Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
barrier island
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from ...
s of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven islands. Some islands along the
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
coast were originally considered for inclusion, but none are part of the National Seashore.
of the seashore features offshore barrier islands with sparkling white quartz sand beaches (along miles of undeveloped land), historic fortifications, and nature trails. Mainland features near
Pensacola, Florida, include the
Naval Live Oaks Reservation
The Naval Live Oaks Reservation (also known as Deer Point Live Oaks Reservation or Deer Point Plantation) is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and is near Gulf Breeze, Florida. It was purchased by U.S. government in 1828 as the first ...
, beaches, and military forts. All Florida areas are accessible by automobile.
The Mississippi District of the seashore features natural beaches, historic sites, wildlife sanctuaries, islands accessible only by boat, bayous, nature trails, picnic areas, and campgrounds. The Davis Bayou Area is the only portion of the National Seashore in Mississippi that is accessible by automobile. Petit Bois, Horn, East Ship, West Ship, and Cat islands are accessible only by boat. The Gulf Islands Wilderness offers special protection within the seashore to parts of
Petit Bois Island
Petit Bois Island is a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, south of Pascagoula, and one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands. It is part of Jackson County, Mississippi. Since 1971 it has been a part of Gulf Islands National Sea ...
and
Horn Island, Mississippi
Horn Island is a long, thin barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, south of Ocean Springs. It is one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands and part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Horn Island is several miles long, but l ...
.
Considerable damage to public infrastructure occurred as a result of storms during the
2004 and
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in history, until the record was broken 15 years later in 2020. The season broke numerous records at the time, with 28 tropical or subtropical storms recorded. ...
s. In subsequent years, infrastructure was fully repaired. All roadways, parking areas, campgrounds, and visitor centers have been repaired and are fully operational. A few trails and associated boardwalks and dune crossovers were still under repair as of late 2010, especially near the
Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and was one of the few ...
campground.
Hurricane Sally hit the area in September 2020 causing massive damage to the Gulf Islands Seashores. Perdido Key was hit with flooding waters that flattened out some of the dunes along Perdido Key. Johnson Beach National Seashore, part of the Gulf Island National Seashore at the east end of the island, was hit particularly hard. Many of the dunes were flattened and the end of the island was gorged forming 3 small isolated islands off the tip. Restoration projects bring in sand and vegetation to restore storm damage, though it can be a long process with subsequent storms and strong winds.
Entrance fees are charged at the entrance to the Fort Pickens area at Pensacola Beach, as well as the Johnson Beach Area at Perdido Key in Florida. The typical automobile entrance fee is US$25, good for seven days. Annual passes can be purchased for US$45.
Islands
Principal islands in the seashore (from east to west):
*
Santa Rosa Island - Florida
*
Perdido Key
Perdido is a Spanish and Portuguese word for ‘lost’. It may refer to:
* "Perdido" (song), jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol
*"Perdido", song from WarCry's album '' ¿Dónde Está La Luz?''
* HMS ''Trouncer'' (D85), ship also known as USS ' ...
- Florida
*
Petit Bois Island
Petit Bois Island is a barrier island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, south of Pascagoula, and one of the Mississippi–Alabama barrier islands. It is part of Jackson County, Mississippi. Since 1971 it has been a part of Gulf Islands National Sea ...
- Mississippi
*
West Petit Bois Island (formerly known as Sand Island) - Mississippi
*
Horn Island - Mississippi
*
East Ship Island - Mississippi
*
West Ship Island - Mississippi
*
Cat Island - Mississippi
History
The
national seashore
The United States has ten protected areas known as national seashores and three known as national lakeshores, which are public lands operated by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the Department of the Interior. National seashores a ...
was authorized on January 8, 1971, and is administered by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
. The
wilderness area
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
was designated on November 10, 1978. Santa Rosa Island had been previously protected as a
national monument from 1939 to 1946.
The
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considere ...
, beginning on April 20, 2010, released masses of oil and tar which began washing ashore, in varying amounts, along the Gulf Islands National Seashore on June 1, 2010. On June 23, 2010, wave after wave of oil pools and globs began covering the beaches on
Santa Rosa Island,
[
"Pools of oil wash ashore on Pensacola Beach",
''Tampa Bay Online'' (TBO), 23 June 2010, webpage:
]
TBO-30
resulting in a fishing and swimming ban. The oil-spill disaster affected every large island in the group.
Day Use Areas
There are 6 distinct areas of the seashore in Florida for visitors:
* Johnson Beach area on Perdido Key
* Fort Barrancas area on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola
* Fort Pickens area on East Pensacola Beach
* Gulf Breeze area on Gulf Breeze
* Santa Rosa Island area on West Pensacola Beach
* Okaloosa Island area on Fort Walton Beach
Visitor centers
Four visitor centers, staffed by National Park personnel, are located within Gulf Islands National Seashore. Two are located in Florida, and one is located in Mississippi.
Florida Visitor Centers
*
Fort Barrancas
Fort Barrancas (1839) or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (from 1787) is a United States military fort and National Historic Landmark in the former Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically within Naval Air Station Pensacola, which wa ...
Visitor Center (located aboard
Naval Air Station Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...
, Florida)
*
Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and was one of the few ...
Discovery Center,
Pensacola Beach, Florida
Pensacola Beach is an unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is situated south of Pensacola (and Gulf Breeze connected via bridges spanning to the Fairpoint Pen ...
Mississippi Visitor Centers
* William M. Colmer Visitor Center (Davis Bayou Area),
Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States, approximately east of Biloxi and west of Gautier. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,225 at the 2000 U.S. Census. ...
**Near
Fort Massachusetts
Camping
Two developed campgrounds are located in the National Seashore. Primitive camping is also permitted in designated areas.
In Florida, th
Pickens Campgroundis a developed one and provides water and electrical hookups for recreational vehicles and tents. Roads are paved throughout the campground, as well as each campsite. The environment is characterized by
sand scrub oaks, small brackish ponds, and a remnant pine forest on a barrier island between Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Central restrooms and showers are available. A campground store reopened in late 2010 (after being closed following storm damage from Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis in 2004 and 2005, respectively). There are no sewer hookups at the campsites; however, a dump station is available. The campground is located approximately 1.5 miles (2 km) from Fort Pickens itself.
In Mississippi, th
Davis Bayou Campgroundis developed, providing water and electrical hookups for recreational vehicles and tents. Roads are paved throughout the campground, as well as each campsite. The environment is characterized by an oak and pine forest adjacent to a brackish bayou connected to Mississippi Sound. Central restrooms and showers are available. There are no sewer hookups at the campsites; however, a dump station is available. The campground is located at the end of roadway leading through the Davis Bayou Area.
Primitive camping is permitted on several of the barrier islands. Boating or hiking in is required. Such camping is allowed on Perdido Key, Florida (east of Johnson Beach), and on government-owned properties on Petit Bois, Horn, East Ship, and Cat islands in Mississippi.
Geology
The barrier islands started forming 4500-5400 years ago. On the north side of the islands, the beaches are broad, while on the south side, the beaches include high dunes on average, but with some reaching . The white quartz sands originated from the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
. The surface geology consists mainly of
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...
marine, beach and dune sands. On Santa Rosa Island, these lie
unconformably
An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...
on
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
formations deposited during the
Sangamonian
The Sangamonian Stage (or Sangamon interglacial) is the term used in North America to designate the last interglacial period. In its most common usage, it is used for the period of time between 75,000 and 125,000 BP.Willman, H.B., and J.C. Frye, 1 ...
Marine Isotope Stage 5
Marine Isotope Stage 5 or MIS 5 is a marine isotope stage in the geologic temperature record, between 130,000 and 80,000 years ago. Sub-stage MIS 5e, called the Eemian or Ipswichian, covers the last major interglacial period before the Holocene, w ...
, when the sea level was 3-6 meters (10-20 feet) above the present level. This includes the Gulfport Formation, a
barrier complex with shallow nearshore, beach and dune sands, the Prairie Formation, deposited in nearshore marine and
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
-lagoonal brackish environments, and the Biloxi Formation, consisting of
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
deposits. Below these formations are the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...](_blank)
, the
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
Tampa Member of the
Arcadia Formation
The Arcadia Formation and its sub-unit, the Tampa Member, are Late Oligocene geologic formations in North Florida, United States. It is part of the Hawthorn Group.
Age
Period (geology), Period: Paleogene to Neogene
Epoch (geology), Epoch: Early ...
, and the Oligocene Chickasawhay Limestone. On Horn Island, the Holocene deposits overlay
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
formations that includes the Pascagoula Formation, consisting of fluvial, estuarine, and nearshore marine (undifferentiated) deposits, the Hattiesburg Formation, consisting of fluvial, estuarine, and nearshore marine (undifferentiated) deposits, and the
Catahoula Formation.
Climate
See also
*
List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 803 wilderness areas protecting of federal land . They are managed by four agencies:
*United States National Park Service (NPS)
*United States Forest Service (USFS)
*United States Fish and Wild ...
*
Hispanic Heritage Sites (U.S. National Park Service)
The National Park System is well endowed to commemorate Hispanic contributions to American society. Some 20 national parklands represent Hispanic heritage in the United States. Some sites remotely display Hispanic contributions to American cultur ...
References
External links
*
* Official NPS website
Gulf Islands National SeashoreGulf Island National Seashore in FloridaGulf Islands WildernessGulf Islands NS at Hiker CentralBenthic Substrate Classification Map: Gulf Islands National SeashoreUnited States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
Geomorphology and Depositional Subenvironments of Gulf Islands National Seashore, MississippiUnited States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
''Fort Pickens and the Outbreak of the Civil War'', a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
{{authority control
Beaches of Florida
National Seashores of the United States
National Park Service areas in Mississippi
National Park Service areas in Florida
Gulf of Mexico islands of the United States
Beaches of Mississippi
Protected areas of Escambia County, Florida
Protected areas of Harrison County, Mississippi
Protected areas of Jackson County, Mississippi
Protected areas of Okaloosa County, Florida
Protected areas of Santa Rosa County, Florida
Protected areas established in 1971
Islands of Escambia County, Florida
Landforms of Harrison County, Mississippi
Landforms of Jackson County, Mississippi
Islands of Okaloosa County, Florida
Islands of Santa Rosa County, Florida
Beaches of Escambia County, Florida
Beaches of Okaloosa County, Florida
Beaches of Santa Rosa County, Florida
Islands of Mississippi
Islands of Florida
1971 establishments in Mississippi
1971 establishments in Florida
Conservation in Navarre, Florida
Navarre, Florida