By state
National parks in Florida
Every national park and public-land unit in Florida, scored and ranked by our Experience Score.
Florida has several national park units. They differ in type and location. The state's National Park Service properties fall into three general areas. South Florida contains a large subtropical wilderness. Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Biscayne National Park create an arc of sawgrass, cypress, and coastal water. Dry Tortugas is a remote offshore area. It is accessible only by ferry or seaplane. A quieter northern and Gulf Coast section includes Gulf Islands National Seashore and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve near Jacksonville. Not many people visit Timucuan. Water is a main feature in these parks. This includes snorkeling over seagrass in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary or paddling in Biscayne's backcountry. Florida suits those who enjoy being outdoors in heat and humidity. It offers both true wilderness and family friendly shorelines. It also has less-visited spots like Jupiter Inlet.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo
National Preserve · FL
Big Cypress National Preserve
Big Cypress National Preserve spans 729,000 acres of subtropical wilderness in South Florida.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS image by Shaun Wolfe
National Park · FL
Biscayne National Park
Biscayne National Park, remarkably, reports 95 percent of its area as submerged or open water.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo by Miguel Salas
National Park · FL
Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park presents a unique proposition among national parks.
90DOES IT ALL
NPS/Doggrell
National Seashore · FL
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Gulf Islands National Seashore offers an exceptional, activity-rich experience across Florida and Mississippi.
88DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo/Darryl Herring
Ecological & Historic Preserve · FL
Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve offers genuine ecological diversity and two distinct historic sites across a sprawling, free-to-enter expanse on Florida's northeastern coast.
85DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo / Brett Seymour
National Park · FL
Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas is one of the most logistically demanding parks in the lower 48, and also one of the most rewarding.
81WIDE RANGE
Kenneth Henke, BLM
Recreation Area · FL
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area
Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area offers an impressive density of experience within its 120 acres on Florida's Treasure Coast.
78WIDE RANGE
Matt McIntosh/NOAA
Recreation Area · FL
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is not a terrestrial park experience; its essence lies entirely on and under the water.
75WIDE RANGE
NPS Photo Lord
National Seashore · FL
Canaveral National Seashore
Canaveral National Seashore protects 24 miles of undeveloped Atlantic barrier island coastline in central Florida, just north of Kennedy Space Center.
60GOOD RANGE
Jim Reid - USFWS
National Wildlife Refuge · FL
Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge
Crystal River is the single best place in the United States to get genuinely close to wild Florida manatees, and that one fact justifies the trip entirely.
59GOOD RANGE
USFWS - Stacy Shelton
National Wildlife Refuge · FL
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Merritt Island presents a unique case in conservation, shaped by its origins within NASA's undeveloped lands.
57GOOD RANGE
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve
Recreation Area · FL
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve
Apalachicola, while not a blockbuster destination, offers a rarer experience: a functioning, largely intact estuary on the Florida panhandle.
57GOOD RANGE
NPS Photo
National Monument · FL
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort Matanzas offers a focused historical experience.
56GOOD RANGE
Tim Ohr
National Memorial · FL
De Soto National Memorial
De Soto National Memorial interprets a pivotal and brutal chapter in the collision between Spanish conquistadors and indigenous peoples of the Southeast, commemorating the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto and his army of roughly 600.
56GOOD RANGE
Steve Hillebrand - USFWS
National Wildlife Refuge · FL
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
St.
49FOCUSED
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
National Wildlife Refuge · FL
Nathaniel P. Reed Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge
Hobe Sound offers a genuine slice of old Florida, a 3.5-mile stretch of undeveloped Atlantic beach and mangrove-lined Indian River Lagoon.
47FOCUSED
Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve
Recreation Area · FL
Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve
GTM Reserve is not a landmark-driven destination.
How the Florida order is set
These 17 Florida units are ranked by one number, run identically nationwide: the Experience Score, built only from public records on documented breadth and access. It says nothing about scenery or how busy a place gets. Same formula everywhere, so a Florida park and a desert one are read on the same terms.
Keep the blind spots in mind: scenery, seasonal crowds, trail conditions and program quality are all outside this score. A quiet, single-focus spot can land low and still win the weekend. The ranking is a fair look at what is documented, not a ruling on which Florida park you will love.