Last updated on March 7th, 2026 at 06:01 am
Hontoon Island is a beautiful wild island in the St. Johns River full of wildlife and surrounded by undeveloped wetlands. It is accessible only by boat, though no more than 500 feet of water separate it from “the mainland.”
After severe flooding from a 2022 hurricane and more than three years of reconstruction work, the cabins and campground on this island are now open, with canoe, kayak and bike rentals and daily free ferry service.
While feeling remote and disconnected from development, Deland is just across the river.
Why visit Hontoon Island State Park, a 1,650-acre island?
- The free quiet electric ferry shuttles visitors back and forth to the island. Who doesn’t love arriving on an island by boat?
- The park has miles of hiking trails and sandy lanes where you are likely to find seclusion and quiet. While you’re visiting, bring a picnic to enjoy. There’s a playground for kids.
- Kayaking on the waterways encircling this island provides excellent scenery and lots of birds, alligators and sometimes manatees. You can park at the Hontoon parking lot on the mainland and paddle from there to a 10 mile loop around the island or kayak an out-and-back on the Hontoon Dead River or on the St. Johns River. Note: The parking lot is locked at 4 p.m., so kayakers must be back if they park here. Also: the kayak launch is a muddy shallow spot that deserves improvement.
Kayaking and canoeing at Hontoon Island State Park
Circumnavigating Hontoon Island in a canoe or kayak is a perfect day’s paddle. Here’s a map of the route.
A helpful ranger suggested we start counter-clockwise around the Island. This took us first along the scenic Hontoon Dead River. It is anything but dead: It was full of wildlife and lined with a thick forest. What its name denotes is that it ends in a dead end, but many miles away. It probably was an earlier route of the St. Johns River.
From there, a left turn took us on the narrower, twisty Snake Creek, which meets up with the St. Johns River at Blue Spring State Park.
We had a picnic at Blue Spring and admired some manatees in the spring run. Then we paddled the last two or three miles on the wider St. Johns River back to Hontoon Island State Park.
It’s all scenic and full of wildlife, but the best section is the Snake Creek.
An alternative route would involve leaving from the kayak launch at nearby Blue Spring State Park and going directly to Snake Creek. There are other lagoons, canals and channels in that area that look promising to explore.
On our paddling trip we were continually surrounded by the sight and sounds of birds. The island has an active eagle nest and we saw a nesting blue heron with its chick. We also spotted osprey, ibis, heron, egrets, kingfishers, limpkin, sandhill cranes and cardinals. Other wildlife included turtles, alligators – including 10-inch babies — and, happily, manatees.
Along the way, we admired trees with so many air plants that they were positively fuzzy, knobby cypress knees and the tangled mats of aquatic plants in vivid greens.
There was never a piece of trash and we saw little sign of man’s encroachment. The whole route is open to motorized boats but there were just a few fishermen present. On the St. Johns, an enormous barge passed while we had lunch, so it is possible to see substantial boat traffic on that leg. When we paddled the St. Johns portion, however, we were passed by only three motor boats.
We loved this kayak trip – it was long enough to be a challenge; it included a great picnic spot where we could stretch and explore, and it was full of all the beauty and wildlife we always hope to experience.
Hiking at Hontoon Island State Park
Hontoon is also a great place for hikers. The three-mile-long Hammock Hiking Nature Trail takes you through a thick hardwood forest with lots of sprawling live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
On a previous visit we saw deer; this time we spotted only an armadillo shuffling along. The path ends at a huge Indian shell mound, a hill about 20 feet high and 400 feet long. The midden is thousands of years old so on its top you’ll find some of the biggest oak trees in the park.
There are miles of other trails that are actually sandy roads. These pass through more open pine and palmetto palm forests. Spurs of these trails go to overlooks and landings on the river. If you like hiking, you have lots of possible routes. The trails are also open to mountain bikes.
Camping and cabins at Hontoon Island State Park
Hontoon Island has eight camp sites and six rustic cabins located in an open, shady woodland with no parking lot, cars or development anywhere nearby. When campers and cabin renters arrive by the free ferry, they are transported with their gear to the campground, a third of a mile away.
The cabins offer the fun of being in the woods and cooking over a campfire, while guaranteeing you’ll stay dry in a storm and have a place of refuge to avoid mosquitoes.
The six cabins are very basic — no heat or air conditioning, no kitchen and, like the campers, you walk to the central bathroom with hot showers and flush toilets.
Each cabinis equipped with a ceiling fan, one electrical outlet, bunk beds, and a screened-in porch with tables and chairs. A water faucet, picnic table and grill are available outside the cabins.
The cabins are $70 a night for a four-bunk cabin; $85 for six bunks. You make reservations here or by calling not via the state park reservations website. Primitive campsites are $25 with a limit of two tents.
History on Hontoon Island State Park
The park has an interesting small museum (alas, closed since the hurricane) devoted to its history, particularly to the Native American Indians who gathered shellfish from the St. Johns River and left that midden some 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. The museum also includes artifacts found on the island. Near the playground is a replica of a large wooden owl totem that was found by a dragline operator near the park’s parking lot in 1955.
Planning a visit to Hontoon Island State Park
If you want more comfortable accommodations, you can stay nearby at the Hontoon Landing Resort, which is near the state park’s parking lot. The resort also operates a river nature cruise and rents pontoon and fishing boats. If you stay at Hontoon Landing Resort, you can take the ferry over to Hontoon Island for hiking or launch your canoe or kayak for a paddling trip.
Hontoon Island State Park website
Nearby Blue Spring State Park
Places to go near Hontoon Island
- From Florida Rambler: The River of Lakes Heritage Corridor includes Hontoon Island State Park. The heritage corridor offers springs, history and Florida scenic drives along the St. Johns, the ‘river of lakes.’
- Blue Spring State Park, where you’ll see manatees in winter and swim in the summer. In spring, there’s a special experience in visiting at night for firefly season.
- Sanford, a lively nearby community that makes an excellent base for exploring the region
- DeLeon Springs State Park, a half hour north of Hontoon, is the “pancake park” where the historic restaurant serves pancakes you cook at a griddle in the middle of your table. It is also an historic site, an excellent place to swim in a fresh-water spring or paddle in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.
It’s a long trek up northeasterly from Moorings Bay, Naples to Hontoon, but your excellent descriptions fired me up for a Spring trip. Thanks!
James, I have a piece about the whole region, which is called the River of Lakes Heritage Corridor, coming up (maybe Sunday or Monday). We just got back. There are really cool places there to paddle and explore. –Bonnie