Jacksonville, Florida
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Destination
Guide |
North America >
United States > Florida
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Located in the
double loop of the sparkling St. Johns River in Northeast Florida,
at the crossroads of two transcontinental highways, Jacksonville
offers unlimited cultural and recreational opportunities for visitor
and resident alike. Jacksonville is the largest city in the
contiguous United States in land area. It is a major port, the site
of U.S. Navy bases, the home of the National Football League's
Jacksonville Jaguars, and the location of the annual Gator Bowl.
Downtown Jacksonville is a vibrant city center offering waterfront
dining, world-class entertainment, exciting nightlife, and a wide
variety of sporting events.
Jacksonville’s
riverbanks are connected by a water taxi service and lined with
pedestrian areas, restaurants, and shops. The Jacksonville Landing
shopping and dining complex is located on the north bank of the St.
Johns. On the south bank is the pleasant Riverwalk which connects
Jacksonville Historic Center and the Museum of Science and History.
On the opposite bank is the Cummer Museum of Art. The surrounding
residential district contains an amazing array of Revival Style
architecture.
Jacksonville boasts
28 miles of beaches as well as fresh water lakes inland in a number
of the 350 beautiful parks. Near Jacksonville Beach, island parks
offer pristine beaches, sand dunes, and marshlands. Visitors to the
area enjoy kayaking, sailing, canoeing, hiking, biking, fishing,
swimming, surfing, bird watching and camping.
Every fall,
Jacksonville Beach is the site of an extraordinary parade and the
return of the whales. Endangered whales visit the area to calve in
Florida's warm coastal waters. Just a short ferry ride across the
St. Johns River is Big Talbot Island, where a bird sanctuary,
rock-like outcroppings and fallen trees have become bleached and
weathered with time, making the island a dramatic sight and a
popular spot for artists and photographers. Little Talbot Island is
a 2,500-acre island devoted entirely to a protected state park
containing wide beaches and high dunes. Fishing is excellent in the
island's small ponds and salt marshes.
At the Fort George
State Cultural Site, huge oyster shell mounds are evidence of
Timucuan Indian habitation dating back more than 7,000 years.
Another strange phenomenon is Mount Cornelia, which at 65 feet above
sea level is the highest point along the Atlantic coast south of
North Carolina. Comprised of more than 46,000 acres along
Jacksonville's river and oceanfront, the Timucuan Ecological and
Historic Preserve protects important wetlands and historic sites.
North of the
Timucuan Preserve lies Amelia Island. At the center of the park is
a Civil War era fort where the park rangers dress in authentic
uniforms and conduct candlelight tours reminiscent of 1864. Nature
trails guide visitors through areas of sand dunes, overwash plains,
and estuarine tidal marshes.
Even in downtown
Jacksonville, nature trails are found at the 40-acre Tree Hill
Nature Center and in the University of North Florida's 12 miles of
trails which provide examples of every type of terrain found in
Northeast Florida.
South of
Jacksonville Beach, Guana River State Park sits on 2,400 acres of
undeveloped Atlantic seacoast. Among the preserve's special features
are a five-mile coastal strand, an ancient Spanish well and
2,000-year-old Indian shell bluffs. Families can mountain bike along
nine miles of old service roads or boat through nearby rivers.
The weather, the
native flowers and trees, the riverfront, the ocean beaches, the
architecture, the local theater and Symphony Orchestra, the sporting
events, the many recreational possibilities, all add up to an ideal
vacation at any time of the year for visitors of all ages and
interests. |
