Fort Matanzas National Monument Highpoint Trip Report
unnamed (30+ feet)
Date: December 17, 2012
Author: Fred Lobdell
This National Monument has its visitors center on Anastasia Island, while the fort itself
is on Rattlesnake Island. A free ferry will take you to Rattlesnake Island should you wish
to visit the fort, but the NM HP is very near the visitors center on Anastasia.
To get there, take FL 206 from Exit 305 off I-95 east about 6 miles to the traffic light
at FL A1A. Turn right (south) and go about 4 miles to the monument entrance on the right.
Follow the entrance road around past the visitors center and park near the public bathrooms.
To the right of this structure will be the start of a nature trail, which is what you want.
An inspection of the topographic map shows a narrow 25 foot contour with a water tank
on its southern end, and a small 30 foot contour near the northern end. This feature is
referred to as a fossil sand dune, from a former sea level highstand,
now stabilized by vegetation. The nature trail starts out as a boardwalk with a couple of
switchbacks and passing over the dune, but it doesn't pass over the highest spot.
At the highest point on the boardwalk you'll need to cross the railing to the left
and bushwhack uphill for a couple of hundred feet and 10 to 15 feet of elevation gain.
At the nicely defined little summit there was an unnamed benchmark set in concrete
and two concrete structures that appeared to be footings for a former lookout tower.
This bushwhack may be short, but it is truly ugly. I was wearing a T-shirt,
but a suit of armor might have been more appropriate. By the time I regained the boardwalk
the outside of my right forearm was blood-covered pretty much from elbow to wrist,
and my left arm didn't escape the attention of the vegetation either.
My being on anti-coagulants didn't help. I was glad that the men's room was handy
so I could wash both arms with soap and water.
After this exercise I drove to the highway's opposide side for an overview of Anastasia Island
from that point to its southern tip, a couple of miles away. Where I had been looked
to be the highest area, and it's accurately depicted on the topographic map.