Florida Biscayne National park map and highlights

Biscayne, Florida on the map. National Park Biscayne, Florida on the map of USA     

Previous pages: Everglades in Florida is famous for its vast array of bird life, including the wood stork.     

Far right, top: Blue herons nest seasonally in the protected refuge of Biscayne National Park.     

Far right: The rare, shy manatee makes its  home in the warm waters of Florida. This large animal, also called a sea  cow, measures up to 15 feet (5 meters) in length. The survival of this  harmless creature is threatened by motorboats and their propellers.     

Right: The green sea turtle can be found in Biscayne—one of the few national parks that consists mostly of water.  

Established: 1980   Acreage: 172,845     

Within a few miles of downtown Miami lies a  quiet, almost pristine wilderness —a place of brilliant sunsets, warm,  clear water, colorful reefs and tropical coral islands. Biscayne  National Park, located only 21 miles east of Everglades National Park,  allows the visitor to see South Florida the way the Indians and pirates  saw it hundreds of years ago.  

The park encompasses four important and  interrelated biological systems: a mature mangrove forest growing on the  fringe of the mainland; shallow Biscayne Bay, a nursery for fisheries;  the underdeveloped, upper Florida Keys with their native vegetation; and  the living coral reefs, found exclusively in the southeastern coastal  region of the continental US.     

In addition to the beautiful natural  resources, Biscayne has an exciting history of Indians, Spanish  explorers, pirates, sunken ships, buried treasure and rum-running. More  recent historical activities include mahogany logging and pineapple and  lime plantations. For most visitors, however, fishing, boating,  snorkeling and diving are the popular activities.