Parking
Use the small lot on the left after Government Road’s sharp bend, at the Little Hamaca trailhead. It fits only a few cars. Additional pond viewpoints farther along Government Road are separate roadside stops.
Overview
About Little Hamaca Nature Trail
Why go
- Mangrove boardwalk opens onto the old salt ponds.
- Short route ends at a dock on Riviera Canal.
Heads up
- The low footpath can flood at high tide.
- The tiny lot has no restroom.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Overseas Highway map
Full mapElevation3–10 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Overseas Highway alerts
- CautionCoastal flooding across the Florida KeysA Coastal Flood Warning remains in effect for the Upper Keys and Coastal Flood Advisories remain in effect for the Middle and Lower Keys until 5 a.m.Official details
- CautionNighttime lane closures on Seven Mile BridgeExpect possible nighttime lane closures on Seven Mile Bridge for FDOT’s rehabilitation project to repair and strengthen the bridge.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Overseas Highway Tour Guide
Your drive to Little Hamaca Nature Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Overseas Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Overseas Highway audio tourRecorded for this area
Smathers Beach: Palms and a Famous Landing0:00 / 0:31
“Smathers Beach is coming up beside South Roosevelt Boulevard, with about half a mile of palm-lined sand. Stop for a beach walk or a game of volleyball; this is a roadside city beach, so don't expect a secluded cove.”
Plays on the road 0.6 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Overseas Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Fort East Martello: Robert the Doll and Scrap-Metal Art
- The Keeper Who Returned
- Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden
- Higgs Beach and West Martello Gardens
- 136 audio storiesacross Overseas Highway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Crocodile, Alligator, Manatee, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 26 trails, 88 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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
Hiking Little Hamaca Nature Trail
A short walk into the salt pondsLittle Hamaca Nature Trail is about 0.
Little Hamaca Nature Trail is about 0.4 mile round trip, following a boardwalk and footpath from the small Government Road trailhead to Riviera Canal and back. It is mostly level and takes about 20 to 30 minutes with a look around. Choose it for a quick nature walk through Key West’s mangroves and salt-pond landscape; it is a short stop, not a long hike.
From mangrove tunnel to open flatsThe boardwalk starts in a close tunnel of mangroves, then opens onto the broad, shallow salt…
The boardwalk starts in a close tunnel of mangroves, then opens onto the broad, shallow salt ponds. After the raised deck, a lower footpath continues through a short stretch of tropical hammock to the canal dock. When the pond bottom has dried, patches of caked salt show up white against the rock.
The canal that fed the pondsKey West’s salt ponds were cut into coral rock in the 1830s.
Key West’s salt ponds were cut into coral rock in the 1830s. Riviera Canal was dug inland from Cow Key Channel to bring seawater to those shallow pans, where the sun did the work of evaporating salt. Look for the shallow hand-cut feeder channels in the rock; they are easy to miss from the path.
Plan for a small, simple stopThe trailhead is on the left after the sharp bend in Government Road, and its lot fits only a…
The trailhead is on the left after the sharp bend in Government Road, and its lot fits only a few cars. There is no restroom, and pets are not allowed. The low footpath beyond the boardwalk can flood at high tide, so turn back if water blocks it. The surrounding hammock has poisonous plants; keep to the trail. If you want more pond views, Government Road has separate roadside viewpoints beyond the trailhead.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Overseas Highway
18 sightingsCrocodileMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
255 sightingsAlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
55 sightingsManateeMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
70 sightingsCommon Bottlenose DolphinMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
51 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
1,120 sightingsKey DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Overseas Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
