Jacksonville Parks Guide: Beach Parks, State Parks, Trails and Riverfront Parks

Jacksonville runs more than 400 park and recreation sites inside the city limits and counts more than 80,000 designated acres of parkland, including the 46,000-acre Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (City of Jacksonville Parks, Recreation and Community Services).

The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department manages beaches, nature preserves, an arboretum, an equestrian center and golf courses, and also runs recreation programs, conservation and marine resources, senior services and the Duval County Extension office (Parks, Recreation and Community Services).

For a picnic shelter, field or event booking in a Jacksonville park, the first call is JaxParks Permitting at (904) 255-7930; the department director is Daryl Joseph (JaxParks contacts). Several well-known Jacksonville parks are not city parks at all: the Talbot Islands and Fort George Island are Florida state parks, and Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation are National Park Service sites, each with its own hours and fees (Florida State Parks; NPS).

Two Jacksonville oceanfront parks offer camping: the city's Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park on Wonderwood Drive and Little Talbot Island State Park on Heckscher Drive (City of Jacksonville, Hanna Park; Florida State Parks, Little Talbot Island).

Hanna Park has 1.5 miles of sandy beach that includes The Poles, which the city calls the premier surfing spot in Northeast Florida, plus more than 20 miles of trails and a 60-acre lake for fishing, kayaks, pedal boats and canoes; swimming in the lake is prohibited (Hanna Park). Gates open at 8 a.m. seven days a week; holders of early bird tickets or annual passes may enter from 6 a.m. Day entry is $5 per car for up to six people or $3 per walker or cyclist, and an annual pass costs $92.52 plus tax (Hanna Park fees).

Two practical Hanna Park tips from the city's own rules: active duty military and veterans get half off day admission with a military ID or DD214, though not on annual passes, and dogs are allowed in designated areas on a leash of eight feet or less (Hanna Park rules). The kids splash park runs from the first weekend in May to the first weekend in October, so it is already closed for the season by mid October (Hanna Park). The Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park guide covers the campground loops and the beach access points.

Little Talbot Island is one of the few undeveloped barrier islands left in Northeast Florida, with more than 5 miles of beach and 3 miles of bike trails, and camping in a forest hammock (Florida State Parks). The Little Talbot Island State Park guide covers the dunes, the beach walk and the campground.

Little Talbot Island charges $5 per vehicle, Big Talbot Island $3 and Fort George Island Cultural State Park nothing, and all three Jacksonville state parks open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset (Little Talbot Island; Big Talbot Island; Fort George Island).

The three state parks share one phone number, 904-251-2320, and Big Talbot Island is mainly a natural preserve for nature study, bird watching and photography, with kayak tours by advance reservation (Big Talbot Island State Park). The Big Talbot Island State Park guide covers Boneyard Beach and the bluff trails.

On Fort George Island the restored 1920s Ribault Club now serves as a visitor center, and small boats, canoes and kayaks can launch on the tidal water behind it; the club closes on Thanksgiving and Christmas (Florida State Parks, Fort George Island). The Fort George Island Cultural State Park guide traces the island's layers of history.

Fort Caroline National Memorial and the Kingsley Plantation grounds in the Timucuan Preserve open Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Theodore Roosevelt Area and Cedar Point open sunrise to sunset (NPS).

Monday and Tuesday are closed days at Fort Caroline and Kingsley Plantation, and every National Park Service area of the Timucuan Preserve closes on Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1; for 2026 that means November 26 and December 25 (Timucuan Preserve operating hours). Restrooms at the Theodore Roosevelt Area open only from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., a detail worth knowing on an early morning hike (NPS hours page).

Cedar Point is a sunrise to sunset site inside the preserve (NPS); the Cedar Point Preserve guide covers its trails. Reddie Point Preserve is a city preserve of 102 acres bought on November 21, 2002, for $3,060,877, with a 700-foot fishing pier, boat docks, a kayak launch and nature trails, open sunrise to sundown at 4499 Yachtsman Way (City of Jacksonville, Reddie Point Preserve). The Reddie Point Preserve guide covers the preserve's pier and trails.

The Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail runs about 14.5 miles from Imeson Road to the Town of Baldwin, with a 12-foot-wide paved path and an equestrian trail beside it, open sunrise to sundown (City of Jacksonville, Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail).

The Rail Trail passes Camp Milton Historic Preserve at 1225 Halsema Road, which serves as its mid-point trailhead, and other trailheads sit at 1800 Imeson Road, Otis Road, the old depot in Baldwin and Brandy Branch Road; about 8.5 miles of unpaved spur trails branch off for day hiking and horseback riding (Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail). The Camp Milton Historic Preserve guide covers the preserve beside the trail.

Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park at 7000 Roosevelt Blvd is open in daylight hours and has hiking and bike trails, a dog park and an observation tower; the land was first leased from the Navy in 1979, the observation tower, nature center and outdoor classroom were dedicated in September 1996, and the park took the Tillie K. Fowler name in 2005 (City of Jacksonville, Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park). The Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park guide follows the old brick road from the Camp Johnston years.

The Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens at 1445 Millcoe Road is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with last entry at 6:30 p.m., charges $3 per person, and welcomes dogs on a leash (Jacksonville Arboretum and Botanical Gardens). The figures differ by source: the operator lists 136 acres, while the City of Jacksonville park page still describes a 120-acre woodland with over three miles of rustic trails (City of Jacksonville, Arboretum page). The Jacksonville Arboretum guide covers the lake loop and the trails.

The Emerald Trail is the trail still being built: when complete it will run more than 30 miles of trails, greenways and parks around the Jacksonville urban core and link at least 14 historic neighborhoods to downtown, Hogans Creek, McCoys Creek and the St. Johns River (Groundwork Jacksonville, Emerald Trail). Groundwork Jacksonville's map shows about half of it in design, under construction or complete, and the Emerald Trail guide tracks which links are open.

Three city parks in and near downtown Jacksonville each have a long civic history: James Weldon Johnson Park across from City Hall, Memorial Park on Riverside Avenue and Metropolitan Park on the urban waterfront (James Weldon Johnson Park; Memorial Park; Metropolitan Park).

James Weldon Johnson Park, at 135 Monroe St. West, began as a public square laid out by Isaiah D. Hart around 1857 and is the oldest park in Jacksonville; City Council renamed Hemming Plaza for James Weldon Johnson on August 11, 2020, under bill 2020-0357-E (City of Jacksonville). The James Weldon Johnson Park guide covers the square's names and its redesign.

Memorial Park, at 1620 Riverside Avenue on the St. Johns River, honors the 1,200 Floridians who died in World War I. The Olmsted Brothers firm designed it, the city bought the land in 1919, and it was dedicated on Christmas Day, 1924; it has an accessible fishing dock (City of Jacksonville, Memorial Park). The Memorial Park guide covers the sculpture Life and the Riverside setting.

Metropolitan Park is an 18.25-acre riverfront park at 4110 Gator Bowl Drive built on a former landfill; ground was broken on December 8, 1982, for a $3.1 million project whose first phase centered on a Performance Pavilion (City of Jacksonville, Metropolitan Park). The Metropolitan Park guide covers its history.

Thirteen Jacksonville park guides go deeper than this hub, one for each park or trail named on this page.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Jacksonville, Florida State Parks, National Park Service, Groundwork Jacksonville and Jacksonville Arboretum websites. Fees, splash park seasons and holiday closures in Jacksonville change from year to year, so the linked agency page is the final word on the day of a visit.