History

Safety Updates

Effective immediately, Florida State Parks will follow local orders requiring facial coverings or masks to provide for staff and visitor safety. These requirements vary from area to area.

DEP continues to re-open Florida State Parks as part of the phased plan to re-open Florida. As these parks re-open areas, experiences and amenities, DEP will be taking measures to ensure the protection of staff and the public. During this phase of re-opening, visitors should expect limited hours, capacity and amenities. As part of the phased re-opening of limited overnight accommodations, measures may be in place to reduce camping density. Currently, no walk-in sites are available.

Florida State Parks has begun a phased return of programs and events.

Our main priority is the safety of our guests and staff. As such, we will continue to review operations on a daily basis and make additional operational changes as may be deemed necessary for protection of public health.

View details about Online Payment, Park Closures, Campground Closures, Park Programs and Events, and Facial Coverings.

Limited Visitation at this Park

Effective July 2, 2020: Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park is open, including beaches, the marina, picnic pavilions, the concession and the fishing platforms. Due to local orders, facial coverings or masks are required inside buildings for staff and visitor safety. Due to limited visitation, the park may be closed early and may remain closed for several hours. The lighthouse and cottage tours are closed. Exact change is necessary when paying with cash. Credit cards are accepted. Visitors are expected to maintain distances of at least six feet apart.

Ponce de Leon named this area 'Cape of Florida' when he led the first Spanish expedition to Florida in 1513.

The Cape Florida lighthouse was completed in 1825 but was damaged during the Second Seminole War. The rebuilt tower, completed in 1846, remains the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County.

The island served as a secret meeting place and port for runaway slaves and Black Seminoles waiting to rendezvous with sea captains or board dugouts for a passage to safety in the British Bahamas.

Although the lighthouse was built to save lives and ships, its unflinching light brought an end to this avenue of escape.

In September 2004, Cape Florida was designated a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Site.