Bahia Honda State Park
The Bahia Honda State Park is a state park in the US state of Florida. The 212 acre park is located on Bahia Honda Key Island, an island in the Florida Keys 19 kilometers south of Marathon . It is west of the Seven Mile Bridge . The Overseas Highway , US Highway 1 , runs through the park .
history
Bahia Honda comes from the Spanish and means "deep bay". Bahia Honda Key Island was part of Henry Morrison Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway . The route of the railway now serves as US Highway 1. The old Bahia Honda Bridge , which was once more than 1.5 kilometers long, is reminiscent of Flagler's railway. Because of the up to 12 meters deep water in front of the island, the construction of the bridge was one of the most expensive in the construction of the Railway line. After a new car bridge was built, part of the old bridge was removed in 1972 to make boat traffic easier. From the accessible part, the bridge now offers visitors a panoramic view of the island and the adjacent waters. After the Overseas Highway was completed in the 1950s, Bahia Honda Key served as a county park. Despite its lack of infrastructure, it was a popular destination for picnicking and swimming. The state park was established in 1961 when the state acquired the first five acres of land on Bahia Honda. In 1992 Stephen Leatherman aka Dr. Beach named America's Best Beach in its America's Best Beaches ranking .
geology
Bahia Honda is located in the transition between the northeastern Limestone Islands and the southwestern coral islands of the Florida Keys.
Flora and fauna
Bahia Honda is an excellent place to spot sea birds and waders . Roseate spoonbills , brown pelicans , blue herons or turnstone are found among many other species. In the year 2000 hawksbill sea turtles were observed for the first time on Bahia Honda, which are very rare in Florida, while otherwise the loggerhead turtles are more native to Bahia Honda. On Bahia Honda in 1999, butterflies of the Miami Bluebirds , a bluebird subspecies, were discovered that were already considered extinct. Bahia Honda is a botanical treasure. Plant seeds from the Caribbean were carried to the island by wind, waves and birds, so that it has a unique Caribbean vegetation for the Florida Keys. The Silver Palm Trail at Sandspur Beach runs through the largest population of silver palm trees in the United States.
activities
There is a fee to use the state park. The park is known for its four kilometers of white sandy beaches, which are counted among the most beautiful in Florida:
- Calusa on the northwest side has sanitary facilities with outdoor showers and small pavilions
- Loggerhead on the south side of the island has a large sand bank in front of it and therefore a very shallow beach.
- The largest beach is Sandspur, it is located at the southeast end of the island and also has sanitary facilities with outdoor showers.
There are three fully equipped campsites in the park and a few holiday homes on the beach. Kayaks and snorkeling equipment can be borrowed. Boat trips are offered to the offshore coral reef. Anglers can fish on the beach or from the old railway bridge. The park has two boat ramps and a mooring. A road more than five kilometers long leads through the park, on which one can explore the park by bike. Rangers offer introductions for nature lovers to the flora and fauna and the history of the Overseas Highway.
literature
- Vici DeHaan: State parks of the South: America's historic paradise. Johnson Books 1996, ISBN 978-1555661670
Web links
- Internet presence at www.floridastateparks.org (engl.)
- Bahia Honda on the tourism website of the USA (German)
- Beaches in Bahia Honda State Park
- Bahia Honda State Park on the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System