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Little Talbot Island State Park

Photo: Ebyabe / CC BY-SA 3.0

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Little Talbot Island State Park

Jacksonville, FL · Northeast Florida

About

One of the last undeveloped barrier islands in Northeast Florida, Little Talbot puts five miles of open Atlantic sand between you and the nearest building. Sea oats hold the dune line and the Dune Ridge Trail loops back through maritime forest and salt marsh, where river otters, marsh rabbits, and migrating shorebirds outnumber the people. Come for a low-tide walk where the only tracks in the sand might be your own, and surfers and kayakers have the place largely to themselves.

Highlights

Five-plus miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach and ancient dunesOne of the few wild barrier islands left in Northeast FloridaDune Ridge Trail loop through maritime forest, marsh, and beachWildlife: river otters, marsh rabbits, bobcats, migrating shorebirdsSurfing, kayaking, fishing, and quiet oceanfront camping

Getting there

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Big Talbot Island State Park Beaches

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One of the last undeveloped barrier islands left in Florida, Big Talbot trades resort towers and boardwalks for raw shoreline. Follow the Black Rock Trail through coastal hammock and you arrive at Boneyard Beach, where salt-bleached skeletons of live oak and cedar lie toppled across the sand below an eroding bluff, the dark hardpan rock shelving into Nassau Sound. Come at low tide with a camera and patience, and you may have a mile of empty Atlantic coast to yourself.

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Wild Florida Atlantic Coast Beaches14 places

Wild Florida Atlantic Coast Beaches

The Atlantic coast keeps its wild stretches tucked between the beach towns: undeveloped barrier islands, a national seashore, and refuge shores where sea turtles still outnumber people. Walk past the last parking lot at Canaveral and the crowds vanish; wander Big Talbot's boneyard beach where storm-felled oaks bleach white in the surf. No high-rise wall, no boardwalk, just dunes, driftwood, and open ocean. Bring water and shade, and leave South Beach to everyone else.