Jacksonville's Arlington Area Info Blog

In between the boundaries for the Southside and Arlington areas just off of San Pablo Road between Atlantic and Beach Boulevards is a somewhat new park or preserve called Castaway Island. My mom says the entrance of the park used to be an old trailer park. Now you can go and walk the nature trails, picnic and Bar B Q, put your canoe or kayak in the Intercoastal Waterway or attend one of the nature seminars at the Information Center. Like all parks in Jacksonville it is opened from Sunrise to Sunset all year long. It is a FREE park and lovely to spend a few hours or all day. Being so close to the ocean there is almost always a nice little breeze. On the nature trails there are, of course, informational signs about the wildlife in the area.

All the Jacksonville Area Preserves are nice to visit and offer some great educational opportunities for you and your children and/or grandchildren. This one is very new, very clean with sidewalks for trails as well as wooden walkways into the bush leading out to the water areas. The floating dock is well maintained and adjusts to the incoming and outgoing tides. When we went it was low tide and you can see where the water rises up. There are lots of birds and small animals in the park. Of course, you shouldn’t feed any of the animals you might see and always keep your children close to you while visiting any of the parks or preserves.