Gulf Islands National Seashore

96,000 underwater acres in Mississippi and Florida (US) managed by the National Park Service

Gulf Islands National Seashore
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Gulf Islands National Seashore, near Pensacola
Gulf Islands National SeashoreShow map of FloridaGulf Islands National Seashore (the United States)Show map of the United States
Location	Escambia / Santa Rosa / Okaloosa counties, Florida; and Jackson / Harrison counties, Mississippi; USA
Nearest city	Pensacola, FL (Fort Barrancas) Navarre, FL (Santa Rosa Island area) Gulf Breeze, FL (Naval Live Oaks area) Destin, FL (Okaloosa Island area) Pascagoula, MS (Mississippi area)
Coordinates	30°21′52″N 86°58′3″W / 30.36444°N 86.96750°W / 30.36444; -86.96750
Area	135,457.89 acres (548.1786 km) 99,083.64 acres (40,097.73 ha) federal
Established	January 8, 1971
Visitors	8,277,857 (in 2023)
Governing body	U.S. National Park Service
Website	Gulf Islands National Seashore

Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-most visited unit of the National Park Service.

The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven islands. Some islands along the Alabama coast were originally considered for inclusion, but none are part of the National Seashore.

The Florida District of the seashore features offshore barrier islands with sparkling white quartz sand beaches (along miles of undeveloped land), historic fortifications, and nature trails. The Perdido Key Historic District preserves shore batteries active in World War I and World War II. Mainland features near Pensacola, Florida, include the Naval Live Oaks Reservation, 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 4,080 acres (16.5 km) Gulf Islands Wilderness offers special protection within the seashore to parts of Petit Bois Island and Horn Island, Mississippi.

Considerable damage to public infrastructure occurred as a result of storms during the 2004 and 2005 Atlantic hurricane seasons. 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 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 Islands 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 - Florida
Petit Bois Island - 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 was authorized on January 8, 1971, and is administered by the National Park Service. The wilderness area 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, 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, 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 Visitor Center (located aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)
Fort Pickens Discovery Center, Pensacola Beach, Florida

Mississippi Visitor Centers

William M. Colmer Visitor Center (Davis Bayou Area), Ocean Springs, Mississippi
- Near Fort Massachusetts

Camping

Two developed campgrounds are located in the National Seashore. Primitive camping is also permitted in designated areas.

In Florida, the Pickens Campground is 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, the Davis Bayou Campground is 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 2 metres (6.6 ft) high dunes on average, but with some reaching 6 metres (20 ft). The white quartz sands originated from the Appalachian Mountains. The surface geology consists mainly of Holocene marine, beach and dune sands. On Santa Rosa Island, these lie unconformably on Pleistocene formations deposited during the Sangamonian Marine Isotope Stage 5, 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-lagoonal brackish environments, and the Biloxi Formation, consisting of floodplain alluvial deposits. Below these formations are the Pliocene Pensacola Clay, the Oligocene Tampa Member of the Arcadia Formation, and the Oligocene Chickasawhay Limestone. On Horn Island, the Holocene deposits overlay Miocene 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

Gulf Islands National Seashore

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
3.2 55 52	9 55 48	5.2 66 59	9 73 68	4.7 81 72	7.4 81 75	12 81 77	7.8 82 75	6.9 81 75	2.8 73 66	3.3 66 63	5.4 63 57
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches
Source:

Metric conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
81 13 11	229 13 9	132 19 15	229 23 20	119 27 22	188 27 24	305 27 25	198 28 24	175 27 24	71 23 19	84 19 17	137 17 14
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm

References

"Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2023". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
Robinson, Kevin. "Perdido Keys?! Hurricane Sally cuts eastern tip of barrier island into three sections". Pensacola News Journal. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
"Pools of oil wash ashore on Pensacola Beach", Tampa Bay Online (TBO), 23 June 2010, webpage: TBO-30.
"Gulf Islands National Seashore | Florida Smart". www.floridasmart.com. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
Schupp, Courtney (2019). "Gulf Islands National Seashore Geologic Resources Inventory Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2019/1986". U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
"NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index". NASA. Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2016.

External links

Media related to Gulf Islands National Seashore at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Gulf Islands National Seashore
Santa Rosa Island Perdido Key Petit Bois Island Horn Island Ship Island Cat Island Fort Massachusetts (Mississippi) Fort Pickens Fort Barrancas Fort McRee

v t e United States National Lakeshores, National Seashores, and National Rivers
National Lakeshores	Apostle Islands Pictured Rocks Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Seashores	Assateague Island Canaveral Cape Cod Cape Hatteras Cape Lookout Cumberland Island Fire Island Gulf Islands Padre Island Point Reyes
National Rivers	Alagnak WR Big South Fork Bluestone NSR Buffalo River Great Egg Harbor NSRR Middle Delaware NSR Mississippi River Missouri NRR Niobrara NSR Obed WSR Ozark Rio Grande WSR Saint Croix NSR Upper Delaware SRR

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys Key Largo (1975–1990) Looe Key (1981–1990)
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola NERR Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Boyd Hill Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake

Protected areas of Mississippi

Federal

National Historical Parks and national monuments	Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home Natchez
National Battlefields, Military Parks and Battlefield Sites	Brices Cross Roads NBS Shiloh NMP Tupelo NB Vicksburg NMP
National Seashores	Gulf Islands
National Trails	Natchez Trace Parkway Natchez Trace Trail
National Forests	Bienville De Soto Delta Holly Springs Homochitto Tombigbee
National Wildlife Refuges	Bogue Chitto Coldwater River Dahomey Grand Bay Hillside Holt Collier Mathews Brake Mississippi Sandhill Crane Morgan Brake Panther Swamp Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee St. Catherine Creek Tallahatchie Theodore Roosevelt Yazoo
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Grand Bay
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Black Creek

State

State Parks	Buccaneer Clark Creek Natural Area Clarkco Florewood George P. Cossar Golden Memorial Grand Gulf Military Great River Road Holmes County Hugh White John W. Kyle J. P. Coleman Lake Lincoln Lake Lowndes LeFleur's Bluff Legion Leroy Percy Natchez Paul B. Johnson Percy Quin Roosevelt Shepard Tishomingo Tombigbee Trace Wall Doxey

Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks

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