Jacksonville Recreation Guide

Jacksonville counts more than 80,000 designated acres of parkland, including the 46,000-acre Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, and more than 400 park and recreation sites inside the city limits.

City of Jacksonville Parks, Recreation and Community Services runs that system and calls it the largest urban park system in the country (City of Jacksonville). The department's sites include beaches, golf courses, boat and kayak launches, nature preserves, aquatic facilities, athletic facilities and community centers, so most Jacksonville recreation questions lead back to a JaxParks page.

Inside Jacksonville the main beach parks are Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park and Huguenot Memorial Park, run by the city, and Little Talbot Island State Park, run by Florida State Parks, each charging $5 per vehicle.

Hanna Park, at 500 Wonderwood Drive, has 1.5 miles of sandy beach and is home to The Poles, which the city calls the premier surfing spot in Northeast Florida. Entry is $5 per car for up to six people and $3 per pedestrian or cyclist from 8 a.m. to close; entry from 6 to 8 a.m. needs an early bird ticket or annual pass bought in advance, an annual pass costs $92.52 plus tax, and active duty military and veterans get half off admission (City of Jacksonville). Away from the ocean, Hanna Park has over 20 miles of trails and a 60-acre lake open to fishing, kayaks and pedal boats, but not to swimmers.

Huguenot Memorial Park, at 10980 Heckscher Drive, is a Jacksonville beach park where driving on the sand is allowed along most of the seaward shoreline, subject to seasonal closures for nesting birds. Huguenot Memorial Park vehicle entry is $5 for up to six people and the annual pass is $99.46 with tax (City of Jacksonville). A practical tip from the city's own notices: Huguenot closes to new admissions at times for high tides, capacity or unsafe conditions, and the park office and entrance gate close one hour before closing time, so an arrival in that last hour is turned away.

Little Talbot Island State Park, farther north at 12157 Heckscher Drive, is open 8 a.m. to sunset every day of the year for $5 per vehicle and has more than 5 miles of beaches and 3 miles of bike trails on one of the few undeveloped barrier islands left in Northeast Florida (Florida State Parks). The Jacksonville beaches guide compares these parks with the separate beach cities, and the Jacksonville surfing guide covers the breaks.

JaxParks lists 30 public boat ramps for motorized and non-motorized boats across Jacksonville, from Alimacani on Heckscher Drive to the ramp on Ortega Farms Boulevard.

The list includes Arlington Road at 5103 Arlington Road, Goodbys/John T. Lowe at 9021 San Jose Blvd., Mayport (Michael B. Scanlon) at 4870 Ocean St., Sisters Creek/Jim King Park at 8203 Heckscher Drive and Tommy Hazouri Sr. (Mandarin) Park at 14780 Mandarin Road (City of Jacksonville). Docking at city marinas and floating docks is allowed for up to 72 hours anywhere not signed otherwise, and on the Ortega River between the Grand Ave. and Timuquana Rd. bridges anchoring is capped at 45 consecutive days in a six-month period under Ordinance 2022-61-E.

One downtown change matters this season. The St. Johns Marina ramp at 901 Museum Circle on the Southbank has a planned closure from August 1, 2026, to Summer 2028 while the adjacent South Bank Residences are built, with ramp improvements planned; the city points boaters to the Arlington Road and Arlington Lions Club ramps instead (City of Jacksonville). In the Timucuan Preserve, the National Park Service's Cedar Point ramp into Horseshoe Creek is a free launch for powered and non-powered boats (National Park Service). The Jacksonville boating guide covers ramps and routes on the St. Johns River in more depth.

JaxParks lists more than 30 kayak launches reserved for non-motorized craft, including Dutton Island Preserve, Castaway Island Preserve, Reddie Point Preserve and Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park.

The JaxParks launch list also includes Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park at 4882 Timuquana Rd., the Northbank Riverwalk at the end of Forest Street, and Huguenot Memorial Park, and the city publishes the Greater Jacksonville Paddling Guide, the Intracoastal Marsh Paddling Guide, the Timucuan Trail Waterway Guide and the Nassau River-Thomas Creek Paddling Guide (City of Jacksonville). The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is mostly waterways and wetlands, and the National Park Service advises checking weather, tides and equipment before heading into its marshes (National Park Service). The Jacksonville kayaking guide maps routes and launches in the Timucuan.

Anyone fishing Jacksonville waters needs a Florida fishing license unless exempt; the resident annual saltwater license costs $17.00, and Florida residents fishing saltwater from shore can get a no-cost shoreline license.

For Jacksonville anglers, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fees are $79.00 for a resident five-year saltwater license, $47.00 for a non-resident annual, $17.00 for a non-resident 3-day and $30.00 for a non-resident 7-day license, and a resident saltwater and freshwater combination costs $32.50 (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). The shoreline license is not valid when fishing from a vessel or from a shoreline reached by vessel.

Inside the Timucuan Preserve, a valid Florida license is required for saltwater or freshwater fishing. In the Theodore Roosevelt Area fishing is allowed only in the saltwater marsh and tidal creeks, and fishing from the dock at Kingsley Plantation is prohibited (National Park Service). The Jacksonville fishing guide covers freshwater, brackish and saltwater zones of the St. Johns River and the Atlantic.

The City of Jacksonville's public golf courses include Bent Creek Golf Course, which the city calls its premier public course, and Brentwood Golf Course, which the city owns and Troon Golf Management operates.

Bent Creek Golf Course, at 10440 Tournament Lane, opened in 1989 and plays 6,620 yards to a par of 71 on a layout by Bobby Weed, through a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary (City of Jacksonville). Brentwood Golf Course, at 1157 MB01 Golfer Boulevard, has been the home course of The First Tee of Jacksonville since 2001; that chapter merged with The First Tee of St. Augustine in 2013 to form The First Tee of North Florida (City of Jacksonville). The Jacksonville city golf courses guide covers these and the other municipal courses, with their histories.

Each Jacksonville recreation question has its own guide in this section, from beaches and surf to boat ramps and city golf.

Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the City of Jacksonville website and the Florida State Parks website (City of Jacksonville).