Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park protects four miles of mangrove coastline and a string of artesian salt springs, including its namesake, a brine spring that drops more than three hundred feet straight down. The launch is not off the parking lot. You carry your board down the Kayak Launch Trail, a boardwalk that runs out across the estuary to an island, and put in there near the kayak racks, which is the only approved launch in the park. From the water it is a maze of tidal creeks and bayous through the mangroves, easy to get turned around in and beautiful for it. There are no beaches here, the shore is all mangrove, so this is paddling and birding country, not a swim-and-sunbathe stop. The on-site Salty Dog operation rents kayaks and runs guided trips, but it is a concession, not the public launch, so you do not need it to put your own board in. Two honest notes: there is a per-vehicle day-use fee at the entrance, and the launch trail has almost no shade, so bring water and a hat.
Where do I park, and is it free?
- Cost
- $3 / vehicle (as of 2026-06)
- Parking
- Limited
- Restrooms
- yes
- Dogs
- Leashed on land only, not the swim beach
State-park entry at the US-19 entrance; launch on the salt-spring run. The on-site Salty Dog op is a rental.
How clear is the water?
Salt-spring run water through mangroves.
What will I see?
- Bald eagles, ospreys, roseate spoonbills, and wading birds, the park is a serious birding destination
- Manatees and dolphins work the spring outflows and creeks, with otters in the bayous
- Gopher tortoises and gray fox on the upland trails, the occasional alligator in the fresher water
What's the fishing like?
Salt-spring run and mangroves: redfish and snook in the run, trout on the flats toward the Gulf.
How do I share the water here?
This is protected state-park estuary and the salt springs are the reason it exists, so stay off the soft bottom around the vents and keep to the open creeks rather than dragging across the grass. On land the upland trails are gopher tortoise habitat, so watch for their burrows and keep to the marked path, and give the spoonbills and nesting eagles plenty of distance.
See how it scores before you drive out.
Check Werner-Boyce SP on the live map