PRINCESS PLACE PRESERVE

2500 Princess Place Rd, Palm Coast, FL

Princess Place Preserve is the crown jewel of Flagler County's preserves. This beautiful 1500 acre preserve is located at the confluence of Pellicer Creek, Moody Creek, and the Matanzas River. Once home to a Russian prince, this preserve on the Matanzas River offers freshwater creek, salt marsh and woodland habitats. 

 

WASHINGTON OAKS GARDENS STATE PARK

6400 N Ocean Shore Blvd, Palm Coast, FL

This park is on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. Birding can be enjoyed in a variety of habitats including the beach, Matanzas River, and throughout the formal gardens. Each year during the migratory seasons birding becomes a very popular activity at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park.

PALM COAST WATERFRONT PARK

150 Waterfront Park, Palm Coast, FL

Walk along the Intracoastal Waterway to see Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Osprey, Ibis, and Bald Eagles. You might also spot dolphin and manatee!

GTM NERR - Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research

2690 S Ponte Vedra Blvd, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Peregrine Falcons, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, Magnificent Frigatebirds, Gull-billed Terns, Piping Plovers, Gray Kingbirds, shorebirds, Clapper Rails, ducks, loons, grebes, warblers, buntings, grosbeaks and other songbirds, plovers and American Oystercatchers.

 

LONG CREEK NATURE PRESERVE

1050 Palm Harbor Pkwy, Palm Coast, FL 

This is the newest jewel in the City of Palm Coast's park system. The nine-acre preserve provides fishing and kayak/canoe access to both Long Creek and College Waterway, and a tranquil area for walking and enjoying the outdoors. The property is a major archeological resource, the Hernandez Landing Site, related to the early1800s Plantation Period in Florida. 

 

CENTRAL PARK

975 Central Avenue, Palm Coast, FL

Half mile trail around a lake in the heart of town.

 
LINEAR PARK

31 Greenway Court, Palm Coast, FL

57-acres with many amenities for all to enjoy, including a playground, picnic pavilions, hiking and biking trails, shuffleboard, bocce ball and bird watching. The park has been designated as a Great Florida Birding Trail by the Audubon Society for its vast diversity of bird species.

  

THE BETTY STEFLIK MEMORIAL PRESERVE

815 Moody Ln, Flagler Beach, FL

217 acres offer the visitor a unique view of the salt marsh and coastal scrub communities. Walk the trails through the coastal scrub and stroll the boardwalk over the salt marsh for a close-up view of the plants and animals of these marine communities in their natural habitat. Enjoy bird watching, fish from the pier, launch your boat from the Moody Boat Launch for fun in the Intracoastal Waterway, or treat yourself to a picnic.  The preserve lies along the eastern side of the Intracoastal Waterway south of State Road 100. Amenities:  Birding, Canoeing & Kayaking, Fishing, Hiking / Nature Trail, Pets, Picnic Pavilion, Restroom Facilities, and Wildlife Viewing

 

BIRD OF PARADISE NATURE PRESERVE

Bird of Paradise Lane, Palm Coast FL

A passive pet-friendly park on the shoreline of Bird of Paradise Lake provides neighborhood residents a place to enjoy nature

 

BULOW PLANTATION RUINS HISTORIC STATE PARK

3501 Old Kings Road, Flagler Beach FL

Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park, a piece of the past awaiting exploration, has something for everyone and every interest. While walking through the ruins of what were once rooms in this enormous operation, one can almost smell the smoke from the Kettles processing raw cane juice into sugar and molasses. Bulow Plantation is open all but Tuesdays and Wednesdays year round. The park offers recreational opportunities such as canoeing, hiking, birding and a screened picnic shelter is available for reservations for family and group gatherings. What better place to connect with family, friends and the past. Activities: walking, boating ramps, bird-watching, fishing, canoeing, hiking.

 

FLAGLER BEACH MUNICIPAL PIER

215 S. Oceanshore Blvd,Flagler Beach, FL

Officially opened in 1928, the pier is one of the area’s most popular fishing spots. Open 6AM to 12 midnight year round, the pier is great for fishing and bird watching, and stretches out into the Atlantic Ocean.

 

HAW CREEK PRESERVE AT RUSSELL LANDING

From the intersection of SR 100 and US 1 in Bunnell, drive west on SR 100 for 7.5 miles to SR 305. Turn left. Drive south on SR 305 for 4.1 miles until you reach CR 2006. Turn right. After 1 mile, turn left on CR 2007, a dirt road, at the large “Russell Landing” sign. Drive 2.2 miles, passing the Pellicer Community Center. The road enters Haw Creek Preserve and ends at a parking area.

Secluded and special, Haw Creek Preserve nestles up along the shores of Haw Creek, a blackwater stream that slowly flows towards Crescent Lake from the marshlands of Flagler County. Protecting nearly a thousand acres, this county preserve offers an easy boardwalk trail set well above the floodplain, enabling you to enjoy spectacular fall colors, a dense forest canopy, and an array of spring and fall wildflowers.

 

JUNGLE HUT ROAD PARK

125 Jungle Hut Rd, Palm Coast, FL

This two-acre site is great for looking for ruby-throated hummingbirds during the summer and gannets during the winter. Take the dune walkover to find shorebirds, gulls, and pelicans. Activities: walking, sunbathing, bird watching, beach access, parking, pet friendly

 

MALA COMPRA ROAD BEACHFRONT PARK

115 Malacompra Road, Palm Coast, FL

This park offers trails through a maritime oak hammock and ocean scrub community. This 36-acre park overlooks the longest exposed outcropping of coquina rock, monuments of spectacular sculpting created by the rising sea 5,000 years ago on the Florida East Coast.  Activities: walking, sunbathing, bird watching, playground, ball fields, volleyball courts, picnicking, beach access, parking.

 

MATANZAS INLET

8655 A1A S, St Augustine FL

Look for shorebirds like Semipalmated Plovers foraging along the wrackline and Spotted Sandpipers compulsively bobbing their tails. Scope the river for ducks like Red-breasted and Hooded Mergansers, as well as loons and grebes. On the ocean side, terns and gulls become more abundant and the opportunity to spot Northern Gannets and other pelagic birds arises. Black Skimmers, Piping Plovers and Gray Kingbirds can be found here.

 

FRANK RENDON PARK

2705 S Atlantic Ave, Daytona Beach, FL

This beach hosts what may be the largest congregation of gulls on any beach in the United States with as many as 30,000 gulls each evening. This beach has consistently turned up species that are rare in Florida, including the only record of Vega Gull in Florida. Laughing, Franklin, Ring-billed, Herring, Bonaparte's, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Glaucous, Iceland, Thayer's and California Gulls have all been recorded. In addition, possible European Herring Gull, Yellow-legged Gulls and even a possible Slatybacked Gull have appeared in the past. In addition to the gulls, this beach is the best location in Florida to regularly see jaegers from shore. Each evening the gulls leave the beach and settle on the ocean just beyond the breakers. Jaegers regularly patrol these huge groups, harassing the gulls.