Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve Voyage Tips and guide

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is in the First Coast. It is completely within the city limits of Jacksonville.

• Park website

Timucuan Preserve sites are free and open to the public. Permits are required for weddings, commercial tours and commercial photography.

Reservations are taken for groups planning to visit Fort Caroline, Kingsley Plantation, and the Ribault Club.

• 30.3869-81.50061 Fort Caroline, ☏ +1 904 641-7155. Reconstruction of a 16th-century French fort that was captured by the Spanish.  
• 30.4383-81.43812 Kingsley Plantation, ☏ +1 904 251-3537. Late 18th and early 19th-century plantation established in Spanish Florida. It persisted into the antebellum United States and is arguably the best preserved and longest preserved plantation in the state. Even many of the old tabby concrete cabins, where slaves were kept, still stand as ruins.  
• 30.4267-81.42423 Ribault Club, ☏ +1 904 251-2802. Old mansion and wedding venue built in 1928 near the site of a long-abandoned Spanish mission.  

Map of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

• 30.483056-81.441 Big Talbot Island State Park (on Big Talbot Island, 20 miles east of downtown Jacksonville on A1A North and immediately north of Little Talbot Island State Park). The park is a nature preserve and a location for nature study, bird–watching, or photography. Other activities include hiking, bicycling, fishing, boating, canoeing, and kayaking, and picnicking. Amenities include picnic pavilions, nature trails, a fishing pier, a boat ramp, bike trails and beaches. The park is open from 8AM till sundown year round.  
• 30.451944-81.4188892 Little Talbot Island State Park (on Little Talbot Island, 17 miles northeast of Jacksonville on State Road A1A). The park covers the entire 2,500 acre island. Big Talbot Island State Park lies to the immediate north. The park contains maritime forests, dunes, and salt marshes on the western side of the island. Wild life includes river otters, marsh rabbits, bobcats, and a variety of native and migrating birds. Activities include camping, fishing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, nature watching and surfing. Amenities include a full–facility campground, as well as a youth/group tent campground and beachside picnic pavilions. The park also has bath houses, a small boat ramp, a nature trail, and a playground. Bicycles and canoes can be rented at the campground. The park is open from 8AM till dark.  

• Little Talbot Island Campground, Jimmy Buffett Mem Hwy. A spot at the campsite can be reserved in advance through the Florida State Parks website. (updated Oct 2025)