Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve

Players:  Jenny, Zach & Jackson

Date of Visit:  January 2011

Website:  www.nps.gov/timu
Location:  Florida
Entrance Fee:  Free (unless you decide to enter the beach/visitor areas of the Talbot Islands State Parks)
Type of Trip:  Daytrip from home
Park Passport Stamps Available:  4

Trip Report:  Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve is a small NPS unit in/near Jacksonville, Florida -- I did not even know it existed until I was on the Park Service website doing a search on all the NPS units in the state of Florida.  It is made up of several small areas in the Jacksonville area, all of which have some historical or ecological significance and provides a glimpse of Florida's past.  The main visitor center is at the Ft. Caroline section of the park; the other areas you can visit are the Theodore Roosevelt Area, the Ribault Club on Ft. George Island, the Talbot Islands State Parks, and Kingsley Plantation.  There are no camping or food options within the National Park area, making this a great one-day trip.  There are, however, picnic areas available as well as camping in the state parks on the Talbot Islands.  In addition, you have to drive from section to section of this park, so there are plenty of opportunities to grab something to eat if you didn't bring your picnic basket.  Dogs are allowed throughout all of the park units, as long as they remain outdoors and on a leash.  If you visit, I highly recommend picking up (or downloading here) a copy of the "If You Have One Day" brochure, which outlines the best way to visit all of the sections of this park in one day.

Jackson & Zach taking a break near Ft. Caroline

We started at the Ft. Caroline section of the park.  We arrived a little after noon and the small parking lot was nearly full of cars.  We had brought a picnic lunch, and so spend the first half an hour of our visit eating at one of the picnic tables outside the Visitor's Center.  We did have a nice view of the St. John's River while we ate.

After a quick lunch, we took a look around the Visitor's Center.  It is very small, but has some interesting displays, including some 17th century Spanish armor and a Timucuan owl totem, thought to be one of the only existing totems of this kind from east of the Mississippi River.  Jackson also asked the ranger for a Junior Ranger packet -- the first one he's done (more on that later).

Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve is named for the Timucua (TEEM-oh-kwa) people that lived in this area before the arrival of the Europeans.  North Florida and southern Coastal Georgia were home to approximately 200,000 people at the point of European first contact.

Engraving of Timucuan people by Jacques le Moyne (from Wikipedia's Common Source File)

A path leading down a short hill from the Visitor's Center brings you to a Timucuan Hut and Shell Mound, similar to what the people of this area would have built.  The rangers lead daily talks about the history of the Timucua on this site.

Jackson in the entry of the hut

In 1564, the French came to Florida, and established their first colony in the present-day United States.  They named their settlement Ft. Caroline.  The French settlement was intended to be a refuge for the Hugenots fleeing from France, but it was only occupied by the French for approximately one year before being taken over by the Spanish who had a much stronger foothold in the region.  The Spaniards then built a new fort on the site, which was abandoned shortly thereafter.  Today, a replica one-third scale fort occupies a site near where the first fort stood; the fort's original location has been lost, and is most likely obscured by the movement of the St. John's River.  The replica fort was built in 1964 and is based on historic drawings of the French fort.  There's not much here to look at, although the view across the river is nice.  It did make me think about how lonely this must have been for the people who were trying to settle here....and how strange this must have looked to the people who were already here.

Gate of the replica fort

Jackson and Zach next to one of the cannon

View downriver from the fort

After visiting the fort, we decided to walk the Hammock Trail Loop Nature Walk.  This easy one-mile trail winds through several ecosystems that exist in Floria; one of the interesting things about hiking in Florida is that an elevation change of just a few feet can make a difference in the trees and plants that you encounter.  This trail is well marked, wide, and has interesting displays along its length about the different ecosystems.  Jackson particularly enjoyed learning about the ferns that curl up when there hasn't been much rain.  We did encounter a few other people walking the trail, including a few with dogs.

Walking on the trail

Jackson made Zach take a nap on a log

The Theodore Roosevelt area of the park is nearby; however we chose to skip that section of the park in favor of heading out to Kingsley Plantation.  The Theodore Roosevelt section provides more opportunities for hiking and birdwatching.

Before leaving the Ft. Caroline area, Jackson completed his Junior Ranger Activity Book.  The Activity Book is just a few pages of educational activities that kids can complete (with the help of parents if necessary).  If the child completes the activities in the book, he or she can present the book at the Visitor's Center for a badge.  Jackson was very proud to receive a plastic badge for his efforts.  Upon receiving the badge, the ranger asked Jackson to pledge to help take care of our parks -- and I have heard him several times since this trip refer to "I'm a park ranger now!"  We did buy him a replica Park Ranger hat at the gift store (what can I say, I'm a sucker for the Park Ranger uniform......) and then I made him pose for the obligatory picture.

Junior Ranger Jackson and the NPS Arrowhead

With that task completed, we made sure to stamp our passport books and we headed off to Kingsley Plantation.  The other sites of the Preserve are on the north side of the St. John's River, and take about 45 minutes to reach by car.  The next site you can visit is the Ribault Club on Ft. George's Island; it is a recently-restored 1920s golf clubhouse and provides a look into this historical and natural history of the area. We skipped this as well because it was getting fairly late in the day.

The North Florida stamps in my National Parks Passport book

Our next stop was Kingsley Plantation, also on Ft. George Island.  Kingsley Plantation is an old sea island cotton plantation and includes the oldest standing plantation house in Florida as well as some of the the outbuildings and slave quarters still remaining.  Kingsley Plantation lies down a bumpy gravel road, but it is well marked.  Our first stop was the Visitor's Center, and we discovered that a tour of the plantation house would be commencing shortly.  The plantation house is currently undergoing repairs, and only small groups of people are allowed into the house, accompanied by a guide.  There were only a few other visitors present on this day, so we joined the tour. Our ranger guide was very informative, and provided quite a bit of information about the plantation house.  The house itself is rather small, hardly the sort of thing a person imagines when picturing the plantation houses of the south.  However, the guide did a nice job of explaining why the house is so much smaller than you might thing (pirates were active on the river right outside the house, and taxes were assessed based on square footage of the house).  He also did a nice job of explaining how the house was originally laid out to catch the breeze off the river -- very important in the Florida summer, well before air-conditioning.  The house itself is not all that interesting inside; due to the restoration, there is no furniture or furnishings in the house.  Jackson got quite bored by the tour. 

View of the river from in front of the plantation house

After the tour, we took a look at the kitchen and barn, and then headed over to the slave quarters.  The slave quarters were built in a large semi-circle, and there are several buildings (around 25) still standing.  They are constructed of tabby, a lime/sand/shell building material that was used in this area because there was no clay suitable for bricks.  The houses were built between 1815-1830, and each contained a sleeping area, fire place and another room.  They are not large, and would house a family or two at a time. They are considered to be some of the best surviving examples of slave quarters in the United States, because many others were destroyed after Emancipation or rotted away due to their poor construction.

Slave cabins at Kingsley Plantation

Zach takes it all in

After our visit to Kingsley Plantation, we took a drive through the Talbot Islands (both Big and Little) State Parks, and finally ended up on a public access beach on Amelia Island.  Zach had promised Jackson a short trip to the beach to collect shells and fly a Star Wars TIE Fighter kite (it was much too cold to swim), so we spent about an hour on the beach (until it got too dark and cold to be out).

Flying the kite at sunset

This was a great day trip from home, and again I was more than impressed by a relatively unknown National Park Service unit.  I have definitely decided that these small units are more than worth a detour, and can make a fun daytrip all by themselves -- and I usually learn something too.  If you find yourself in North Florida, you should take a look at Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve.