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Wakulla County Maritime Heritage Sites

Franklin County Maritime Heritage Sites

Leon County Maritime Heritage Sites

Taylor, Dixie and Levy County Maritime Heritage Sites

Special Water Trips

Big Bend Maritime Heritage Trail
Great Florida Destinations from Cedar Key to Apalachicola

If you love lighthouses, shipwrecks, forts, “Old Florida” fishing villages with working waterfronts, and maritime museums, then pack your bags—the Big Bend Maritime Heritage Trail should be your next destination. It offers rewarding experiences set amidst some of the most beautiful coastal scenery you’ll ever find. Perfect for the whole family, the entire trail can be driven in two days. However, five days are needed to really enjoy the sites listed, or the itineraries can be divided into multiple day trips if one lives close-by.

All you need to make your trip a reality is this website. It’s packed full of information--Celebrations and Festivals, Historic Time Line, Maritime Heritage Profiles, Oral Histories, Itineraries, and Contact Information—all to help make your trip a memorable experience.

The Big Bend Maritime Heritage Trail traces the footsteps of Apalachee and Creek Indians, Spanish Conquistadors, Pirates, British and American Troops, Settlers, Cotton and Timber Barons, and Fishermen through historic markers, interpretive displays, and historic homes and buildings.

Discover the region’s rich maritime history at once-famous ports where brick warehouses--which today are home to inviting galleries and antique shops--were filled with goods bound for New England and Europe. Savor Florida’s freshest seafood while watching shrimp, crab, and oyster boats ply still waters. Charter a fishing boat. Dive for scallops or explore underwater shipwrecks. There are no crowds, high prices, or pressures. The Big Bend is a slower-paced part of Old Florida, relaxed and full of great values. Smiles and friendly people are the norm. The Big Bend Maritime Heritage Trail is waiting for you!

“For nineteen years my vision was bounded by forests, but today, emerging from a multitude of tropical plants, I beheld the Gulf of Mexico, stretching away unbounded, except by the sky.”

John Muir, 1867

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