John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park, is a treasure hidden away from the Overseas Highway at milemarker 102.5 only a few miles after you get off the first bridge leading to Key Largo and the rest of the Florida Keys.
Last week my family and I spent three days at the Key Largo Manatee Bay Resort only half a mile from the entrance to John Pennenkamp Coral Reef State Park. The park is known as a diver's paradise, because of its coral reefs and remnants of a Spanish shipwreck. To get to many of the reefs a boat ride is recommended, and tours are offered from inside the park.
While John Pennenkamp State Park is a diver's paradise, my family and I went there for the beaches and the mangrove trails. The park has two man-made beaches Cannon beach, which is great for snorkeling, and Far Beach which is more for swimming and relaxing.
Far Beach
The park has two mangrove trails the Wild Tamarind Trail and the Mangrove Trail.
The park is a perfect place for kayaking and canoeing, and if you do not have your own you can rent it inside the park. There is a 2 1/2 mile route inside the park itself, where you can explore the mangroves.
The park has many picnic tables were it is possible to enjoy a bite for lunch or utilize the bbq grills for a nice dinner in the wild.
John Pennenkamp State Park is a fantastic place to relax and wind down, and with less than an hour drive from Miami it is the perfect escape from the busy pace of city life.
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Comments: 25
great pics
That's a beautiful park.
nice pictures :)
Seems like you guys are always on the go.
Great pictures, and it looks like an awesome state park to visit. I would be afraid of getting in the water when there are trees nearby, kinda in the water...that's where scary things hide! :)
Yes, Priscilla my husband was not too happy about the mangroves either. You should have seen the faces of some of the tourists, when a huge iguana jumped into the water and swam across the beach. At first a lot of them thought it was an alligator:)
I'd be creeped as well. Snakes! Ugh.
That is what I would be afraid of!
I chose to think about the wonders instead of all the scary stuff...otherwise I would probably have been stuck on the beach:)
I will admit that it was fantastic to get back to our own beach the other day with no mangroves, seaweeds and all the stuff hiding in there.
What a beautiful place to visit!
Fantastic photos of your trip to Coral Reef State Park. It looks like a beautiful place to visit.
Its sounds like a great place to vacation
We have friends who like to go camp there! Great photos!
It looks heavenly!
Beautiful park
Looks like a very nice place.
This was a beautiful photo essay of some of your vacation pics. I am glad you and your family had such a great time!
Looks like HOME, the Gulf mangroves don't smell quite right and there is a little bird of some sort that made exactly the same sound as a 1980's Star Trek communicator squawk that I miss as well!
Lovely photos!
Great story and photo essay those trails look like a ton of fun ,is it expensive to rent a canoe there.
You got some great pictures. I would love to see the Keys someday.
Nice photos and essay
Any beach sounds goof to me right about now. It's humid here
Beautiful and scenic... a place I'd love to visit!
What a wonderful and scenic photo essay of this park,