Canaveral National Seashore

ABOUT THIS PLACE

Twenty-four miles of beach and dune run through it, fifteen of those miles in Volusia County and nine in Brevard. There are three sections. Apollo Beach is the northern one, reached from New Smyrna Beach, and it is the part most people in this county use. Klondike Beach is the middle, with no road to it at all. Playalinda is the southern end, reached from Titusville. Mosquito Lagoon covers more than two-thirds of the seashore and is shallow, grassy water that holds speckled trout, redfish, pompano and bluefish. Turtle Mound is a shell midden thirty-five feet high, built up over centuries by the people who lived here, and Castle Windy is another seventeen feet high dating to about the year 1200. Seminole Rest holds the oldest recorded human site inside the park. More than a thousand plant species and 310 bird species have been counted. Loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles nest on the beach in summer, and nesting stretches are roped off. Parts of the park close during launches from the Kennedy Space Center next door, so check before driving down