Center and Museum in Marathon around 3:30 pm in mid-January. It…read morewas a bit late in the day for a full visit, but we still found it interesting. The trails were peaceful and easy to walk with toddlers, and the main lookout point was definitely the highlight. The views alone made the stop worthwhile. The museum had some informative displays about local history and the environment, which was a nice addition even though our kids were more focused on walking the paths. Since we arrived later in the afternoon, we didn't get to explore everything, so I'd recommend visiting earlier in the day if you can. Still, it was a pleasant, low-key outing and a solid stop if you're in the Marathon area.

This is a nifty little state park that has some nice manicured trails and tons of examples of coral…read morefossils in the stone. They used this area as a quarry for stone to use in construction in the early 20th century. There is an entire guide that the rangers can give you which covers not only the history of the area, but all of the plant species, and the different kinds of fossils you can find. This can be a fun stop on a road trip if you like geology and this kind of thing.

This little noun and yet amazing State Park is definitely worth a visit. I don't know why more…read morepeople don't come here, except maybe because there's a lot of mosquitoes. There's trails to walk, and exhibits related to the flora and Fana, wildlife, and of course the quarry, and the machinery used to mine coral for use in building. You can either take a tour with the guide or you can get a book from the Ranger and walk around with the book and read the descriptions at each of the plaques. There are something like 75 around the park, some have only a paragraph or two about what you're seeing, others have several pages.

A nice place to picnic, walk your dog, or just relax by the water. It was a bit run down, and the…read morenormal admission fee wasn't collected. The beach is small and the water protected, making it a fun place for children to play in the water. However, it's not ideal for swimming. Definitely worth the trip.

We were driving around the area looking for a spot by the water to sit in the sunshine. Driving…read moredown US 1 we passed a sign that said Harry Harris park. Just a small road sign that you could easily miss unless you were paying attention. We turned around and followed the road back to the park, maybe 1/2 mile back off US1. The park has a attendant to pay for access, but no one was there so we were glad to save a bit of money. Parked the car and we went out to the beach and sat in the sun for a couple hours. Park has restrooms, picnic tables, grills, basketball hoops, playground area and a walkway to the water. Nice little park and was exactly what we were looking for. Saw several people stop and eat lunch and I'm sure they were as happy as we were to find this park. We were there on February 6, 2026.

It's a nice boardwalk right by the coast. It's free to visit and there's restrooms and pavilions…read morewith tables and trash cans. One can eat a picnic here. Due to the ecology of the Keys, this beach isn't like what one may think of when they hear the word "beach." It's not like the beaches in more Northern parts of Florida or the artificially constructed ones at some of the local resorts. There's no fine sand or rolling waves. A lot of the sediment near the water is clay-like, and the nearby ocean is shallow and, if I recall correctly, dominated by seagrass. The boardwalk is surrounded by mangroves and other plants, which are home to lots of life. One can see crabs, lizards, and various insects darting around. There's occasionally various species of birds here. At the time of writing, this beach, like much of the Keys, is covered in sargassum, which anaerobic bacteria decompose, producing foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide in the process. This can make visiting the place a bit unpleasant. I'd suggest checking to see if sargassum is a problem before visiting. There's also often biting insects in the area. I'd recommend bringing insects repellant. Overall, I think it's a nice, free place to walk and enjoy the local environment. Just don't expect an idyllic beach.

It was our first stop while en route to KW. it easy to see why this would be a popular beach for…read morefamilies with small children or for people with pets. one of Islamorada's best attractions for the avid beachgoer. While the Florida Keys in general do not offer a large variety of sandy beaches, this little stretch located at Mile Marker 73.4 Oceanside offers a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the day, sunbathing We reached around 9:30 AM, and it was almost empty. With a few clouds in the sky, the place had a very serene and peaceful vibe. No crowds at all. In summer, the beach area is probably a bit wider, but during our visit, it was smaller. Still, that doesn't take away from enjoying this beautiful beach. Parking is right there, and there are restrooms nearby, which makes it very convenient.

This small beach at the John Pennecamp State Park offers snorkeling, diving, or kayaking in the…read moreFlorida Keys. It is America's first underwater preserve, offering accessible coral reefs, mangrove trails, and an informative visitor center. The entrance fee to the park is $9.00 which includes visiting this beach. This beach is not traditional, large sandy shorelines that you may be used to. It is small but relaxing. It is not a glamorous place to meet people. It is a good place for beginners who want t o practice snorkeling. The water is only 5-7 feet deep. Wear Water Shoes! The beach areas can be rocky. The park has full hookup campsites and clean, well maintained facilities. An old cannon from the 1800s lies on the beach facing the water. There are more in the water along with remnants of a shipwreck. There are restrooms, rinse-off stations, showers, changing rooms, and nearby picnic areas.

Secluded beach area. There was only one car in the parking area when we pulled in. I was excited…read moreabout the prospect of having the beach mostly to ourselves, and was hoping to snorkel a little. The beach was covered in sea grass, which is fine because nature and whatever. I didn't care about the smell of said decaying sea grass. But we waded out about 10 ft and were stuck in mud because the sand had run out. All we were doing was kicking up silt and mud. Almost lost my water shoes in the sticky mud. We left after 5 minutes in the water. This is a great option for someone who just wants to take their dog for a walk or stroll along a beach. But not at all good for swimming or snorkeling, and not even basking on the sand because of all the sea grass and the smell. The restroom and shower were nice, but we didn't use the restroom for anything but changing and the shower for anything but washing off the mud. There are so many beaches in the keys, this one was super disappointing.

If you're looking for sugary sand or beautiful beaches you're going to have to head North out of…read morethe Keys to almost any one of Florida's other 800 plus miles of beaches unless you're on a curated or private resort beach where they've brought in lots of sand and routinely scrape off the sea grass. You'd be better off at Sombrero, Smathers, Higgs, or Fort Zachary beaches for something like that sort of experience but still need water shoes and consider smelly sea grass is just a thing down here. You do get used to it, but it's an acquired Conch thing. Coco Plum's quiet and worth exploring. Sunrise is Great here (as almost anywhere in the Keys) and there's a trail amongst the canopy and brush worth checking out. People do like to bring and unleash their dogs here, so you might want to sort of expect that. Over the years, it's been really nice here after it's been scraped and new sand's been brough in. It's a bit rough for the weary after the last few storms now.

This is one of those old Keysey legends that everyone knows about but not many have been to. It's a…read moregreen lagoon oceanside that's been blocked off and somewhat protected. Unfortunately, that has also caused the silting problem to get pretty bad. That said, it's got so many amazing businesses operating within this Undersea Park. First, there's Jules' Undersea Lodge, a submersed hotel underwater (~21 ft below the surface) that can only be accessed via scuba diving. It sits in the far back corner (look for the bubbles). The lodge is fully equipped with a shower, bathroom, beds, coffee machine, wifi, and pizza delivery (sometimes by a free-diving mermaid, if you're lucky!). Jules also has a small garden underwater growing actual living plants! It's rad, and the goal is to show that we can harness the underwater world and natural condensation processes to grow food to feed the masses. Next to Jules is my favorite dive operator in the keys -- Island Ventures! They're "Stress free diving!" motto is so true. Every trip out with them is full of excitement and joy, even if it's choppy seas and cold weather. They live and believe that the worst day on the water is still better than the best day in the office, and it shows. Finally, there's Marine Lab, a cool educational outfit with old undersea laboratories on site for viewing. The land leading to the underwater park has lots of random underwater memorabilia (like a shark from an old Shark Week feature coming through the fence), Old escape hatches painted to show Hurricane Irma's damage, and old school research laboratories. Underwater, there's several structures within the park (long tubes, big oil drum, etc.) that staff will tour you around to see. Wildlife that's been seen in the underwater park: manatees, fish, moray eels, jellyfish.