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Hontoon Island State Park is a Florida State Park located on Hontoon Island between the St. Johns River and the
Hontoon Dead River The Hontoon Dead River is a tributary of the St. Johns River in Volusia County, Florida. Hontoon Island, home of Hontoon Island State Park is surrounded by the Hontoon, the St. Johns, and Snake Creek. A "dead river" is one with virtually no c ...
in
Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 20 ...
. It is six miles (10 km) west of DeLand, off SR 44, and can only be reached by boat or park-operated passenger ferry. No motorized vehicles, other than wheelchairs, are allowed to be brought onto the island and there is no swimming. The island has
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
flatwoods Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an ecological community in the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fire a ...
,
palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (b ...
and oak hammocks,
bald cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...
swamps and
marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
es. Hontoon Island is surrounded by the St. Johns River, the Hontoon Dead River, and Snake Creek. Activities include horseshoes, cycling, boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing, as well as hiking, camping, picnicking, and nature viewing and photography. The island can be circumnavigated with a nine and a half-mile (14 km) day trip; Blue Spring State Park is a short paddle up the St. Johns (3.5 miles) one way. Amenities include canoe rentals, bike paths, eleven tent sites and six rustic cabins. The park also has overnight boat slip rentals, playground equipment, picnic tables, and a
nature trail An educational trail (or sometimes educational path), nature trail or nature walk is a specially developed hiking trail or footpath that runs through the countryside, along which there are marked stations or stops next to points of natural, tec ...
. The park has a lending library with picture books for children aged four to nine. The park is open from 8:00 am till one hour before sunset year-round.


Rentals

Bicycle rentals are $6 per hour or $15 all day. Canoe and kayak rentals are $20 for up to four hours and $40 all day. All rentals must be returned by 5 p.m. There are no refunds for inclement weather. Tent sites and marina slips rent for $18 per night. Four-person cabins rent for $30 per night and six-person cabins rent for $35 per night. The Mayacan Indians were the first inhabitants of Hontoon Island. Evidence of their presence can be seen by a large shell mound that still exist at the end of the Hammock Trail, 1.7 miles one way, on what is mostly a shaded hike.


Wildlife gallery

File:Black Crowned Night Heron - Pileated Woodpecker.jpg,
Black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...
and
pileated woodpecker The pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the ...
File:Sandhill Cranes at Hontoon Island.jpg,
Sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on th ...
s on Hontoon Island File:Ibis Tree.jpg, A tree full of
American white ibis The American white ibis (''Eudocimus albus'') is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. This particular ibi ...
on the St. Johns. File:Hontoon Dead - Barred Owl.jpg, A Barred owl near Hontoon Island. File:Limpkin near Blue Spring State Park.jpg, Limpkin on the St. Johns River. File:American Black Vulture - St Johns River.jpg,
American black vulture The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Cen ...
s. File:Yellow-crowned Night Heron - St Johns River.jpg,
Yellow-crowned night heron The yellow-crowned night heron (''Nyctanassa violacea''), is one of two species of night herons found in the Americas, the other one being the black-crowned night heron. It is known as the ''bihoreau violacé'' in French and the ''pedrete coron ...
. File:Red-shouldered Hawk - St Johns River.jpg,
Red-shouldered hawk The red-shouldered hawk (''Buteo lineatus'') is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of it ...
, Florida sub-species. File:Cabins at Hontoon Island.jpg, Primitive cabins may be rented at the park File:Hontoon Island State Park fallen02.jpg File:Hontoon Island State Park fallen01.jpg File:Hontoon Island State Park bwalk02.jpg, Boardwalks protect the fragile soil


References


External links


Hontoon Island State Park Podcast
by RICHES
Hontoon Island State Park
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Florida State Parks


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State Parks


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Absolutely Florida

Hontoon Island State Park
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Wildernet
{{authority control Parks in Volusia County, Florida State parks of Florida Florida Native American Heritage Trail DeLand, Florida