Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

This is definitely a must do in Key West for families. It has the fort for the educational aspect and a pretty nice beach by Florida Key standards. You can also launch your kayak, picnic, fish and snorkel here. We only visited the fort and beach on the day we were here. When you arrive, you pay an entrance fee at the gate. Our trip was February 2021 during COVID precautions and we used our card to pay the entrance fee. They used a hand held machine that they held while we inserted our card ourselves for payment. On the other side of us was a station for those on a bicycle to pay their fee.

The first area you come to is the parking area to the fort. At the entrance you will receive a pamphlet for the self guided tour. Follow the interpretive panels around the site.

Once entering the actual fort area, peer into the open sections of the structure for displays.

The far section of the fort has the area were the cannons were kept and stairways to the top of the fort

After leaving the fort parking, drive a short distance down to the parking for the beach. Here, there are restrooms, spray off stations and a cafe. I was impressed by the nice clean restrooms at the beach parks that we visited on this trip. There are also lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent. At the time of our visit it was $30 for 2 chairs and an umbrella and $10 for a single chair. The beach is rocky by the water and shoes are recommended.

Next post will be on our visit to the Mel Fisher Museum. Enjoy our previous posts on our Florida Keys trip: https://rxforbudgettravel.com/florida-keys-trip-report-overview/ , https://rxforbudgettravel.com/key-largo-resorts-playa-largo-or-bakers-cay/ , https://rxforbudgettravel.com/marathon-florida-highlights/ , https://rxforbudgettravel.com/hyatt-centric-key-west-resort-and-spa-review/