A toilet, carved in rock, flushed by the sea. Streets laid out through a tropical forest. Grand homes built by wreckers, who rowed out to the coral reefs to claim the ruins of Spanish ships that shredded in the shallows. It was a rough and rowdy place, this island where Dade County began long before Miami showed up. Infamous wrecker...

Once destined for the developer’s bulldozer, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Preserve State Park is an incomparable botanical treasure. From the moment you start through the archway following the pavement that was to lead to the condo complex, you’re immersed in the dark shade of a thicket of tropical trees. Surrounding you is the highest concentration of champion trees in...

To step into a virgin tropical hammock – there’s nothing like it on earth, and certainly nowhere else in Florida or the United States will you find one so pristine, with 280 acres of large and ancient tropical trees – and the clouds of mosquitoes that surround them.  The delight of Lignumvitae Key is its namesake, the lignumvitae. Blooming with...