Route #20 Anastasia Island - Fort Matanzas - Marineland

This route follows the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, traveling along the narrow strip of Anastasia Island south toward Fort Matanzas and Marineland. The ride runs between the Atlantic Ocean and interior marshlands, through a landscape dominated by dunes, estuaries, and brackish waterways.

Fort Matanzas, built by the Spanish in the eighteenth century, was primarily intended to protect the southern access to Saint Augustine from enemy attacks. Its strategic location along a narrow inlet reflects the military and defensive importance of this coastline during the colonial period.

The route ends in Marineland, one of the world’s first marine parks, opened in 1938 and closely associated with the early development of modern tourism in Florida. Along the way, the route reveals the overlap of military history, environmental conservation, and tourism development within a particularly fragile coastal environment.

The complete route and its historical context are part of Discovering Florida – Volume 1.