Wow, I can’t believe I’m just now writing this (despite the log date, I’m writing this on August 18).
Joey and I attended a friend’s wedding in Orlando and afterward wanted to take some time to enjoy the wild. We settled on the Canaveral National Seashore.
Yes, its that Canaveral. At the southern end is the Kennedy Space Center and you can see the shuttle’s launch pads from there. The property was set aside by the U.S. Government in the 1950’s as a buffer zone for the space center. Today, it is the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline on the Atlantic Coast of Florida.
I’ve got no GPS track or other stats on the trip unfortunately.
First of all, the park is contiguous along the coast, but you can’t drive the length of the park. The visitor’s center is located in New Smyrna Beach. The southern end is near Titusville. I wanted to visit the visitor’s center and ended up driving 50 miles from Titusville to get there. Once I got there, there wasn’t much to it. If you’re in Titusville, plan your trip using the links below or check out the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
We spoke with a ranger who warned us of mosquitoes at Castle Windy. Being from Tennessee, most people say the mosquitoes are bad if you see two in an hour. Turns out the mosquitoes really were bad …everywhere.
We visited the Eldora State House, which is located on Mosquito Lagoon. As we returned from the house through the woods, we realized they don’t call it Mosquito Lagoon for nothing. Joey had about 30 swarming around him.
We then drove to a beach parking lot. Joey visited the beach while I went to check out Castle Windy. With no mosquito repellent, I made it about 1/4 mile in before they starting flying up my nose. I looked down at my arm and saw my own blood running down it. At this point, I decided it wasn’t worth getting West Nile and joined Joey at the beach. With little vegetation and the coastal breeze, no mosquitoes bothered us here.
Next time I’m here, I want to camp at one of the backcountry camp sites that are accessible by canoe. Of course, I’ll be bring plenty of mosquito repellent.
Links:
National Park Service: Canaveral National Seashore
Park Map
Wikipedia: Canaveral National Seashore
Pictures
GORP