Hours of Operation (seven days a week): 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. the day prior to Daylight Savings Time change 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. the day prior to Eastern Standard Time change The Alimacani Park and Boat Ramp is located just west of State Road A1A (Heckscher Drive) on Xalvis Island, adjacent to the Fort George River. Some of the first Europeans to arrive in northeast Florida landed on Xalvis Island in 1562. The ramp and nearby Fort George Island (formerly the Timucuan Indian settlement of Alimacani) are part of the 46,000-acre Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. The boat ramp is situated on land that the City leases from the State of Florida, near the scenic stretch of A1A known as the Buccaneer Trail. For many years a fish camp/restaurant and a recreational vehicle park were operated adjacent to the boat ramp site, and the City purchased this property in 2002, as part of the Preservation Project. The unimproved ramp provides access to the Fort George River and its tributaries primarily for jet skiers, kayaks, and small jon boats.
Bulls Bay Preserve consists of 1,222 acres, acquired on December 21, 1999 as part of a conservation easement for mitigation. The Preserve consists mostly of wetlands with tributaries to the Trout and Ortega Rivers originating in the swamps that buffer the Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail from Imeson Road to Bulls Bay Highway.
Amenities include the northern swamp trail off of Imeson Road and over two miles of hiking/mountain bike trails at the Old Plank Road trailhead. With a variety of elevation changes, trail users encounter large oak trees, lily ponds, and even a small waterfall.
Freedom Park is located at the intersection of McCormick and Fort Caroline Roads in the Arlington section of East Jacksonville. There had been talks about a park in this part of Jacksonville for many years; it finally formed in October 2020. October 29, 2018, The City of Jacksonville and Council Member Al Ferraro hosted an event to celebrate the proposed "Freedom Park". This park is the first marker commemorating a Gullah Geechee Community in Jacksonville. Gullah Geechee are direct descendants of slaves who settled in the Coastal Lowlands, from North Carolina to North Florida. The single largest concentration is in Jacksonville, but Freedom Park would be the city’s first public area to recognize their history. The monument in the center of park honors and commemorates the Cosmo, Gullah Geechee & PTSD Veterans. The area has been summed up by local Pastor Joe Cooper of the Cosmo community in two words: ‘fishing and love.’ The Florida Legislature approved $521,855 in funding for the Gullah Geechee community’s Freedom Park.
Adan, Abukar, WJCT. ‘Jacksonville Park to Commemorate Descendents of Slaves’, May 13, 2019
Jones, David. First Coast News. ‘Living History: Freedom Park will memorialize local Gullah Geechee people, veterans with PTSD in Jacksonville’, March 14, 2020
The Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens is a 120-acre urban woodland full of trails for you to explore and enjoy.
From the trailhead next to the parking lot, a stabilized walkway encircles a beautiful two-acre lake. This trail gently descends about 25 feet to the foot of the lake and then returns up a gentle slope on the opposite side to the trailhead. Interpretive signs and over 100 labeled plants enhance the loop.
In addition, over three miles of rustic hiking trails wind quietly through a series of distinct ecological habitats. Along the trails, benches invite you either to pause and enjoy the view or to get in a good stretch during a vigorous walk.
The Arboretum is developed and managed by the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens, Inc., a non-profit entity that leases the land from the City of Jacksonville. For more information including hours of operation and admission fees, please go to www.jacksonvillearboretum.org
Update: The zoo dock was heavily damaged during recent hurricanes and is not currently available for public use. Open Zoo Hours.
Fee required.
Originally known as Barrs Field, Durkee Field was bought by the city for $348,000 in 1932. The baseball stadium was built in 1936-1937. Durkee Field was home to the Negro League and minor league baseball teams. Henry Aaron, Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Roy Campanella, James “Cool Papa” Bell and William “Judy” Johnson passed through on their way to baseball’s “Hall of Fame”. The name of the park changed from Durkee Field to J. P. Small Memorial Park Stadium in July 1980. James P. Small coached and taught at Stanton HS for 33 years, then coached at Raines HS for one year before retiring. He died in 1975. In 1982, the stadium was slated for demolition; however, a case was made for its renovation. The project was completed in 1985. Renovations included structural repairs, a new roof, press box and dugouts, paving the parking lot, a new playscape and lighted fields. Further renovation in 2006 included adding a small museum. A grant from the State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs in 2017 added climate control and increased the size of the museum. In 2018, the ballfield was renamed to “Hank Aaron Ballfield.
The Special Committee on Parks allocated funds for further renovation in 2022. The project will include new entryways, revised parking, landscape, and a new outfield museum. The first phase of the project includes also new sports lighting, artificial field turf, fencing and updated dug outs. The field will be ready for play in fall 2024.
Lift Evr’y Voice and Sing Park represents an opportunity to commemorate The Black National Anthem, celebrate the heritage and success of the once-segregated La Villa neighborhood in Jacksonville, and create a new park for the everyday and mundane, as well as community gatherings, events, and celebrations. The conceptual approach of the park begins by tracing the plots of the homes, businesses and yards that once existed here when La Villa was a thriving Black neighborhood. It is within this stretch of land that the Johnson Brothers’ home stood and where they grew up. These traces are interpreted as paved bands throughout the park, from which new gardens, lawns, and gathering spaces emerge. The park is comprised of five main organizational elements: The Emerald Trail & Lee Street Running along the eastern edge of the park is the Emerald Trail, an urban scale, multi-use path that accommodates pedestrians and cyclists. The trail makes a direct connection to the historic train station, an important feature in the cultural landscape of La Villa and all other Southern cities to African Americans. Gardens Emerging from the frames are a series of connected, planted spaces, primarily located on the southern end of the park. The planting design draws inspiration from the beauty of the embowered, overgrown, vacant lot that is carefully cultivated by human touch. The gardens frame a series of “rooms” – places for solitude, daily life, and small gatherings. Located in the southeast corner of the garden is the sculpture “Getting it Done” by Brian Owens. The Megaphone Shotgun House and Stage The centerpoint of the park sits a restored, historic La Villa home – a vessel of the past – the only vestige of African American domestic memory in La Villa. To reference the intention to protect this cultural history, three glass walls surround the house, sealing the memory in, while also providing a canvas for quotes and imagery. Projecting from the side of the shotgun house is a stage that allows for a variety of performances or simply sitting on the porch – part of everyday life. This structure, combined with the House comprises The Megaphone: broadcasting the stories of the lives of those who once lived in this place. Lifted Lawn Facing the stage and shotgun is the lifted lawn, which rises up to have a dialogue with the Megaphone. This grassy area will be used just as much for the day-to-day of neighbors as it will for larger performances. From the apex of the lawn, one can look out over the park, surveying the land of the once-thriving community that stood here. Lift Ev’ry Voice Plaza Sculpture & Terrace Acting as the gateway on the North of the Park, the Plaza is comprised of a palm grid, with a backdrop of a large sculpture, spelling out the words “Lift Evry Voice and Sing”. This sculpture, made of tabby concrete – a shell-based, historic building material often made by enslaved people – literally supports the Lifted Lawn. Emanating from the base of the letters is a mist fountain – creating an ethereal fog from which the sculpture emerges. This fountain creates a dynamic environment that changes with the wind and times of day and seasons.
Walter Anderson Memorial Park is located in the Mandarin area of southeast Jacksonville, near the intersection of Flynn and Orange Picker Roads.
In 2019, the park was renamed after Walter W. Anderson, a lifelong Mandarin resident, a World War II veteran, a retired Civil Servant with 37 years of service, and a prominent figure in the African-American community. From the early 1800s, the African-American community in the Mandarin area had a very large footprint and like most places in America during the time of segregation, they had limited access to include recreational facilities. In 1955, Mr. Anderson donated four acres of land deeded “for park purposes only" to the County so that African Americans would have a place for recreation. In 1956, Mr. Anderson facilitated the County’s purchase of an additional two acres for expansion of the park to its current state. The park served as one of the main gathering places for the African-American community. Additionally, the park served as the home field to the Mandarin Raiders baseball team, an African-American sandlot team who hosted teams from all over Jacksonville and neighboring counties well into the mid-1980s. The park continues to serve as a gathering place for community events, picnics, sports events for children, youth, and adults today and well into the future.
For many years, this park was unnamed and simply referred to as “The Colored Park”. Over the years, the park was named Joe James Park and then Flynn Park until the name change in 2019.
Through the years, local minority residents, the Mandarin Sports Association, and the Mandarin Community Club have championed the need for improvements and additions to this park. These improvements have included a basketball court, new restrooms, and lighting for the ball field in the late 1970s, new playground equipment in 1990, and park fencing more recently. The baseball field is still used for baseball, soccer, and any given day, the basketball courts are full of activity by all community members. Mr. Anderson’s selfless contributions continues to give back to the community and will serve as a memorial and reminder of the sizeable and vital African-American community in the Mandarin area. A new pickleball court was installed in April 2021.