| Big Talbot Island State Park | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
 Sign by entrance | |
   | |
| Location | Duval County, Florida,USA |
| Nearest city | Jacksonville, Florida |
| Coordinates | 30°28′59″N81°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 astate park inFlorida, United States. It is located on Big Talbot Island, a coastalbarrier island 20 miles east of downtownJacksonville onA1A North and immediately north ofLittle Talbot Island State Park along theAtlantic coastal plain.
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 ofFlorida for its rock-like sedimentaryhardpan soil deposits underlying the surface. Where these formations are exposed in the shallow waters surrounded the island they provide habitat for molluscs, crabs, oysters, and othertide pool creatures. The formations and sand on Blackrock Beach are much darker in contrast to thecoquina formations atWashington Oaks State Gardens, about 60 miles southward on the coastal highwayA1A, and the limestone outcroppings atBlowing Rocks Preserve over 250 miles further south. The beach can be accessed through the park entrance or through thetrailhead parking area adjacent to the Blackrock Trail. At the end of the Blackrock Trail isBoneyard Beach. Here, skeletons of oaks sit along the shoreline. Big Talbot's Boneyard Beach is not recommended for swimming but is popular with photographers.[1][2][3]
Big Talbot andLittle Talbot are two of only a few remaining undeveloped barrier islands within Florida. They were first inhabited by a Native American group called theTimucua. Beginning with the arrival of the French in 1562, France, England, and Spain claimed the islands as colonial territory. In 1735, GeneralJames Oglethorpe named the Talbot Islands in honor ofCharles Talbot,Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Along with the borderingTimucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, the islands are representative of several ecosystems and support a number of diverse natural habitats abundant with wildlife.
Habitats preserved by the park includebeach, coastalscrub, coastalhammock,estuary, andtidal marshes. Parts of the salt marsh surrounding Big Talbot Island are included in theMachaba Balu Preserve.
Vegetation includes southern live oaks (Quercus virginiana),hollies,magnolias, hickories (Carya spp.), cabbage palmettos (Sabal palmetto),sea oats, and saw palmettos (Serenoa repens).
This state park is home toalligators,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, andFlorida scrub jays.
_spider-Big_Talbot_Island.jpg)
