Big Talbot Island State Park

Big Talbot Island State Park
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)

Location	Duval County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Jacksonville, Florida
Coordinates	30°28′59″N 81°26′24″W / 30.48306°N 81.44000°W / 30.48306; -81.44000Coordinates: 30°28′59″N 81°26′24″W / 30.48306°N 81.44000°W / 30.48306; -81.44000
Established	1982
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Big Talbot Island State Park is a Florida State Park located on Big Talbot Island, 20 miles east of downtown Jacksonville on A1A North and immediately north of Little Talbot Island State Park.

The park is a nature preserve and a location for nature study, bird–watching, or photography. Other activities include hiking, bicycling, fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking, and picnicking. Amenities include picnic pavilions, nature trails, a fishing pier, a boat ramp, bike trails and beaches. The park is open from 8:00 am till sundown year round.

The coastal landscape and beach at Big Talbot Island is unique within the state of Florida as result of the lava like hardpan sedimentary deposits. These rocky formations are habitat for mollusca, crab, oysters, and other tide pool creatures. The formations and sand on Blackrock Beach are much darker in contrast to the coquina formations at Washington Oaks State Gardens, and the limestone outcroppings at Blowing Rocks Preserve further south on A1A. The beach can be accessed through the park entrance or through the trailhead parking area adjacent to the Blackrock Trail.

Big Talbot and Little Talbot are two of only a few remaining undeveloped barrier islands within Florida. Native Americans named the Timucua were the first humans to inhabit these islands. Beginning with the arrival of the French in 1562, France, England, and Spain claimed the islands as colonial territory. In 1735, General James Oglethorpe named the Talbot Islands in honor of Charles Talbot, Lord High Chancellor of England. Along with the bordering Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, the islands are representative of several ecosystems and support a number of diverse natural habitats abundant with wildlife.

Ecology

Habitats preserved by the park include beach, coastal scrub, coastal hammock, estuary, and tidal marshes.

Flora

Vegetation includes southern live oaks (Quercus virginiana), hollys, magnolias, hickories (Carya spp.), cabbage palmettos (Sabal palmetto), sea oats, and saw palmettos (Serenoa repens).

Fauna

Wildlife include alligators, sea turtles, Florida gopher tortoises, West Indian manatees, white-tailed deer, river otters, marsh rabbits, raccoons, bobcats, foxes, Virginia opossums, eastern gray squirrels, eastern garter snakes, Carolina anoles, broad-headed skinks, pileated woodpeckers, northern cardinals, bald eagles, barred owls, peregrine falcons, painted buntings, and Florida scrub jays.

Gallery

Picnic shelter and deck-Big Talbot Island
Blackrock Beach-Big Talbot Island
Unique hardpan formations-Blackrock Beach
Spiders above the Blackrock Trail-Big Talbot Island
Golden silk (Banana) spider-Big Talbot Island Golden silk orb-weaver
Spurred butterfly pea (Centrosema virginianum)
Railroad Vine-Big Talbot Island Beach morning glory

References

Protected areas of Florida

Federal

National Parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades

National Memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline

National Monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas

National Seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands

National Forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola

National Wildlife Refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands

Other National Protected Areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Estuarine Research Reserves and National Marine Sanctuaries	Apalachicola NERR Florida Keys NMS Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR

State

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier-Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef John U. Lloyd Beach Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef

Botanical Garden Parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks

Lakes, Rivers and Springs Parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Three Rivers Troy Springs Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation Areas	Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, Historic sites, and Archaeological sites	Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and Reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Estero Bay Fakahatchee Strand Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh

State Trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee

State Forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Other

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Florida

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Jacksonville landmarks

Buildings and
structures

Bridges

Entertainment
venues

Cinemas	Sun-Ray Cinema

Sports venues	Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville EverBank Field Florida Yacht Club Hodges Stadium Jacksonville Equestrian Center Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Swisher Gymnasium TPC at Sawgrass UNF Arena World Golf Village

Theatres	Alhambra Dinner Theatre Florida Theatre Ritz Theatre Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Jacksonville UNF Fine Arts Center

Other	Freebird Live Metropolitan Park Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center

Government

Museums

Places of worship

Retailing

Outdoor shopping centers	Jacksonville Landing Gateway Town Center Shoppes of Avondale River City Marketplace St. Johns Town Center

Indoor shopping centers	Orange Park Mall Regency Square Mall The Avenues

Historic

Skyscrapers

Military

Transport

Other

Parks

State and Federal	Amelia Island State Park Anastasia State Park Big Talbot Island State Park Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Fort Caroline National Memorial Fort Clinch State Park Fort George Island Cultural State Park Fort Matanzas National Monument George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Kingsley Plantation Little Talbot Island State Park Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park Timucuan Preserve Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park

City	Confederate Park Hanna Park Klutho Park Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail Memorial Park Riverside Park Treaty Oak

Squares and
public spaces

Streets

Buildings and structures under construction shown in italics

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