Fort Matanzas National Monument
Florida
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
7.7 h fully dark
Hikes
Easy
🟢
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Entrance
$0
Fort Matanzas Only Accessible by Ferry Service
Fort Matanzas may only be accessed by our free ferry service. The boats operate Thursday through Monday; we do not operate the ferry on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. For more information about tickets and times, please visit the "Plan Your Visit" tab.
Fort Matanzas National Monument preserves the fortified coquina watchtower, completed in 1742, which defended the southern approach to the Spanish military settlement of St. Augustine. It also protects approximately 300 acres of Florida coastal environment containing dunes, marsh, maritime forest, and associated flora and fauna, including threatened and endangered species.
Activities
Topics
Entrance fees
$0.00 — Timed Entry Reservation - Location
Hours & seasons
NO FERRY SERVICE TO FORT MATANZAS ON TUESDAYS OR WEDNESDAYS The outdoor areas at the Fort Matanzas Visitor Center Area are open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Public restrooms, nature trails, fishing access, and basic visitor information and orientation services are available. Fort tours are running Thursday through Monday with limited capacity. Boarding passes are available on a first come, first served basis. Tours may fill up early in the day. No oversized parking is available.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 9044710116
✉ CASA_Ranger_Activities@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ⛅ Partly cloudy, 84°F
☁️ 85°/75°
🌧️ 83°/75°
⛈️ 95°/77°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
49%
Feb
56%
Mar
66%
Apr
74%
May
77%
Jun
96%
Jul
100%
Aug
83%
Sep
72%
Oct
54%
Nov
45%
Dec
43%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Ferry to Fort Matanzas · The tour last roughly 45 minutes. It begins with a senic boat ride across the Matanzas River. Followed by greeting a Park Ranger for a orientation talk on the area history and pleanty of time to walk through the historic watchtower.
Fishing
Junior Ranger Programs
Beach Access
Virtual Tour · There's no time limit for the virtual tour experience.
🟢 Coastal Hammock nature trail
Visitor centers
Visitor Center
Accessibility
27 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Beach Ramp · 22 accessible spacesaccessible
East Oceanside Boardwalk · 39 accessible spacesaccessible
Visitor Center · 26 accessible spacesaccessible
West Riverside Boardwalk · 26 accessible spacesaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Fort Matanzas National Monument — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Fort Matanzas National Monument — each spans a cross-park journey.
Sir Francis Drake
— Battle Of San Juan, Caribbean, Castillo De San MarcosPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Visitor Center
Places to see
A Living Treehouse
audio
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin
Be a Junior Ranger
Beach Ramp Parking
audio
Beaches
Brown Pelican
Coastal Hammock Trail
audio
Crumbling Coquina
audio
Dirt Filling
Docks
Dunes Overlook
audio
Eastern Red Cedar-1
audioAudio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
"One man's trash is another man's treasure." What?! Complete an archaeology activity to discover how "trash" can teach us a lot about people from the past.
Experience a cannon firing, examine 3D models of artillery, and build your own paper cannon.
Do you have what it takes to defend your town? Construct your own fort out of materials you have at home!
We're restoring shoreline at 3 parks with Pervious Oyster Shell Habitat (POSH) modules created from oysters recycled from restaurants. These will serve as the base of new oyster beds that will fight erosion from boat wakes.
Did you know cannons harnessed the power of a chemical reaction to function? Discover more by conducting an experiment using the scientific method to produce a chemical reaction with an Alka-Seltzer cannon. Apply what you learn about chemical reactions to the loading and firing of cannon to understand the reality faced by the gun crews at the Castillo and Fort Matanzas.
Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas, both in present-day northeastern Florida, represent the best-preserved evidence of the Spanish Empire’s 287-year presence in southeastern North America. The oldest masonry fortification remaining in the continental United States, Castillo de San Marcos formed the core of a system of defenses. The fort landscapes reflect conventions of military engineering and the later changes and preservation efforts by the U.S. War Department.
Storm surge may severely impact coastal geomorphology and inundate park resources. Brought by coastal storms, storm surge can be dangerous and have lasting effects. Coastal areas that remain at low elevation are prone to the effects of storm surge. The magnitude of a storm surge is increased when coupled with sea level rise.
Learn about colonial games and make your own toy.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
Coquina: The Mighty Tiny Shell
Open →
DBQ Essay: Effects of Spanish Rule
Open →
Florida Animal Adaptations
Open →
Food Chains
Open →
Life of a Spanish Soldier
Open →
Native American and European Encounters
Open →
Pre and Post Field Trip Activities
Open →
Sea Level Rise
Open →
The Columbian Exchange
Open →
Unforgettable Music
Open →
Virtual Field Trip
Open →
How Fort Matanzas National Monument connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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