Gulf Islands National Seashore (Florida) | FORT PICKENS PLAZA

Fort Pickens Plaza at Gulf Islands National Seashore

Fort Pickens Plaza at Gulf Islands National Seashore

The Fort Pickens Plaza at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida is located at the north end of the parking lot that serves Fort Pickens. Here you will find modern restrooms, a covered pavilion, a ferry dock, a mine loading building, and a mine storeroom building. The storeroom building supposedly has some exhibits as well as a snack bar inside, but it was closed when I visited, so I can’t confirm this. The buildings have always been here, but it was only in 2017 that the plaza was constructed, and in 2019 when the restrooms were added.

Covered pavilion at Fort Pickens Plaza, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Covered pavilion at Fort Pickens Plaza, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Mine Storeroom at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Mine Storeroom at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Mine Loading Building at the Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Mine Loading Building at the Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

There used to be ferry service to Fort Pickens from downtown Pensacola, but at the time of this writing (April 2022) service has been suspended due to the ferry dock being damaged by storms in 2018—it doesn’t look like the National Park Service is in any hurry to fix it. A park Ranger told me that the cost to repair the dock is $2.8 million, but I can’t imagine repairs costing that much unless they either plan to build the new dock out of gold or some family member of the federal government is getting the contract. In fact, the dock is still there, it’s just that a small section of the walkway leading to it is missing.

Damaged ferry dock at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Damaged ferry dock at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Part of the ferry dock ramp is also a ramp to the beach at Fort Pickens, and that is still intact.

Ramp to the beach near the ferry dock at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

Ramp to the beach near the ferry dock at Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore

One note about the restroom building: there are restrooms on either side of the building. I saw people standing in line on the front side who didn’t know this, and there were no lines on the backside.

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Last updated on April 27, 2022
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