Old Town Fernandina state park
A 1,400-acre state park on Amelia Island's northern tip holding a well-preserved masonry fort begun in 1847, two beaches, a fishing pier, a mile-long oak-canopy entrance drive, campgrounds and trails. The island's single best half-day out.
Fort Clinch is the one attraction on Amelia Island that works for almost everybody: history for adults, ramparts and cannons for children, two beaches, a pier, trails, and a campground with the Atlantic on one side.
The park occupies the island's northern tip, where the Amelia River meets the Atlantic across from Cumberland Island, Georgia. The entrance is off Atlantic Avenue at the edge of Old Town Fernandina, and the drive in — a mile of road under a live oak canopy hung with Spanish moss — is part of the experience.
Construction began in 1847 as part of the Third System of American coastal fortifications. It was never finished and never saw a battle, which is precisely why so much of it survives: no siege damage, and enough Union and Confederate occupation in the Civil War to give the interpretation something to work with. Confederate forces held it early in the war; Union troops took it in 1862 and stayed.
You can walk the ramparts, go down into the galleries, and see the kitchens, barracks and bakery. Costumed interpreters staff the fort on a schedule that varies by season, and on the first weekend of most months living-history programmes put a garrison back inside the walls.
The candlelight tours, run in the cooler months by reservation, take you through the fort by lamplight with interpreters in period role. They are popular and book out.
The park has ocean beach on the east side and a river beach near the jetties on the north, plus a fishing pier at the northern point. The river side is calmer and better for children; the ocean side is proper Atlantic surf. The jetty area is a known spot for shark-tooth hunting and shelling after a blow.
A six-mile off-road bicycle trail loops through the maritime hammock, and there are shorter walking trails and a boardwalk through the dune. Two campgrounds — one in the woods on the river, one behind the ocean dune — take tents and RVs by reservation through Florida State Parks.
Florida state parks charge a per-vehicle entry fee and the fort itself has a small additional charge; both are set by the state and change, so we do not publish figures here — check the park's page. The park and the fort keep different hours from each other and both are set by the state, so check the park's page — we have confirmed neither and will not print a figure. Bring water: there is shade on the drive and trails but almost none on the ramparts, and the brickwork holds heat.
Half a day minimum if you want the fort and a beach. A full day with bikes, the pier and a picnic.
Amelia Island offers surf fishing along thirteen miles of Atlantic beach, two long piers over moving water at the island's north and south tips, inshore charters into the marsh and sound, and offshore boats from the Fernandina Harbor Marina.
Details unconfirmed
Two beaches inside Fort Clinch State Park at Amelia Island's northern tip: Atlantic surf on the east side and calmer water by the jetties on the north, plus a fishing pier looking across Cumberland Sound to Georgia. Inside the park entry fee.
Details unconfirmed
The stretch of Amelia Island shoreline north of Main Beach toward the Fort Clinch jetties, reached from the northern Fletcher Avenue accesses. Wide, quiet sand with a working-port view, no facilities, and the island's strongest currents near the jetties.
Part of Amelia Island attractions — our full guide to the complete amelia island, florida visitor guide.