Ravine Gardens State Park: a visitor’s guide

Ravine Gardens State Park is a formal garden built into two steep, spring-cut ravines at 1600 Twigg Street in Palatka, about five minutes by car from Hummingbird House. It is the reason Palatka is associated with azaleas, and it is the single best outing in town.

What is Ravine Gardens?

The ravines are natural: up to 120 feet deep, with banks as steep as 45 degrees. In 1933 they were turned into a public garden as a New Deal relief project, funded by the Civil Works Administration and built by Federal Emergency Relief Administration workers. The gardens opened on July 4, 1933, with more than 270,000 plants in the ground. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

When do the azaleas bloom?

Florida State Parks gives the peak season as late January through April. In most years the heaviest color is in late February and early March, which is when Palatka holds the Florida Azalea Festival. The park is green and worth visiting all year; it is simply at its most dramatic in bloom.

What can you do there?

• Drive or walk the rim. A 1.8-mile paved loop road circles the ravines. It is open to cars from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and to walkers and cyclists whenever the park is open.
• Cross the suspension bridges. Two of them span the ravines, and they are the park’s best-known feature.
• Take the footpaths. More than two miles of trails drop to the ravine floor and climb back out. They are short but steep in places; wear real shoes.
• See the Court of States. A formal terrace near the entrance with a 64-foot obelisk dedicated to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Hours and fees

As posted by Florida State Parks at the time of writing: the park is open from 8 a.m. to sundown, 365 days a year. Admission is $5 per vehicle (two to eight people), $4 for a single-occupant vehicle, and $2 for pedestrians and cyclists. Fees and hours can change, so confirm on the Florida State Parks page before you go.

Tips from the neighborhood

• Go early, before the loop road opens to cars at 9 a.m., and you will have the rim nearly to yourself.
• Bring water in warm months. The climb out of the ravine is short and humid.
• If you have a bicycle, the loop is a pleasant ride, and the park is close enough to the historic district to reach without a car.
• Pair it with the riverfront and lunch downtown. Our guide to a weekend in Palatka puts the pieces in order.

More gardens and trails nearby

If the ravines leave you wanting more time outside, Rice Creek Conservation Area is about six miles west of Palatka off State Road 100, with a long boardwalk through cypress swamp and the remains of an eighteenth-century rice plantation levee. The Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail is a paved, 19-mile rail-trail that follows State Road 207 toward the coast.