You can pull off a perfect trifecta of famous destinations here, if you wish: On this windblown Atlantic coast of Florida you can easily visit the Canaveral National Seashore, the adjacent Kennedy Space Center and Orlando, all just a few miles from one another. (If you're looking for Cape Canaveral itself, that's part of the Space Center, with Cocoa Beach as its unofficial capital.) The southwest corner of the park at Titusville is only some 25 miles east of Orlando, so combining a visit here with playtime at Disney World or Universal Studios (to mention only two such venues) is easy to arrange. And the Space Center is next door to the Seashore and its Wildlife Refuge.
The national seashore itself possesses a dual personality, combining its beaches with the allure of the contiguous Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a haven for hikers, campers, hunters and those who just like a scenic drive. I recommend you stop by the visitor information centers to pick up maps and get your bearings. The Canaveral National Seashore Visitor Information Center, operated by the National Park Service in cooperation with NASA, is seven miles south of New Smyrna Beach on Florida Route A1A, just east of I-95 and about 20 miles south of Daytona Beach. It's at the northern end of the two parks. Their phone is 386/428-3384.
A second place to get information is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Information Center, four miles east of Titusville on Florida Route 402, the southern entrance. The refuge is run by the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, in cooperation with NASA. The phone is 321/861-0667.
Highlights
As befits a national park, the beaches are completely undeveloped, with no designated picnic areas, phones, food, showers, drinking water and the like. There are lifeguards in summer at two spots, where there are also restrooms and boardwalk access. You can surf if you like, and even ride horses, though permits are required for the latter. Some parts of the Seashore may be closed if parking lots get filled or if there is a shuttle launch at neighboring Kennedy Space Center.
There are short self-guided hiking trails in the Seashore and the Refuge. Limited camping is permitted in the Seashore except in summer, never in the Refuge. To keep the number of ducks in balance, limited hunting is permitted. There's a nice scenic tour of six miles, self-guiding, in the Refuge and called the Black Point Wildlife Drive.
Most fun here can be had picnicking on the Seashore's 24 miles of sand (which the NPS says is the longest stretch of undeveloped public beach on Florida's east coast) with portable grills and the like (no open fires), and getting into the water. If you are lucky and plan ahead, you may get to be here during a space launch, too. Fishing and boating are allowed, check out rules at the information centers or on the parks' websites. Wildlife includes the red-tailed hawk, snowy egret, white ibis, great blue heron and bald eagle. Loggerhead sea turtles come to deposit their eggs here, and are heavily protected when they do so. Alligators abound, as well as the manatee and 12 other species federally listed as endangered or threatened. Biologists think there are about 400 Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon here.
Other activities you can pursue in the park and its lagoons and dunes include canoeing, boating and swimming, of course. There's a nice bit of early architecture here in the Eldora State House, on the Mosquito Lagoon, open year round. Seminole Rest, a part of the Seashore, was the scene of many of the first North American encounters among Europeans, Africans and native inhabitants. It's in the town of Oak Hill, where you go east on Halifax Avenue to River Road, then north to Palm Avenue to find the site, all this about 1.5 miles from US 1.
New in 2007
The big news is the transfer of park headquarters within Titusville, FL, effective on July 9, 2007. The new and correct address is 212 S. Washington Avenue, Titusville, FL 32796, tel. 321/267-1110. The Information Center mentioned previously remains at 7611 South Atlantic Avenue, New Smyrna Beach FL 32169, tel. 386/428-3384.
A Ranger's Favorite
Superintendent Carol A. Clark, on the parks' website, says she hopes "you may be enticed to linger in this environment of old Florida to view an endangered wood stork feeding along a roadside canal, or catch a glimpse of the West Indian Manatee near the Eldora State House."
Entrance Fees
This year, the price is $3 per person (children under 16 free), an annual pass being $35. Starting January 1, 2008, the price will go up to $7 per person, which they say is the "national entrance fee pricing structure." Don't forget you can use other passes, too, including the new National Parks & Federal Recreation Lands Pass ($80 per year; your car and up to four adults, under 16 free), the Senior Pass ($10 for a lifetime), the Access Pass (free for a lifetime, for those with permanent medical disabilities), or the Volunteer Pass (in exchange for at least 500 hours of work). Info on passes can be had at http://store.usgs.gov/pass.
Number of Visitors
According to the National Park Service, there are over one million visitors to the beaches here each year, but they say they prevent overcrowding by strategically spreading out the parking areas and boardwalks over 12 miles of the beach.
Additional Information
The best websites include:
- Canaveral National Seashore at nps.gov/cana
- Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge at www.fws.gov/merrittisland
- A travel planning site: http://usparks.about.com/blplanner-canaveral.htm
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