Last Updated: August 2, 2026
Hanna Park is about 450 acres of mature coastal hammock at Mayport, in the Jacksonville Beaches area of northeast Florida. Its full name is Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, and the name is worth pausing on rather than skimming past — more on her in a moment. Winthrop Bancroft donated the first five oceanfront acres to the City of Jacksonville in 1967 on the condition that the park carry her name; the city bought up adjoining land and the park opened in 1972.
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park
Who was Kathryn Abbey Hanna? She was born in 1895, took a PhD at Northwestern, and was invited to present at the American Historical Association within eighteen months of finishing it. She joined Florida State College for Women in 1926, was a full professor by 1927 and chaired the Department of History, Geography and Political Science by 1930. In 1941 she published Florida, Land of Change — the first comprehensive history of the state — and in the same year resigned her tenured chair in order to marry the historian Alfred Jackson Hanna, which is a sentence that tells you a great deal about 1941. From 1953 to 1963 she chaired Florida’s Board of Parks and Historical Places, arguing for the protection of the state’s natural places within the park system. She died in 1967, the year the land was given. The Jacksonville Historical Society calls her Florida’s forgotten environmental historian, and camping in a park she is largely responsible for the existence of, that seems about right.
The park itself has a large freshwater lake — 60 acres, and originally a borrow pit dug out during construction — plus a splash park for warmer months and over twenty miles of trails. The mountain bike trails here are seriously well regarded and busy at weekends; if you want the place quiet, come midweek.
The beach is a mile and a half long, a short walk from the campground, and dog friendly — which is not something you can say about much of this coast.
Hanna Park Campground
Full hookups but no WiFi and no cable, which the cellular modem handled — and there were plenty of over-the-air channels. What we did have was a genuinely private site. Nobody next to us, no neighbours in sight, and consequently no noise and almost no campfire smoke drifting through the windows. After a winter of parks where you can hear the conversation in the next rig, this was the most valuable amenity on the list.
Two long walks a day, either the canopied park roads or out to the ocean. All of it for $30 a night, which in 2022 was remarkable and in hindsight looks like something close to a bargain. From White Springs it was about an hour and a half.
Early spring, and the first flowers were just coming. Ospreys were everywhere — this is prime territory for them, with a 60-acre lake on one side and the Atlantic on the other.
A redbud in bloom — one of the reliable signs that winter is finished in this part of the South.
An old travel trailer in the beach parking lot with a shredded spare and plates that expired some time ago. Every long-term parking lot on the coast has one of these, and there is always a story you will never hear.
We love a Florida boardwalk. They are the only practical way to walk through hammock and dune without destroying it, and they put you at eye level with things you would otherwise never see.
And the storm drain covers have a cowboy on horseback cast into them, which nobody has ever explained to us.
Mayport, Florida
Mayport sits on A1A, a working fishing village hard against Naval Station Mayport. We had lunch at Safe Harbor Seafood — a fish market with a restaurant attached, which is always the right sign — and ate an entire pound of local Mayport steamed shrimp between us. They were superb.
The St. Johns River Ferry runs from here and is worth knowing about: it has operated since 1874, crosses to Fort George Island every half hour, and carries forty vehicles at a time. It is also one of the few working links in the East Coast Greenway. We skipped it in favour of the shrimp, which we do not regret, but on the far side is Kingsley Plantation — part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, with the oldest surviving plantation house in Florida and the tabby ruins of twenty-five slave cabins still standing in an arc. It is one of the most important and most sobering historic sites in the state, and it is a ten-minute boat ride from a shrimp lunch. Next time.
This Bald Eagle was entirely unbothered by us stopping for a photograph.
Big Talbot Island State Park and Boneyard Beach
Boneyard Beach, in Big Talbot Island State Park, is one of the strangest and best places on this coast. The barrier island is eroding on its ocean side, and as the shoreline retreats the live oaks and cedars that grew behind it are undercut, killed by salt, and end up lying on the sand. Sun, wind and saltwater then bleach and polish them into what look exactly like bones. The fallen trunks are not just scenery either — they break wave energy and slow the erosion behind them, so the dead trees buy time for the living ones. It is a beach made entirely of a process still happening.
Ops Pizza Kitchen up at Fernandina Beach has a lush, dog-friendly patio with a large aviary of parakeets in it, which held Jake the dog’s complete attention for the entire meal and let us eat in peace. Whoever thought of that deserves a medal.
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Jacksonville Beach is a resort beach town that reminded us strongly of Pacific Beach just north of San Diego — with the significant improvement that the parking is free. Lunch at Engine 15 Brewing: the tangerine wheat and the IPA were both excellent, as were the chili and the BLT. Note: the Jacksonville Beach location on Beach Boulevard is the one to go to — their downtown Jacksonville taproom has since closed.
A couple of clear nights. The Milky Way was not up over the ocean at that hour and this close to a city, but the Big Dipper was — which, on the Atlantic coast looking north, is about as much dark sky as you are going to get.
Visiting Hanna Park: Addresses, Hours and Fees
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park — 500 Wonderwood Drive, Jacksonville, Florida 32233, 904-255-6767. Hours: open daily from 8:00 a.m., closing at 6:00 p.m. in winter and 8:00 p.m. in summer, with last entry thirty minutes before closing. Entry: $5 per car for up to six people, $3 for pedestrians and cyclists, 50% off with military ID. Camping: RV sites $30 per night, tent sites $18, cabins $30 — full hookups on the RV sites, but no WiFi and no cable, so bring your own connectivity. What is here: 1.5 miles of dog-friendly Atlantic beach, a 60-acre freshwater lake for fishing and kayaking (no swimming), over 20 miles of hiking and mountain bike trails, a seasonal splash park, and a concession stand with rentals. No alcohol, glass, balloons or beach fires.
Big Talbot Island State Park — Jacksonville, Florida 32226, 904-251-2320. Open 8:00 a.m. to sunset, 365 days a year. Entry is $3 per vehicle. The Blackrock Trail runs down to Boneyard Beach through the maze of fallen trees, dark “rocks” and tidepools. It is a natural preserve rather than a swimming beach — go for the photography and the birding.
Mayport: Safe Harbor Seafood at 4378 Ocean Street for the shrimp. The St. Johns River Ferry runs every half hour to Fort George Island, where Kingsley Plantation — part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, administered by the National Park Service — is free to visit. Jacksonville Beach: Engine 15 Brewing on Beach Boulevard. Fernandina Beach: Ops Pizza Kitchen, dog-friendly patio.
Practical Tips for Hanna Park
Book a wooded site and come midweek. The campground’s real luxury is space between sites, and the mountain bike trails bring crowds at weekends. Midweek in early spring, we had no neighbours at all.
Bring your own internet. There is no campground WiFi and no cable. Over-the-air reception is good, but if you need to work, a cellular modem is not optional here.
Take the ferry and see Kingsley Plantation. We chose lunch instead and have regretted it since. It is a half-hourly crossing from Mayport and one of the most significant historic sites in Florida is on the other side.
Shoot Boneyard Beach at low tide, early or late. The bleached trunks need raking light to show their texture, and low water exposes far more of them. Check the tide table before you drive out; at high water much of the interest is under the surf.
The beach here takes dogs. That is genuinely uncommon on this coast, and it is the main reason we would come back to Hanna Park over the state parks nearby.
Eat where the fish is landed. Mayport shrimp at a Mayport fish market is a different proposition from shrimp anywhere else in Jacksonville. A pound between two is not too much.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Kathryn Abbey Hanna? A historian, 1895–1967. She took a PhD at Northwestern, joined Florida State College for Women in 1926 and chaired its history department by 1930, and in 1941 published Florida, Land of Change, the first comprehensive history of the state. She chaired Florida’s Board of Parks and Historical Places from 1953 to 1963, advocating for protection of natural areas within the state park system. Winthrop Bancroft donated the park’s first five oceanfront acres in 1967 on condition it be named for her.
How much does it cost to camp at Hanna Park? RV sites are $30 a night with full hookups, tent sites $18 and cabins $30. Park entry is $5 per car for up to six people, or $3 on foot or by bike, with a 50% military discount. There is no WiFi or cable in the campground.
Is Hanna Park dog friendly? Yes, including the beach — which is unusual for this stretch of northeast Florida and was the deciding factor for us. Dogs are welcome on the trails and the 1.5 miles of oceanfront.
What is Boneyard Beach and why are the trees there? Boneyard Beach is in Big Talbot Island State Park. The island is eroding on its Atlantic side, so live oaks and cedars growing behind the shoreline are undercut and killed by salt, then fall onto the sand where sun, wind and saltwater bleach them white. The fallen trunks absorb wave energy and slow further erosion, so they protect the trees still standing. Entry is $3 per vehicle.
How old is the Mayport ferry and where does it go? The St. Johns River Ferry has run since 1874. It crosses from Mayport to Fort George Island every half hour, carries up to forty vehicles, and forms part of the East Coast Greenway. Kingsley Plantation is on the far side.
Are Hanna Park’s mountain bike trails any good? They are among the best-regarded in northeast Florida — over 20 miles of singletrack through coastal hammock, and busy at weekends. If you are camping for quiet rather than riding, aim for midweek.
From Jacksonville we finally crossed the state line, north to Edisto Beach and Greenwood, South Carolina — the end of a long Florida winter.
