Biscayne National Park - Geography

Geography

Biscayne National Park comprises 172,971 acres (69,999 ha) in Miami-Dade County in southeast Florida. The park extends from just south of Key Biscayne southward to just north of Key Largo, and includes Soldier Key, the Ragged Keys, Sands Key, Elliott Key, Totten Key and Old Rhodes Key, as well as smaller islands that form the northernmost extension of the Florida Keys. The park's eastern boundary is the ten-fathom line (60-foot (18 m)) of water depth in the Atlantic Ocean, which is the approximate seaward extent of the portion of the Florida Reef that is accessible to divers. The park's western boundary is a fringe of property on the mainland, extending a few hundred meters inland between Cutler Ridge and Mangrove Point. The southwestern boundary adjoins the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station and its system of cooling canals. Biscayne Bay extends between Elliott Key and the mainland, transited by the Intracoastal Waterway. The park abuts the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on the east and south sides of the park, and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park to the south. Much of the park was originally proposed to be included in Everglades National Park, but was excluded in order to obtain a consensus for the establishment of the Everglades park in 1947.