Florida

On a sweltering day in May of 1539, Hernando de Soto and an army of over 600 soldiers splashed ashore in the Tampa Bay area.

The Castillo de San Marcos was a post of the Spanish Empire guarding St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States.

Canaveral National Seashore is on a barrier island which includes ocean, beach, dune, hammock, lagoon, salt marsh, and pine flatland habitats.

Popular activities at Biscayne National Park, located within sight of downtown Miami, include boating, snorkeling, camping, and wildlife watching.

Big Cypress National Preserve, the first national preserve in the National Park System, protects over 700,000 acres of the Big Cypress Swamp in south Florida.