🥾 ActiveLong weekend · from Jacksonville, FL

Wild Coast: Amelia Island, Cumberland Island & Florida Springs

Three days through the most ecologically intact coastline and inland water systems accessible from Jacksonville. Amelia Island opens the trip with Fort Clinch trails and Atlantic beach. Cumberland Island on day two requires advance ferry reservations and rewards the planning with 18 miles of car-free wilderness beach, 200 wild horses, and the Carnegie mansion ruins. Day three heads inland to Ichetucknee Springs State Park — a National Natural Landmark where nine springs feed a 3.5-mile crystal-clear river, the primary tube float in North Florida, running at a constant 68°F through a first-magnitude spring system that discharges 233 million gallons of water daily into the Santa Fe River.

Day 1 — Amelia Island: Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Atlantic beachDay 2 — Cumberland Island: wild horses, Dungeness ruins, 18-mile wilderness beachDay 3 — Ichetucknee Springs: first-magnitude spring system, 3.5-mile tube float
Day 1 — Amelia Island

Day 1 — Amelia Island

🚗 40 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Jacksonville, FL → Fort Clinch State Park
40 min8:00 AM → 8:40 AM
Fort Clinch State Park
Fort Clinch State Park
★ 4.8
The 1847 masonry fort at the northern tip of Amelia Island — one of the best-preserved pre-Civil War forts in the Southeast, with a 6-mile trail system through maritime hammock along the Cumberland Sound. Morning light on the sound is ideal for birding; the fort's walls are photographically strong at any hour.
8:40 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Fernandina Beach — Centre Street Historic District
Fernandina Beach — Centre Street Historic District
Victorian-era waterfront district with working shrimp boat docks, the Florida House Inn (oldest operating hotel in Florida), and a range of seafood lunch spots. The harbour and its fishing boats give context for the island's historic shrimping economy.
9:40 AM📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Amelia Island Main Beach
Amelia Island Main Beach
★ 4.7
13 miles of undeveloped Atlantic beach running the length of the island — the afternoon surf is typically 1-3 feet and rideable on a rented board. The beach is hard-packed at low tide for biking or running the full length.
12:00 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
Elizabeth Pointe Lodge
Elizabeth Pointe Lodge
★ 4.3
A Nantucket shingle-style oceanfront inn on the Atlantic beach — one of the best small hotels on the North Florida coast, 25 minutes from the Cumberland Island ferry dock in St. Marys.
5:00 PM📍 See location
Day 2 — Cumberland Island

Day 2 — Cumberland Island

🚗 25 min driving📍 4 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Amelia Island → St. Marys, GA — Cumberland Island Ferry
25 min8:00 AM → 8:25 AM
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Cumberland Island National Seashore
★ 4.8
18 miles of Atlantic wilderness beach accessible only by NPS ferry from St. Marys — no cars, no roads, 200 wild horses, live oak hammock interior, and Carnegie Gilded Age ruins at the south end. Visitation is capped at 300 per day; advance ferry reservations are essential.
8:25 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Dungeness Ruins — Cumberland Island
Dungeness Ruins — Cumberland Island
★ 4.8
The roofless shell of the Carnegie family's 59-room mansion at the island's south end, burned in 1959 and now surrounded by palms and Spanish moss. The nearby Plum Orchard mansion (Carnegie, 1898) is accessible on a separate NPS tour and shows what Dungeness looked like at its peak.
9:25 AM📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Cumberland Island — Atlantic Beach
Cumberland Island — Atlantic Beach
★ 4.7
The full 18-mile beach with no development in any direction — sea turtle nesting in summer, wild horses crossing at low tide, and a solitude that is genuinely rare on the Atlantic coast. The late afternoon ferry back to St. Marys; allow time to walk from the beach to the dock.
12:00 PM📍 See location
🌙
Evening
Riverview Hotel — St. Marys, GA
Riverview Hotel — St. Marys, GA
★ 4.6
A historic inn on the St. Marys River waterfront in the small Georgia port town that serves as the ferry gateway to Cumberland Island — staying in St. Marys positions you for the drive to Ichetucknee Springs on Day 3, about 1.5 hours south into Florida.
5:00 PM📍 See location
Day 3 — Ichetucknee Springs

Day 3 — Ichetucknee Springs

🚗 2 hr 45 min driving📍 2 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
St. Marys, GA → Ichetucknee Springs State Park
1 hr 30 min8:00 AM → 9:30 AM
Ichetucknee Springs State Park
Ichetucknee Springs State Park
★ 4.8
A National Natural Landmark where nine springs feed a 3.5-mile river running at a constant 68°F — the primary tube float destination in North Florida, discharging 233 million gallons of water daily into the Santa Fe River. The river runs through a first-magnitude spring system in a bottomland forest of bald cypress and sweetgum; manatees winter in the spring head. The full run takes 2-3 hours by tube; tube rentals are available at the park.
9:30 AM📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Ichetucknee Springs — Blue Hole
Ichetucknee Springs — Blue Hole
★ 4.7
The largest spring head in the Ichetucknee system — a 30-foot deep boil of crystal-clear 68°F water with visibility of 30+ feet. Free diving and snorkeling in the spring head reveal the karst limestone bottom and the full flow of water emerging from underground. The Blue Hole Trail connects the spring head to the main river put-in.
10:30 AM📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
🚗
Drive
Ichetucknee Springs State Park → Jacksonville, FL
1 hr 15 min12:00 PM → 1:15 PM
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