Discover Duval: Nature, Beaches and History

Duval offers travelers a range of experiences: protected landscapes, trails, beaches, gardens and historic sites. When planning your visit, it’s worth considering what each place has to offer: launching a paddle trip at a creek is different from taking a forest trail, visiting a memorial or going on a water tour.

Nature Between Coastal Uplands and Forest

Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park protects one of the largest remaining contiguous coastal upland areas in Duval County. At Pumpkin Hill Creek, the park has a shoreline access point where canoes and kayaks can be launched. Travelers looking to combine nature and paddling will find both in the same park.

Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens is a 120-acre urban forest with trails. The Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail offers a different kind of route: it stretches about 14.5 miles from Imeson Road in Jacksonville to the city of Baldwin. The nature destinations also differ in form: one features trails through a forest area, while the other is a route with named endpoints and an approximate length.

Fort Caroline National Memorial commemorates the short-lived French colonial presence in 16th-century Florida. Trails also pass through protected natural habitats there. Visitors looking to include both history and nature in an outing will find both at the same location.

Beaches and Experiences on the Water

Jacksonville has 22 miles of white-sand beaches. Local water tours explore the St. Johns River, the Intracoastal Waterway and Jacksonville’s beaches. Huguenot Memorial Park also has waterfront campsites. The options range from beach scenery and water tours to an overnight stay right by the shore.

Gardens, Memorials and History

The Ribault Club is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Cummer Gardens are also on the register. The Italian Garden there was designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman in 1931. The gardens thus combine a specific design history with officially recognized historic status.

Memorial Park honors more than 1,700 Floridians who died in service during World War I. Riverside Avondale, meanwhile, is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These places offer different points of interest: a memorial to those killed in the war and a historic district whose significance lies in its cultural heritage.

Special Activities and Events

Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens offers interactive, educational exhibits featuring more than 2,000 exotic animals and 1,000 plants. These figures may change. At Giraffe Overlook, visitors can hand-feed giraffes; animal experiences like this may also change.

Riverside Arts Market takes place every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, beneath the Fuller-Warren Bridge. Event dates can change, so check the schedule before you arrive.

For planning purposes, it helps to distinguish between the different highlights: the preserve combines protected coastal uplands with a canoe and kayak launch point; the arboretum is known for forest trails, while Fort Caroline combines nature trails with a historic theme. Beaches, water tours and waterfront campsites offer other experiences. This makes it easy to plan your time in Duval around what matters most for your trip—nature, water, gardens or history.

Discover more destinations: Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville, Levy County, Liberty, Jefferson County, Alachua.

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