Photos: Windley Key State Park in the Florida Keys

Coral reef in Windley Key State Park, Florida Keys - Photo: Still Gravity.
There is an ancient graveyard on the rocks - License our images here.

Windley Key was two separated islands known as Umbrella Keys. The construction of the Overseas Railroad joined them in the early 20th century - the merging point is south of the state park.

The small geological park was an old quarry. Some mining equipment is preserved and there are a couple of short trails to hike. The major attraction is on the ancient rocks. The eight-foot walls of the old quarry show fossils that remind of fractal carvings. What a prehistoric graveyard. 

Machinery of the old quarry on the ancient coral reef in Windley Key State Park - Photo: Still Gravity.
An old cutting machine from Keystone Rock Company. 

These machines cut deep channels to extract slabs that, after polishing, travelled north to rest forever on buildings of New York and St. Louis. Some tropical decoration for the colder north.  

Hiking the short trails felt like high-intensity interval training. One minute a leisured stroll, the next a frantic run fleeing clouds of blood-thirsty mosquitoes. The insects didn't fear the mild Florida winter.   

Picnic area in Windley Key State Park - Photo: Still Gravity.
Picnic tables in a beautiful sunken area. 

We noticed that the official name of this park is too long for marketing purposes: "Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park" - WKFRGSP for short. Why not just Windley Key State Park? 

A question for the government of Florida. 

(Check the kayak trip to a ghost town in the Florida Keys.)

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