Ravine Gardens State Park is one of the most unusual landscapes in Florida. The park's two ravines plunge up to 120 feet into the earth — extraordinary in a state where the highest natural point is only 345 feet above sea level — and the steep banks at 45-degree angles are blanketed with azaleas that bloom in shades from white to deep crimson. The blooming season runs from late December to early March, peaking around the first weekend in March when Palatka holds its annual Azalea Festival.
The park was created in 1933 as a WPA New Deal project, with federal funds and unemployed local workers transforming the raw ravines into formal gardens. A 1.8-mile paved road loops around the ravines, with overlooks and footpaths leading down into the gorge. The springs that carved the ravines still feed a small stream at the bottom, and the vegetation in the ravine bottoms is strikingly lush compared to the surrounding flatland. Open year-round; admission is a few dollars per vehicle. Even outside azalea season, the ravine landscape is worth the stop.