Guana River State Park

We were staying on Vilano beach and decided to visit the park for some hiking. Fee is $ 2.00/ vehicle.
Park is beautiful and peaceful, perfect for some exercise and relaxation.

We spent a beautiful Sun afternoon here. Park is located off A1A in Ponte Vedra. Parking fee is $ 3/​vehicle. Hubby wanted to take the girls fishing since we haven’t had any luck in Jax. I read that this lake is a premier fishing spot. There were plenty of people fishing but it wasn’t super crowded. I don’t know too much about fishing, but there is a large sign that shows the type of fishes available and what bait to use. In addition to fishing, you can catch shrimps and blue crabs. There were a couple people kayaking and boating as well. Motors up to 10 hp are allowed.
We checked out out the hiking /​bicycling trails briefly but were scared off by the sign of the different types of snakes we may encounter and the warning signs to watch out for ticks so we decided to stick with fishing. I saw pelicans and lots of birds that were having better luck than we were having. Hubby almost caught a crab but it fell off his line halfway from pulling it up and caught 1 fish but it was too small to keep. My youngest had fun playing with hermit crabs.
Overall it’s a relaxing place to spend the afternoon with the fam.

Water and beach access was great. Trails where uneventful. Not much to see but still a great hike. 3 dollars to get in

Nice big park
Guana River State Park is now part of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. The research reserve is on A1A, between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. It’s over 60,000 acres are beaches, sand dunes, salt marshes, mangroves, tidal wetlands, tidal creeks, oyster beds, estuarine lagoons, maritime hardwood hammock, freshwater depression marshes, pond pine and shell mound forests. There are lots of trails to explore, a boat launch and some very historic shell mounds. There is lots of signage explaining the history of the area.

Guana River State Park, located on Florida’s First Coast was turned over to the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve in 2004. The research reserve is located along State Highway A1A, between St. Augustineand Jacksonville and developed in a partnership between federal/​state agencies with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection designatd as the state administrator and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the federal side. Within its 60,000 acres are beaches, sand dunes, salt marshes, mangroves, tidal wetlands, tidal creeks, oyster beds, estuarine lagoons, maritime hardwood hammock, freshwater depression marshes, pond pine flatwoods and shell mound forests. There are lots of trails to explore, a boat launch and some very historic shell mounds along with some lots of signage explaining the history of the area.
The entrance is set up using the honor system to collect the modest $ 3 dollar fee this is also known as the «Iron Ranger» so grab a envelope insert your money (exact change required) tear off the tab and place it on your rear view mirror and enjoy, there are public restrooms and the parking area is frequently patrolled by the park service looking for those that test the honor system and skip paying the admission fee.
Failure to pay Penalties — $ 10,000 or 10 years in prison (I’m joking I don’t have a clue it’s only 3 bucks why would you cheat).

I call this Ponte Vedra Beach, which may be incorrect because it doesn’t front the town of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. My parking tab, which I keep for a couple of months in case of a surprise that «you didn’t pay the fee,» says Guana-​Tolomato-​Matanzas. Techincally, it is south of Ponte Vedra’s built-​up area, on the way south to St. Augustine.
If it’s super crowded and obnoxious at Jacksonville Beach on the weekends, come to Guana River State Park. Once the state park begins, there are turn outs requiring easy right turns into parking lots. A little later in the day, parking becomes scarce, but one can manage to snag a spot. If not, continuing on to several subsequent parking lots can work. I have been able to find a spot in the first lot coming from Jacksonville. You pull a tag for your rear view mirror, insert $ 3 in an envelope, and drop it in the slot. My only complaint is that they need to provide envelopes that you can lick so they seal, but you can only tuck in the tab.
The beach requires crossing the road at protected crosswalks, crossing over on wood planked walkways over some protected dunes, and, voila, you are at the beach. It is more congested and noisier where the access paths let out onto the beach. Walking ¼ mile in each direction brings all the quiet one could ever want. I cannot opine on the hiking, fishing, bird watching, and other possibilities here. I’m thinking some funky critters live in the Intercoastal Waterway and they don’t interest me.
At the beach, the surf is mild, the water is warm, and there are seashells galore. My only complaints are that the water is not crystalline and the sand is not white, but that’s why the Panhandle has that reputation and the «First Coast» does not.
Coming here is cool … and practical. One can go to St. Augustine, about 20 minutes down the same road first and then hit the beach. Or they can do it vice-​versa. Then, if coming from the north to approach Guana River’s beach, one goes through a very shady 2 lane residential section where they can see some beautiful custom homes, some of which are appropriate for Robin Leach to visit and discuss on the show he once had. Wasn’t he an irritating, pompous ass?
At any rate, Ponte Vedra’s Guana River State Beach is a pleasant «First Coast» beach.

Extremely well maintained and with multiple trails leading to the river, you’ll never get bored of hiking this place. Ample parking and picnic tables make for a very relaxing trip. Keep in mind there are other entrances and this review is just for the main location off A1A in Ponte Vedra.

I’ve walked the trails and kayaked here, and it was pretty cool. There are lots of options for varying length walks, walks through the brush or near the water, and I’ve seen deer, sting rays (!), gators, and all sorts of birds while walking/​kayaking the area.
Recently I walked here after one of their controlled burns, and it was really neat to see the charred palmettos with new, bright green growth already sprouting.
Bugs weren’t too much of a problem here; usually we walked around mid-​morning so it wasn’t too hot, but there’s a lot of shade as well.
When kayaking, if it’s a sunny day there aren’t many places to find shade on the water, and if you haven’t been in awhile, it’s a pretty good idea to maybe not try to go all the way to Aunt Kate’s in one afternoon, although the subsequent beer there was a godsend. Check the tides if you go kayaking and bring singles for parking!

I had no idea that these hiking trails existed here! We were here the day after some heavy rain and a lot of the trails were washed out so we didn’t get to see as much of it as we had hoped.
Next time, I want to hike the full length of the trails but from what we did see this is a great spot. They also offer places to fish and launch your boat.

Alert: First timers at Guana River State Park. Saturday was such a nice day, my first inclination was I wanted to go to the beach, but then my husband had a bright idea (no sarcasm this time) «We should take a ride down to Guana State Park». I thought guana was the word for bat poop, but I was corrected by my husband stating it’s «guano», good thing because I didn’t have a desire to go to a park called Bat Poop State Park.
Beware, depending upon what side of town you’re coming from, the ride to the park may take at least thirty minutes. Luckily the ride is pretty scenic, and you’ll see a lot of beautiful houses and coastal views off of A1A.
Be sure to bring cash (preferably singles), as there’s a three dollar per car (up to eight people) charge to get into the park. When we arrived we saw some really breathtaking scenery of the Intracoastal and wetlands. We were pretty excited to go for a hike, since there aren’t a ton of hiking trails in the greater Jacksonville/​St. Augustine area.
When you first arrive at the start of the trails, you’ll notice a large map, outlining all the different routes you can take. Since this was our first time, we opted to do the one mile (yellow) trail, which takes you to the intercoastal. The trails are somewhat well marked. When I say «somewhat», I mean that the orange and red marker look very similar. If you can’t read a map, be sure to choose either the blue or yellow trail markers, because one could easily mistake the orange for a red marker or vice versa (which may add or subtract some mileage from your hike/​bike ride/​etc.).
The trail was nicely maintained, no garbage or waste to be seen. A majority of the trail is shaded, which is a great feature, considering Florida is pretty sunny most of the time.
The halfway point of our walk landed us at the Intracoastal. What a beautiful view! It’s also a popular destination for fishermen/​fisherwomen. It’s lovely to see untouched natural preserves. On the way back my husband decided to be adventurous and said, «we should take the yellow trail to the orange trail to blue back to the yellow trail.» I went along with the plan, but thought we may get lost. Well sure enough, the red and orange markers looked so similar that we ended up at a rather long wooden walkway. We walked to the end, but it was taking us the opposite way than the map indicated where we should have gone. We retraced our steps and found our way back. Yes, it added maybe half a mile extra to our walk, but that’s okay, it was a nice day and I like going off the beaten path.
On a side note, we noticed when we got back to our car that there was a group of people dressed in old timey clothing (knights, soldiers). I’m still trying to figure out if they were LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) or they were reenacting something historical. Either way, I tried to take a picture discreetly, but apparently I’ll never be a private investigator because the knight flashed a peace sign as I was taking the picture.
The park was a great way to spend a few hours on a beautiful day.
Pros: This state park is a nice departure from the usual things to do in Jacksonville. Trails are nicely maintained. Despite a lot of cars parked by the hiking trails, you never felt crowded. You can’t beat the price. A great place for bird and nature lovers.
Cons: My husband’s sense of direction. The orange and red trail markers look pretty similar and you could easily mistake one for the other. The state park may want to think about choosing a different marker color like black, white, purple, etc.

If you like to fish, take photo’s, nature walk or kayak this place is perfect. There is a tiny beach to set up a couple of rods. (If you do not like fishing next to another person this is not the place for you to drop a line on the weekend as it can get pretty crowded).
My family has brought home some good sized Red Fish and trout from the dam-​side of Guana.
No playground for the kids, but very quiet, peaceful location. Lot’s of wildlife (alligator’s, manatee, birds, turtles) to watch or photo. On the other side of the Guana dam is a boat launch that is a great launching spot for boats and kayaks. Additionally, the nature trail is a great place to get in a good walk!
Great place to experience a zen day!