Lignumvitae Key: A Lost Tropical Jungle in the Florida Keys

Step onto Lignumvitae Key and you step back in time. This small, boat-only island in the Florida Keys holds one of the last untouched tropical hardwood forests in the country, a dense, shady jungle of rare trees that shows what the Keys looked like before the highway and the resorts arrived.

A Forest Out of Time

Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park protects a virgin tropical hammock, a forest of West Indian trees found almost nowhere else in the United States. It is named for the lignum vitae, or “wood of life,” a slow-growing tree so dense it sinks in water, prized for centuries by sailors. Walking the shaded trails, you pass gumbo limbo, mahogany, strangler fig, and dozens of other tropical species, along with colorful tree snails and clouds of butterflies.

The Matheson House

At the island’s high point stands the Matheson House, a coral-rock home built in 1919 by a wealthy chemist who once owned the key. It had no connection to the mainland power grid and was run on cisterns and windmills, a reminder of how remote this place has always been. Today rangers lead guided walks from the house through the hammock, sharing the island’s natural and human history.

How to Get There

Lignumvitae Key lies in the water off Islamorada and can only be reached by boat, either your own or on a ranger-led tour. The island is open limited days, so check ahead and reserve a spot on a guided walk. Bring water, bug spray, and closed shoes, since the hammock is buggy and the trails are uneven. Few places in Florida feel so genuinely wild, a green island lost in time just off the busy Overseas Highway.

Official page: Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park