Biscayne

The words

1. Biscayne Bay

   Biscayne Bay’s shallow bottom supports beds of seagrass, flowering plants that shelter young marine life. The bay lies inside a chain of keys that helps protect it and the mainland from the open ocean.

   Park Service: Convoy Point’s bay habitats (opens a new tab) · Park Service: Elliott Key’s geology (opens a new tab)

2. Black Caesar

   The Park Service recounts a local legend in which Black Caesar served aboard Blackbeard’s ship and operated in the waters around Caesar’s Creek.

   Park Service: Black Caesar folklore (opens a new tab)

3. Boca Chita

   Boca Chita Key preserves traces of a private island retreat. Mark Honeywell built its ornamental lighthouse in the 1930s; the 65-foot (20 m) tower overlooks the island’s harbor.

   Park Service: Boca Chita’s lighthouse (opens a new tab) · Park Service: Elliott Key’s geology (opens a new tab)

4. Convoy Point

   Convoy Point is the park’s mainland base beside Biscayne Bay. The Dante Fascell Visitor Center and nearby jetty walk connect the shoreline’s living habitats with exhibits about ships lost on the reefs.

   Park Service: Convoy Point’s bay habitats (opens a new tab)

5. Elliott Key

   Ancient coral reefs form Elliott Key’s rocky foundation, exposed after sea level fell. The island shelters the bay, while salt-tolerant shoreline plants give way inland to tropical trees such as mahogany and gumbo limbo.

   Park Service: Elliott Key’s geology (opens a new tab)

6. Fowey Rocks

   Built in 1878, Fowey Rocks Lighthouse marks the reef area where passing ships faced grounding hazards. It forms part of Biscayne’s Maritime Heritage Trail, which links the light with historic shipwreck sites.

   Did you know?

   The ship Arratoon Apcar grounded nearby in 1878 while workers were still building the lighthouse intended to help mariners avoid the reef.

   Park Service: Maritime Heritage Trail (opens a new tab)

7. Jones Lagoon

   Mangrove forests border Jones Lagoon. Park surveys during the 2021–2022 nesting season recorded roseate spoonbills and great egrets nesting here, showing the lagoon’s importance to colonial waterbirds.

   Park Service: Jones Lagoon mangroves (opens a new tab) · Park Service: 2021–2022 nesting surveys (opens a new tab)

8. Lancelot Jones

   Lancelot Jones, an African American farmer, grew pineapples and key limes on his family’s islands. In 1970 the family sold the land to the federal government for conservation.

   Park Service: Lancelot Jones’s legacy (opens a new tab)

9. Manatee

   Manatees are plant-eating mammals found in Biscayne’s aquatic habitats. They can move between fresh, salt and mixed waters, feeding on seagrasses and other submerged or floating plants.

   Park Service: Biscayne’s ecosystems (opens a new tab) · Florida Wildlife: Manatee food and habitat (opens a new tab)

10. Mandalay

    The schooner Mandalay grounded on Long Reef on January 1, 1966, while returning from the Bahamas. Coast Guard helicopters and patrol boats responded; unsuccessful salvage attempts left the vessel on the reef.

    Did you know?

    Before it became a cruise ship called Mandalay, the schooner sailed under the names Hardi Biou and Valor.

    Park Service: Mandalay’s history (opens a new tab)

11. Parrotfish

    On Biscayne’s reefs, stoplight parrotfish bite coral to feed on algae and tiny coral animals called polyps, taking in bits of stone as well.

    Did you know?

    At night, some parrotfish surround themselves with a coating of mucus that forms a kind of sleeping bag.

    Park Service: Life on Biscayne’s reefs (opens a new tab)

12. Patch Reef

    A distinct coral reef surrounded by a ring of sand.

    Biscayne’s adult spiny lobsters use patch reefs as well as ledges and rocky seafloor. The coral heads and their crevices support a mix of reef fish and invertebrates.

    Park Service: Spiny lobster habitats (opens a new tab) · Florida Museum: Patch reef communities (opens a new tab)

13. Red Mangrove

    Red mangroves grow along Biscayne’s saltwater shoreline, with long roots extending out into the water. These roots take on a reddish tinge when wet, giving the tree its common name.

    Park Service: Convoy Point’s bay habitats (opens a new tab)

14. Spite Highway

    The clearing through Elliott Key became a symbol of the struggle between development and preservation. After Biscayne National Monument was established in 1968, forest grew back along the bulldozed corridor.

    Park Service: Protecting Biscayne (opens a new tab)

15. Stiltsville

    Stiltsville’s buildings stand on pilings above Biscayne Bay’s shallow seagrass beds. The settlement began with waterfront shacks in the 1930s and developed into a social gathering place near Miami Beach.

    Did you know?

    In 1992, Hurricane Andrew left seven buildings standing; none had survived from Stiltsville’s busiest years, when the settlement reached 27 structures in 1960.

    Park Service: Stiltsville history (opens a new tab)