#2 of 2 trails in Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas National Park, FL
A short, boat-only walk to a historic island lighthouse.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dry Tortugas Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Dry Tortugas National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Loggerhead Key and Dry Tortugas Light“You're approaching Loggerhead Key, the park's largest island, with Dry Tortugas Light rising above the sand.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Dry Tortugas Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Loggerhead Key Walk is a short, 0.3-mile round trip along mapped paths from the beach landing to the outside of Dry Tortugas Light and back. This is the mapped path core, not an official or measured island loop; the National Park Service publishes no fixed trail line or mileage here. Allow about 30 minutes for the walk and a look at the tower.
Loggerhead Key is three miles from Garden Key and open for day use only. There is no public transportation: arrive by private vessel or bring your own kayak or canoe on the ferry, arranging that in advance because space is limited. No food, toilets or drinking water are listed for the island, so bring what you need. Wear shoes; one visitor reports sticker burrs on the path.
Dry Tortugas Light was built in 1857. The Carnegie Research Institute's Tortugas Laboratory operated on Loggerhead Key from 1904 to 1939. The lighthouse and other buildings are closed, so enjoy the tower from outside. Stay on marked paths to protect wildlife and plants, and leave pets on Garden Key: they are not allowed on Loggerhead Key. The island was named for the loggerhead turtles once abundant here, though a land walk does not guarantee a sighting.
Wildlife
13 sightingsLoggerhead Sea TurtleMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
12 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around noonSighting map
11 sightingsGreat White HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
102 sightingsMasked BoobyMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
65 sightingsBrown BoobyMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
12 sightingsRed-footed BoobyMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Dry Tortugas. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
Sight · 0.1 mi awayLoggerhead KeyA remote island visit with lighthouse history and reefs offshore.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayLittle Africa Patch ReefA shallow coral reef with tropical fish off Loggerhead Key.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayWindjammer WreckA shallow sailing ship turned into a fish-filled reef.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayThe MazeA boat-reached dive among coral caverns and swim-throughs.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayBird Key WreckA shallow wreck with an iron propeller on a coral bank.
Sight · 2.6 mi awayOfframpA boat-only reef stop with shallow outcroppings and staghorn coral.
Beach · 3.1 mi awaySouth BeachEasy shore entry with nearby reef and Fort Jefferson in view.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayFort JeffersonA vast brick fort that became a Civil War prison.Parkwolf’s Dry Tortugas ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
