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African QueenAfrican Queen · Photo: Elmschrat · CC BY-SA 3.0
A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Key Largo

More than half of Key Largo’s land is conserved: 69%

69% of Key Largo’s land is conserved, about 5,308 acres. Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 5,265 acres are parks and preserves, 404 per 1,000 residents.

Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #19 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Conserved land
69%
5,308 acres · of 12.0 sq mi of land
Trails
2.5 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
5,265 ac
404 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
28 mi
8.8 mi lanes · 19 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
6
5 beaches · 7 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Key Largo?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild69% of the land is conserved; a typical Florida town, 3%.Parks close to homeVirtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park.Room to roam404 acres of park per 1,000 residents; the typical U.S. town has 13.A beach town4 named beaches on the map.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Key Largo have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Key Largo is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #19 of 638 in Florida. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.

A+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Key Largo’s overall grade.
Conserved land69% of the land · typical FL town 3% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (3 mi) · FL 0.4 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land404 acres of park per 1,000 residents (5,265 acres) · FL 6 · U.S. 13AParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · FL 70% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 95%
LessMore
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 97%

Water is 21% of Key Largo’s area (3 of 15 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 55%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Key Largo Community Park, with 1.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Key Largo Community Park

Park
15 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

Nature preserve
3,778 acres1 mi of trail
Wild Tamarind TrailMangrove Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

Managed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;Florida Department of Environmental Protection
1,102 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Everglades National Park

Managed by National Park Service
101 acres
Dogs usually limited
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 10 parks & preserves
Key Largo Community Park15 acres · 1.3 mi of trail
Directions
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park3,778 acres · 1 mi of trail
Directions
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary1,102 acres · National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Directions
Everglades National Park101 acres · National Park Service
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wilderness101 acres · National Park Service
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park12 acres
Directions
Rowell's Waterfront Park6 acres
Peace Park2 acres
Bay Harbor Association Marina1 acres
Bay Harbor Associaton Private Beach1 acres
Who protects it

5,308 conserved acres

69% of Key Largo’s land. Water is left out: Key Largo has 12.0 square miles of land and 3.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Key Largo’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

State parks4,024 ac
National Park Service671 ac
Other state land283 ac
County219 ac
State fish & wildlife111 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits5 ac
State Park · 4,307 acNational Park · 668 acLocal Other or Unknown · 200 acState Conservation Area · 111 acLocal Park · 19 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
State Park
State parks4,024Open
Everglades National Park
National Park
National Park Service668Open
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage State Trail
State Park
Other state land283Open
Monroe County Managed Areas
Local Other or Unknown
County192Open
Florida Keys Wildlife and Environmental Area
State Conservation Area
State fish & wildlife111Restricted
Key Largo Community Park
Local Park
County15Open
Marvin D Adams Waterway
Local Other or Unknown
County8Open
Friendship Park
Local Park
County3Open
Curry Hammocks Fee
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits3Closed
Everglades National Park Expansion - Tarpon Basin
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits2Closed

1 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

15 places to go in Key Largo

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Beaches in Key Largo
Cannon BeachIn John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Directions
Far BeachIn John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Directions
North Beach
Directions
South BeachIn Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Directions

Plus 1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.

Trails & water

3 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Wild Tamarind Trail0.3 mi
Mangrove Trail0.3 mi
Grove Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Marina ChannelMarvin Adams CutNorth Sound CreekSouth Sound CreekStingray CreekWinston Waterway
Biking & sports

28 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

8.8 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
19 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
33Tennis
9Pickleball
8Basketball
3Baseball
1Skate park

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

1 place on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
African QueenStructure · listed 1992
About it
When to get out

April is the best month for walking in Key Largo

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)10.711.311.912.713.413.713.613.012.311.510.910.6
High (°F)757779828587898988858177
Rain (in)2.02.02.02.74.37.35.06.88.66.02.91.9

December is the driest month (1.9 in) and August the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 8.6 inches fall in September, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Key Largo →

Next door

Key Largo and its neighbors

Key Largo has the second most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

North Key Largo7.6 miKey Largo2.5 miTavernier0.2 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Key Largo69%0.240499%+A+
Tavernier33%0.14399%+A
North Key Largo61%0.457986%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Key Largo

Where can I hike in Key Largo?

The longest trail networks: Key Largo Community Park, 1.3 miles; John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, 1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Key Largo is conserved land?

69% of its land, against a typical 3% for a Florida town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Key Largo’s trails?

Key Largo Community Park and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Key Largo?

28 miles of bike routes are on the map: 8.8 of painted or protected lanes and 19 of off-road paths.

Is there public land near Key Largo?

56,871 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Key Largo or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5,265 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Key Largo have?

Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #19 of 638 in Florida. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Key Largo neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →