Washington Oaks State Gardens, Historic gardens in Palm Coast, United States

Washington Oaks State Gardens is a historic park between the Atlantic Ocean and Matanzas River featuring formal gardens, oak hammocks, and coastal rock formations. The grounds span 425 acres and combine areas of manicured landscaping with natural wooded sections and rocky shoreline.

Native Americans used the land for hunting and fishing before European settlement, after which it passed through several owners and agricultural uses; one was a surveyor named George Washington, a relative of the president. In 1936 Louise Powis Clark, wife of industrialist Owen D. Young, bought the property as a winter retirement home, named it Washington Oaks, and developed the formal gardens, citrus groves and house. Young died in 1962 and she donated the land to the State of Florida in 1964, specifying that the gardens be kept in their present form.

Louise Powis Clark, wife of industrialist Owen D. Young, named the property Washington Oaks after purchasing it in 1936; a surveyor named George Washington, a relative of the president, had once owned the land. Her donation to Florida in 1964 required that the gardens be kept in their present form. Roses, camellias and azaleas grow among the plantings.

The park is open daily year-round from 8 AM until sunset and is located at 6400 N. Oceanshore Boulevard. Easy walking paths connect the formal gardens with the wooded areas and beach, allowing visitors to access different sections without difficulty.

The coquina rock at the ocean beach is a living reef of worm tubes and embedded shells; at low tide its hollows hold water and small marine animals. Visitors can walk out onto the flat, layered stone, which the park treats as part of the barrier island habitat it protects.