T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

The TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, often referred to simply St. Joseph Peninsula State Park called, is a state park in Gulf County in the U.S. state of Florida. The park is located on an elongated peninsula off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and is known for its sandy beaches, which are among the finest in the United States.

Geography

The 1018 -acre park extends over the northern half of the St. Joseph Peninsula, an elongated peninsula that lies to the west of Port St. Joe and St. Joseph Bay forms. The barriereinselartigte peninsula is 32 km long and only up to 1.5 km wide and extends from Cape San Blas in the south to St. Joseph Point in the north. The park has 14 km long white sandy beaches and about 7 m high dunes.

Flora and Fauna

The interior of the peninsula is densely forested, partly with forests of live oaks or shrubby sand pines. There are banks of the St. Joseph Bay coastal forests and salt marshes.

The park is an excellent bird watching area, which is counted to the Florida Birding Trail and the 209 species of birds have been sighted. Besides the ever living in the park marine birds of the park in the spring and autumn is an important stopover for migratory birds and butterflies. In addition, can be observed in the park area white-tailed deer, bobcats, foxes, otters, raccoons, armadillos and many other species. In summer, sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches.

History

1868, the family acquired Stone large landholdings around the St. Joseph Bay, including the peninsula. TH Stone built on the peninsula as early as the 1920s, a first bathhouse. 1940, the peninsula was sold to the U.S. government, which used it as a training area of the U.S. Army. 1967, the State Park was opened and named in honor of the previous owner by TH Stone. 1999, the beach was also known referred to the Gulf of Mexico by Dr. Stephen Leatherman Beach in its annual ranking of America's Best Beaches third-best and 2002 as the best beach in the USA. In recent years, the park area was several times - in 1995 by Opal, 1998 by Earl, 2004 by Ivan and 2005 by Dennis - hit by hurricanes that caused to the dunes and beaches in some major destruction by erosion.

Activities

Parking in the parking area is not included. Only the first three kilometers of the state parks are developed for tourism, the other 12 km to St. Joseph Point is a 708 -acre Wilderness Preserve and may be entered only with permission. The park is crossed 6 km paved roads and 25 km of hiking trails, including the Maritime Hammock Trail, the Bay View Trail and the 9 -km-long Wilderness Preserve Trail three Nature Trails.

With Gulf Breeze and Shady Pines there are two campgrounds with a total of 118 parking spaces, and there are at the St. Joseph Bay eight cabins for overnight stays. The two campsites are connected by a 500 meter long boardwalk. At Eagle Harbor at the St. Joseph Bay is a boat ramp and a small marina, where there is also a picnic area with pavilion, playground, restaurant, kiosk and boat rentals as well as sanitary facilities. The clear, mostly calm waters of St. Joseph Bay flat is ideal for fishing, snorkeling, canoeing, kayaking, while the mussel season is very popular clam digging. At the Ranger Station lectures and guided tours are offered. The beach on the Gulf Coast also has toilets, showers and picnic areas and is ideal for sunbathing and swimming.

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