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Matanzas Inlet - Southern St. Johns County, Florida |
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((click on the pictures for a higher resolution version)) |
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Matanzas Inlet 180-degree Panoramic View From Atop Fort Matanzas |
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| Matanzas Inlet in southern St. Johns County is about 50 miles south of Jacksonville,14 miles south of St. Augustine and three miles north of "Marineland." It is one of the few remaining "inlets" in northeast Florida not protected by a jetty thus presenting an easy study of what an inlet might have looked like in the past. Because of this lack of protection, the inlet is in a constant state of flux and may change considerably in a relatively short period of time. Today's inlet (spanned by a modern bridge on State Road A1A) is significantly south of the inlet which existed in 1740 when the Spanish began construction of Ft. Matanzas on Rattlesnake Island to protect the southern approach via the Matanzas River to their "Castillo de san Marcos" in St. Augustine. | |
 Discussion: The Matanzas
Inlet area is bordered on the north by the
"Fort Matanzas National Monument" of the National Park Service
| St. Johns County public land, and on the south by private land
owners. Access to both the Matanzas River and the beach both north and
south of
the inlet should not present a problem during most times of the year.
Like other areas in St. Johns County, driving is permitted on the
beach. Extensive Sand Flats
are present seaward from the actual inlet at the A1A Bridge. |
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