Dry Tortugas National Park!

What Is Dry Tortugas National Park?

This remote national park protects the reefs, keys, and historic shipwrecks surrounding America’s largest brick fort!

What Makes It Beautiful?

This is truly a sanctuary of the sea, 70 miles of the coast of Key West and surrounded by nothing but brilliant blue! Most visitors to Dry Tortugas spend the day on Garden and Bush Keys, sandy islands built upon ancient reefs! Here stands the 19th Century Fort Jefferson, a marvel of (unfinished) engineering and a photographer’s paradise! From inside, there are amazing window views of the sparkling surf, unique mineral formations called calthemites, and of course, the sweeping vistas from atop the fort’s third level!

Beyond Fort Jefferson are tranquil beaches absolutely overflowing with stunning shells and coral with birds galore! Dry Tortugas preserves the nation’s largest breeding colonies for birds like the brown noddy tern and magnificent frigatebird, not to mention the green, hawksbill, and loggerhead sea turtles that give this park its name! I didn’t get the chance to experience it firsthand, but I hear the snorkeling here is top-notch as well!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
Volunteer at Dry Tortugas National Park!
Donate to Dry Tortugas National Park!
Be a responsible visitor! Remember the old adages: Pack out what you pack in! Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!