Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, State park and lighthouse on Key Biscayne, Florida.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park covers roughly the southern third of Key Biscayne, in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It holds more than a mile of sandy Atlantic beachfront, mangrove forests and marine hammocks, and at its southern tip stands the Cape Florida Light, the oldest standing structure in Greater Miami. No Name Harbor, a natural harbor inside the park, is used for anchorage.
Cape Florida Light was built in 1825 and remains the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County. After its construction, it guided maritime traffic along the Florida coast and marks one of the earliest developments on Key Biscayne.
In the early 1820s, some 300 enslaved people reached the Bahamas from Cape Florida aboard 27 sloops and many canoes, settling mostly on Andros Island. A 2004 historical marker designates the site as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Trail. The National Park Service works with the African Bahamanian Museum and Research Center in Nassau on interpretive programs at Red Bays, Andros.
The park allows swimming, snorkeling, fishing, cycling, and hiking along trails throughout the grounds. Conditions are typically warm and sunny, though afternoon showers occur frequently during warmer months.
The Cape Florida Banding Station has operated in the park since 2002, monitoring how restored habitat supports migrating songbirds. It banded its 40,000th bird in 2021 and reached 50,000 in September 2025. More than 260 bird species have been recorded here, among them piping plovers and peregrine falcons.
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