I passed quite a few state parks while driving down the Overseas Highways (U.S. 1), which extends the length of the Keys, so the big question that loomed when the decision was made to stay an extra week during the January 2017 visit — especially considering the cost of admission to a state park for one vehicle then was $9 (today, believe it or not, the price has dropped to $8) — was which state park(s) to check out?
Bahia Honda State Park is on its own key, south of Marathon and the Seven-Mile Bridge. The photo leading off the post was taken looking out at the Atlantic Ocean side of the park/key.
Other state parks in the Keys include Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical, John Pennekamp Coral Reef, Long Key, Curry Hammond, Windley Key Geological Fossil and Fort Zachary Taylor Historic.
On Jan. 24, 2017, during the second week in the Keys, we elected to visit Bahia Honda State Park. It had been recommended by locals for its beaches (in 1992, its beaches were rated tops in the country by “Dr. Beach” Stephen Leatherman), and for swimming, kayaking, fishing, beautiful shorelines and access to remnants of the historic Florida East Coast Railway, which went out of service in 1935. I was not standing far from those remnants when I took the photo leading off the post.
The park is split into two parts.The north end is less developed, but its beaches are very nice, and it has a water fowl sanctuary, something I unknowingly walked into while strolling the north-end beach. The southern end has a dedicated swimming area, picnic areas, a concessions stand and boating facilities. It’s also where you can find accesses and get close to parts of the railroad infrastructure.
A new concrete incline on this end of the park allows you to appreciate a panorama of the area, and I spent some time photographing from there. In fact, the photo of the ocean leading off the post was taken from the ground a short distance from that concrete span. I noticed the composition immediately after grabbing a shot of a fisherman who was working the shoreline immediately below and left of the bottom lines of the photo. To get substantive looks at the railroad infrastructure on the south end of Bahia Honda, you have to access it from the ground, which I did.
On Jan. 24, 2017, during the second week in the Keys, we elected to visit Bahia Honda State Park. It had been recommended by locals for its beaches (in 1992, its beaches were rated tops in the country by “Dr. Beach” Stephen Leatherman), and for swimming, kayaking, fishing, beautiful shorelines and access to remnants of the historic Florida East Coast Railway, which went out of service in 1935. I was not standing far from those remnants when I took the photo leading off the post.
The park is split into two parts.The north end is less developed, but its beaches are very nice, and it has a water fowl sanctuary, something I unknowingly walked into while strolling the north-end beach. The southern end has a dedicated swimming area, picnic areas, a concessions stand and boating facilities. It’s also where you can find accesses and get close to parts of the railroad infrastructure.
A new concrete incline on this end of the park allows you to appreciate a panorama of the area, and I spent some time photographing from there. In fact, the photo of the ocean leading off the post was taken from the ground a short distance from that concrete span. I noticed the composition immediately after grabbing a shot of a fisherman who was working the shoreline immediately below and left of the bottom lines of the photo. To get substantive looks at the railroad infrastructure on the south end of Bahia Honda, you have to access it from the ground, which I did.
Today, entrance to the park is $8 per vehicle with two to eight people plus a 50-cent Monroe County surcharge per person; $4.50 for a single-occupant car or motorcycle plus surcharge; $2.50 for a pedestrian or bicyclist plus surcharge; $10 per boat plus regular admission costs and surcharge.
As usual, to view a larger and sharper version of any image, simply click on the image. This is particularly important if you access the blog using a mobile device. To view a full gallery of my images from Bahia Honda State Park, follow the link in this sentence.
Above and below: A couple looks at the beach on the north end of the park. In the image below, I used “V” shaped grass blades in the foreground to frame the couple closest to the camera. Integrating beachside grass blades into photo compositions is something I’d been working on since a 2014 trip to Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
Above: I stopped the car on the drive to the north end of the park to take this shoreline perspective photo. Later, while strolling the beach at the north end, I would come upon this area much closer — and learn that the section immediately in front of the bridge in this picture is the water fowl preserve.
Above and below: While strolling toward the north end beach, I came upon a cove where this gentleman had found his bit of paradise. He had this cove all to himself. It was extremely quiet here, and I don't think the man realized I had walked the full beach perimeter behind him, from left to right, or that I took any of the photos of him that I did. I got at least a dozen perspectives, choosing these two for the post. You can see the other perspectives in the full gallery.
Above: Before realizing the area I had walked into was a water fowl preserve, I took a couple dozen shots of these two visitors, neither of which seemed happy that I had intruded on their space.
Above: I liked how the pigeon in the foreground kept watch on the other bird, which appeared to be foraging near the wave laps.
Above: Another example of grass blades being integrated into the composition.
Above: I was willing to accept a full silhouette outcome of this shot of beach strollers that I took looking toward the sun. As it was, HDR enabled me to pull a little detail out of the shadows.
Above: This is the concrete incline that gives visitors a panorama of the area. At the far end, a sign and gate stop you from going any further (which is a good thing, because the structure halts abruptly not far beyond the gate and sign.
Above and next two below: Shots taken from the apex of the concrete incline. The ocean-side beach above, the Seven-Mile Bridge (first below) and the park's Gulf-side beach (second below).
Above and below: Two different fishermen I came across on opposite sides of the railway infrastructure — and also opposite sides of the island. The man above was fishing from the Gulf side, the man below on the ocean side.
Above is the railway infrastructure as seen from the Gulf side, the most visible access available to visitors. If you climb the nearby steps (below), you'll be able to inspect the infrastructure from underneath it. And then if you descend another set of stairs from there, you can view the tracks from the ocean side (second below), which at this time of the day (early afternoon) was more photo-friendly.
Above: A look at the Seven-Mile Bridge from near the railway infrastructure on the Gulf side.
Above and below: It occurred to me when I reached this point of the post that I hadn’t included many palm tree pictures, so ... here are a couple shots of some from Bahia Honda State Park.
Above: Some fun and some very important (i.e., the last one) signage to inform and guide park visitors.
As usual, to view a larger and sharper version of any image, simply click on the image. This is particularly important if you access the blog using a mobile device. To view a full gallery of my images from Bahia Honda State Park, follow the link in this sentence.
Above: A look to the sea — and a sailboat — from the shoreline.
Coming up next: Key West’s Duval Street
Previously in FLORIDA:
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