Castaway Island Preserve - Jacksonville (FL)

5 /5 S D: Beautiful nature gateway. Pretty small trail but very peaceful. Great to come here on a New Year’s Day walk. Sadly did not see much wild life but there are many informative signs of the wild life animals that do live in the salty marsh environment. It was my first time observing this type of environment. There is a main Island trail and on the side there are some observance spots as well.

5 /5 Taylor Coley: I was In town for work and decided to go by this place to get a little walking in and so glad i did. Close to the downtown area, yet you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Very quiet and beautiful area. Nice trails and boardwalk. I just wish ppl wouldn’t litter or spray paint signs. But that’s not the parks fault. Definitely recommend.

5 /5 Tyler C: Beautiful views. Love the small boat/paddle board access they offer. I noticed they recently added a paddle board rental station which is super cool! We went on a shorter nature walk, but I’d love to see how far they go. It seems like they have some pretty long ones. They have many overlook docks and views. I’ve never felt like it’s crowded because of how spread out everything is, and how much they offer.

5 /5 Sarh Max: Fun nature trail with educational animal footprints and plaques along the way. An abundance of semi- private picnic tables. Multiple drinking fountains, one even had a dog bowl. Grounds are clean, but tons of graffiti! 8/1: Mosquitoes werent bad but yellow flies were abundant.

4 /5 Nicki H.: I visit this park and walk the trails periodically, but Id never been following a hurricane. It flooded after Hurricane Ian. The concrete trail leading to the boardwalks disappeared completely under water the day after the hurricane. The boardwalk by the parking lot, and the parking lot itself seemed to be disappearing underwater as well, so if you visit during a rising or high tide be prepared to move out quickly if theres been recent heavy rains. I was there at low tide recently but the water was still rising anyway. Its a beautiful interpretive park any other time with very good signage and fishing opportunities. Just be aware of your surroundings and any swamp creatures.