subject: All About Dry Tortugas National Park [print this page] For some people, a visit to Florida means a few very simple things. Theme parks for the kids, great golf courses, some walks on the beach, and lots of warm, sunny weather all year round. But for adventurous travelers, there are plenty of other attractions in the Sunshine state. The nature of the peninsula and its proximity to the Caribbean means that Florida is home to some truly wonderful and weird places--many of which are designated landmarks or state parks. Some are easy to see; others, like the Dry Tortugas, pose a significant and worthy challenge.
The Dry Tortugas are a few small, irregular islets that lie about 67 miles away from Key West. While officially an unincorporated area of Monroe County, these seven small sand bars cover only about 143 acres combined. The number of islands has fluctuated over the past few centuries, and even the size of the area is never consistent. The keys jut out sharply from fairly deep water, and are constantly re-shaped by wind and floods; several islets have disappeared and reappeared over the past 200 years.
The islands were discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish colonialist who discovered Florida. He named them Las Tortugas after the sea turtles he discovered on their shores, and added the word 'dry' to indicate the lack of availability of fresh water anywhere on the islands. This drought has held true to this day, and has been a major impediment to any type of permanent settlement.
There are currently seven islands in the Dry Tortugas. The Loggerhead Key has the highest elevation, at 10 feet above sea level, and is the site of the keys' lighthouse. Bush Key is currently the home of a rookery for tern birds; they nest there from April to September each year. Garden Key is sometimes connected to Bush Key by a sand bar, and contains the inactive (and incomplete) Fort Jefferson--a gigantic military base that was built before the Civil War. Hospital Key is so named because it used to host a hospital for the inmates of the Fort; and Long Key, East Key, and Middle Key are all quite small and will sometimes disappear beneath the waves for several weeks as the seasons change.
Fort Jefferson became a National Monument under Roosevelt in 1935, while the Dry Tortugas finally became a National Park in 1992. The park is famous for the wealth of observable sea life, shipwrecks, and coral reefs--never mind the enormous Fort Jefferson, which is made out of 16 million bricks. An amazing 299 species of birds can be viewed in the vicinity and it's a popular area for birdwatchers. Although transportation into the Dry Tortugas is by seaplane or by ferry, a respectable 80,000 people each year make the trip. They can saltwater fish, scuba dive, snorkel and camp. For those looking for an adventurous alternative to Seaworld and the Magic Kingdom, these scraps of sand and rock are the perfect destination.
