As you’re traveling the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys, on the bridge between Upper Matecumbe Key and Lower Matecumbe Key, you’ll spot a small, wooded island to the east. That is Indian Key State Park and was once the Dade County seat. Now it’s a ghost town. Back in 1836 when the only way to get to and around the Florida Keys was by boat, Indian Key was prominent enough that it was named the county seat of Dade County. It may not look like much now but back then it had warehouses, housing, a hotel (with a bowling alley!), it even had a post office.

Indian Key was once a bustling island with families, shop owners, and “wreckers”, the men who salvaged the many shipwrecks in the Florida Keys. Now it’s deserted, and just like in the 1800s, the only way to get there is by boat.

What would it be like to live there? You ask. Well, grab yourself a kayak and take a short paddle over to Indian Key State Park and check out a real Florida Keys ghost town. Lucky for you, Indian Key is about a 1/2 mile from either Upper or Lower Matecumbe Key through shallow, fantastic turquoise clear water.

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To get to Indian Key, put your kayak in at MM 78. There’s a parking lot on the east side of the highway. It’s closed right now (9/22) because of construction, but you can still launch from there and park closer to the street. It’s about a twenty-minute paddle to the island over sea grass and shallow water. As you glide through the seagrass flats, keep an eye out for trunkfish. The seagrass is their favorite hangout. Once you get to the south side of the island, you’ll see an abandoned dock. Don’t go there, it’s closed. When you get close, you’ll see the “Kayak Landing” sign, that’s where you want to land.

Since Indian Key Historic State Park, is in fact a State Park, there’s a $2.50 entrance fee. You can either put cash in one of the supplied envelopes at the kiosk or use the QR code on the sign and pay with your phone.

You’ll want to do yourself a favor before you even leave for Indian Key State Park, go to the App Store or whatever the current name for Apple’s download service is and download the Florida Stories app to your phone. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you’ll have a complete walking tour of the island in your hand, along with walking tours of other popular Florida sites. You can either listen to the audio or read the text as you go. You don’t have to use the app while you’re there, they have plaques on all the points of interest, but Florida Stories goes into a lot more detail of the sites and the families that lived there. Plus, there’s a bonus walking map.

Since there are no facilities or fresh water on the island, make sure that you load up plenty of water before you go. That’s the bad news, but the good news is that since there are no facilities or fresh water on the island, there are no mosquitos either.

Hurricane Irma did a number on the island, so the boat dock and observation towers are closed, but who wants to see a fantastic view of the keys anyway?

You can do a leisurely stroll around the island on the re-created gravel paths, there are even street signs! Don’t worry if you didn’t download the Florida Stories app all of the stops have signs that describe what was in the spot that you’re standing in front of. Start at the town square which used to have up to 18 buildings, now down to 0. From there you can walk over to the warehouse district and check out the foundations that are still there.

In the 1830s the straits of Florida were heavily trafficked by merchant ships. Unfortunately, the straits were also filled with shallow reefs and pirates. When ships would run aground on the shallow reefs, the wreckers from Indian Key, led by Jacob Houseman, would race to the stranded ship. The first wrecker to the ship would then retain the rights to salvage the ship and move the inventory to the warehouses on Indian Key. The contents from the ship would be stored in the warehouses on the island until it could be moved to the customs office in Key West. Once the inventory was in Key West, a federal judge would award the wrecker a fee, usually about 25%.

While there are no buildings that are still standing, they were burned during the 1840 American Indian attack, there are plenty of ruins to see. Mostly old foundations and fireplaces. There are a few cisterns that are still standing. It’s interesting to see the difference between the cisterns that were built in the beginning of the community, and the ones that were built later on when the US Navy had a hospital on the island.

Once you’ve toured the island, head on over to the east side. Just up Center Street, sit down on the convenient bench and enjoy the view of the Alligator Reef lighthouse. “What a stupid name!” You rant. “The Keys are surrounded by salt water, they’re crocodiles.” You rant on. Calm down my easily riled up reader, it was named after the ship that ran aground on the reef, the USS Alligator. It hit the reef as it was protecting merchant ships from pirates. The USS Alligator was then sunk to keep the very same pirates from pillaging the ship. That’s what happens when you “discover” reefs, your ship lives on in infamy.

After you’re done ranting amongst yourself, head to the shore and don your snorkel gear. One thing though, don’t think that you’re walking there barefoot, the island is made of fossilized coral and let me tell you, it will do a number on your feet. There’s nothing sandy about this beach, so, wear some type of water shoe or sandal to protect your feet.

This is absolutely one of the best places to snorkel nearshore in the Keys. In the water you’ll see schools of reef fish, including colorful French grunts, snappers, tons of parrotfish, little blue tangs, groupers, even the much-maligned barracuda. There is also a veritable conch playground, just don’t pick any up or try to take them, or any other shells, as the area is protected. And it goes without saying, don’t touch or take any coral.

After you’re done for the day, make sure that you pack out everything that you brought in. There’s no camping on the island, so leave the tents and hammocks at home. Want to know more about Indian Key State Park? Check out the Florida Keys History and Discovery Center in Islamorada. It’s a treasure trove of all Keys information, they even have a mockup of Indian Key in its heyday.

You think it sounds great, but you don’t have a kayak or boat? Put your floaties away, you can rent kayaks at Robbies, if you can pull yourself away from the shops. Or Backcountry Cowboys (giddy up!).

You Might be Interest in:

If you’re going to be kayaking around Miami and in the Florida Keys and check out our Kayaking in Biscayne Bay guide.

Looking for a gift for your favorite adventurer? Check out our line of planners and journals here. Easily ordered from Amazon.

Find out more about the Florida Keys at Adventure Florida Keys.

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