Florida’s A1A is an asphalt ribbon that follows the Atlantic Coast, typically hugging the seaside, the size of this very lengthy state.
There are pretty sections up and down the coast, however there are additionally traffic-clogged stretches the place highrises line each side of State Highway A1A.
My favourite part of A1A is the 30-mile stretch between Ormond Seashore and Matanzas Inlet, between Daytona Seashore and St. Augustine. This part is unsurpassed for its magnificence, historical past and its lack of dense improvement.
Right here, you possibly can drive 20-some miles and not using a site visitors mild and discover almost empty seashores with free parking. As you head north, you enter a cover of magnificent dwell oak bushes that may be a route by a Florida you in all probability thought was gone ceaselessly.
Past the scenic magnificence, this space has so many attention-grabbing state parks and historic websites you can take all day or a number of days to discover this brief stretch of A1A.
Listed below are highlights of this drive, beginning on the south finish at Ormond Seashore.
Place to begin: Ormond Seashore
Ormond Seashore is simply 5 miles north of Daytona Seashore, however has a small city vibe and historic really feel.
Beginning at Ormond Seashore, A1A can be a part of one other fabulous scenic drive, the 34-mile-long Ormond Scenic Loop and Path. Relying the place you’re primarily based, you possibly can plan a route that encompasses each. For this information, we’re sticking to A1A, however extremely advocate this loop path for those who’re within the space.
In Ormond Seashore, there are two stops moments off A1A to think about.
First, a couple of blocks west of A1A, there’s a lovely public park on the Halifax River/Intracoastal Waterway across the historic residence of John D. Rockefeller. The Casements, now a cultural middle, is open for excursions. Even with out taking time to tour, the 1910 constructing is value a cease due to the general public park house with landscaping and fountains constructed between it and the river. It’s a fantastic place for a picnic or a brief stroll.
Second, Tomoka State Park is three miles north of the Casements by a stunning residential neighborhood alongside the west facet of the Halifax River. Tomoka State Park is an efficient place to walk, picnic, paddle and bike. The Tomoka Outpost on the boat ramp gives leases of canoes, tandem and solo kayaks.
Finest seaside views start right here
As soon as you allow Ormond Seashore heading north on A1A, you drive solely three miles earlier than A1A returns to what I consider is its rightful place – proper alongside the seaside, with vast views of the dunes, sand and surf.
As A1A rejoins the seaside, you come to the primary of many alternatives to park and stroll alongside the seaside, Al Weeks Sr. North Shore Park (1631 Ocean Shore Blvd.). Like many locations alongside this part of A1A, parking is delightfully free. The park has loos, benches and a brief boardwalk with a railing overlooking the seaside.
Seashores listed below are so hard-packed they are perfect for folks (like me) who love lengthy strolls alongside the surf. You’ll notice that the seashores appear like they’ve been sprinkled with cinnamon. The coral colour comes from coquina, a tender rock manufactured from historic marine reefs and limestone that was used to construct historic Castillo San Marco in St. Augustine, amongst different buildings.
If you wish to take a one-mile stroll from this park, you possibly can attain the following attention-grabbing level alongside A1A, the World Battle II watchtower.
World Battle II watchtower
Most individuals whiz proper previous this spot, however for those who like historic websites, it’s value pausing.
Tucked alongside the seaside at 2269 Ocean Shore Blvd., the World Battle II submarine watchtower was inbuilt 1942. Greater than 15,000 towers like this have been constructed alongside the coast however few stay.
These towers have been staffed by civilian volunteer “spotters,” who have been a part of the Floor Statement Corps, looking forward to German airplanes, submarines and infiltrators. (Little identified historical past: There WERE German spies who got here ashore Florida seashores.)
You’ll be able to’t climb the watchtower, however good signage helps you’re feeling a bit of heat and patriotic fascinated with the volunteers who spent hours right here looking forward to the enemy 80-some years in the past. There isn’t any parking in entrance of it or throughout the road.
North Peninsula State Park and Gamble Rogers State Park
As you proceed north on A1A, you come to 2 extra state parks. Their presence leads to expanses of preserved land right here, from the ocean to past the Intracoastal. (The Intracoastal Waterway is the Halifax River in Ormond Seashore and the Matanzas River in Flagler Seashore and factors north.)
North Peninsula State Park contributes virtually three miles of unspoiled seaside. If you happen to go west a brief distance on Excessive Bridge Highway (which, by the way, is the route of the Ormond Scenic Loop and Path), you come to Smith Creek Touchdown on the Intracoastal, the place you possibly can picnic and take the two-mile-long Coastal Scenic Path. There isn’t any admission price at this park.
Gamble Rogers State Park is a small state park primarily identified for its lovely seashores and campgrounds which can be particularly well-liked with RV campers. Admission is $5 per automobile.
Flagler Seashore is an Outdated Florida seaside city
Heading north, you move by the cool little seaside city of Flagler Seashore, a low-rise Outdated Florida seaside strip with some good beachfront eating places. In Flagler Seashore, you possibly can nonetheless snag a free parking place on A1A subsequent to the seaside.
The “downtown” is anchored by the fishing pier, constructed 80 years in the past and rebuilt after a number of hurricanes. The pier was once more broken by hurricanes in 2022 and will likely be closed for a number of years for rebuilding. This time, it is going to be greater, wider and constructed from concrete. Remaining open, nonetheless, is an outside bar and an indoor restaurant on the pier with excellent views.
As you journey north from Flagler Seashore, the Atlantic continues to be straightforward to view, and one other good cease to stroll on the seaside or use the restroom is Varn Park, the place parking is free. (We liked the pavilion, which appears to be like mid-century fashionable, although we couldn’t discover any data on it.)
Below the cover of ‘the Hammock’
After A1A northbound crosses the Flagler Seashore metropolis limits, mansions begin filling the oceanfront facet of A1A. In a couple of miles, a curve away from the seaside takes you thru probably the most Outdated Florida part of A1A, by a forested space known as the Hammock.
On this part, A1A is lined with thick forest and large moss-draped oak bushes. There’s a paved bike path alongside the freeway and several other spots to cease for those who’re searching for a break. (If you happen to convey bikes, I like to recommend utilizing this path to discover this stretch of A1A and the small roads that lead off it to the seaside.)
At Jungle Hut Highway (named after an outdated vacationer memento store), for those who go east, you’ll come to Jungle Hut Park, the place a one-mile mountaineering path loops by lovely hardwood forest. On the finish of that highway, there’s free parking at a small seaside park.
Equally, sixteenth Highway East ends on the beachfront Outdated Salt Park, once more with free parking and a spectacular seaside, and Mala Compra Highway ends on the Mala Compra Seashore.
We particularly loved Mala Compra Seashore as a result of that is designated as an equine space. An area clothing store, Equestrian Adventures of Florida, gives beachfront horseback path rides. You should reserve upfront. We liked watching the horses on the sand (the place the guides additionally do cleanup responsibility after the horses.)
Make a cease at Bing’s Touchdown
My greatest tip on this total article could also be to advocate Bing’s Touchdown at Mala Compra Highway.
You wouldn’t comprehend it from A1A, nevertheless it’s an distinctive historic spot with lovely views of the Matanzas River. As you drive by, you would possibly suppose it’s only a boat launch with an enormous car parking zone, which it is also.
However this park has so many issues going for it, together with a preferred waterfront restaurant known as Captain’s BBQ, which earns 4½ stars on Yelp and TripAdvisor.
The park additionally has shaded picnic tables and piers with nice viewing spots for the Matanzas River, the place it is not uncommon to see dolphin and the occasional manatee. There may be even a brief path on the south finish of the park.
What’s distinctive concerning the park, although, is the seen archaeological website with glorious interpretation. Below an enormous masking surrounded by an elevated boardwalk, you look down into the excavated website of the Mala Compra Plantation home, lively from 1816 till it was burned down within the Second Seminole Battle in 1836.
In depth signage explains who owned the plantation (the nation’s first Hispanic Congressman, Joseph Marion Hernández) and offers background on the Seminole Indians. There may be additionally a bit of data on the enslaved individuals who lived right here.
The power of the exhibit is your means to peek into an archaeological website and the reason about what was discovered right here.
You’d anticipate an exhibit like this in a state or nationwide park, however with minimal signage on A1A, many have no idea it’s even right here. Mala Compra, by the best way, means “dangerous discount.” (Issues didn’t finish properly right here, so perhaps it was.)
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, which is only a mile north of Bing’s Touchdown, is considered one of my favourite little-known state parks. There are two sides to Washington Oaks Gardens, fairly actually.
On the west facet of A1A, the park gives pretty formal gardens — historic spreading oak bushes, a meandering waterway fed by a transparent spring, plantings of roses and azaleas and a gazebo.
On the east facet of A1A is without doubt one of the most uncommon seashores in Florida. There may be barely an indication; the highway to the seaside references solely the “Florida scrub” habitat adjoining the seaside. However for those who did your analysis (or learn Florida Rambler), you understand that the seaside at Washington Oaks is lined with coquina rocks carved by the weather into swirls and bowls and all kinds of fantastical shapes.
Marineland and the River to Sea Protect
Simply over two miles north, you come to a posh with a wealthy historical past the place you’ve gotten one other glorious alternative to admire the dunes and seaside.
Marineland opened in 1938 primarily to movie underwater scenes for tv and movement footage. Housing marine creatures, the ability was on the forefront of understanding the care and coaching of dolphins. After World Battle II, as vacationers drove down A1A into Florida, Marine Studios reworked into Marineland, and have become one of many state’s prime vacationer sights within the Sixties and Seventies.
Right this moment it’s owned by the Georgia Aquarium and makes a speciality of human-dolphin interplay.
Instantly north of Marineland is Flagler County’s new River to Sea Protect. The principle attraction is a boardwalk atop the sand dune bluff with glorious signage concerning the area. There’s an enormous car parking zone (free) with restrooms, making it an excellent cease when cruising A1A.
Don’t miss Matanzas Inlet
The ultimate 2.5 miles of our advisable part of A1A takes you to the final nice cease, the Matanzas Inlet. With its lengthy bridge and views of undeveloped seaside and lagoon lands, the inlet is without doubt one of the most lovely scenes alongside A1A. It’s value stopping right here for 2 causes.
There’s a free boat journey throughout the lagoon to go to and tour Fort Matanzas Nationwide Monument. The 1742 Spanish fort, a property of the Nationwide Park System, and the accompanying ferry is working at a diminished schedule and doesn’t function on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
The parking tons on each side of A1A offer you entry to the peninsula that wraps round A1A on the north finish of the inlet. There’s a broad lovely seaside right here and you’ll stroll alongside the seaside and underneath A1A to understand the views of the Atlantic and over the waters of the inlet, with the small fort off within the distance. It gives a spectacular view at sundown and dolphins are sometimes noticed fishing within the waters of the inlet.
The Matanzas Inlet marks the tip of probably the most scenic stretch of A1A. North of right here, intensive improvement round St. Augustine has modified the unique character and fantastic thing about the highway.
Extra about Florida A1A
A bunch of companies and residents are working to protect this stretch of Florida A1A. Buddies of A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway is a non-profit group with a mission to protect, shield, promote and improve the 72-mile A1A hall in Flagler and St. Johns counties.
The U.S. Division of Transportation designated the A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Freeway as a Nationwide Scenic Byway in 2002.
Bonnie Gross offers tips about visiting the pure and genuine Florida at FloridaRambler.com. You’ll be able to join their publication right here.
