News Release

Perdido Key Area visitor use improvement project to begin early September

News Release Date: August 17, 2023

Contact: Stephenie Wade

GULF BREEZE, Fla. --Beginning in early September, Gulf Islands National Seashore will begin a project to enhance the visitor experience and decrease habitat impacts in the Perdido Key Area. The project is scheduled from September through February.

The closures associated with this project include Johnson Beach Road beyond the parking lot. During the closure, the road will be closed to all vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic. The park pavilions, facilities, and the main parking lot will remain open for public day use.

The project will enhance the visitor experience by creating 110 new parking spaces in three new parking areas, seven new dune crossovers to the sound and Gulf of Mexico, and a new half-mile multi-use path on Johnson Beach Road. Two of the seven new dune crossovers will be ADA-accessible.

These enhancements will eliminate roadside parking along Johnson Beach Road as well as reduce the number of crossovers from 11 to seven. Additionally, to improve safety, new speed tables will be installed to provide crosswalks, slow traffic, and reduce impacts to wildlife.

Perdido Key provides critical habitat for the Perdido Key beach mouse, the most critically endangered small mammal in North America.

“After working on this project since 2018, we know this is going to be a wonderful enhancement for our visitors and public safety,” said Darrell Echols, superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore. “We look forward to the continued collaboration with the Florida Trustee Implementation Group and we appreciate visitors’ patience during this time.”

The project is funded by Gulf Restoration funding associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement in partnership with the Florida Trustee Implementation Group (TIG). The $2.6 million project was awarded to Wright Brothers LLC Company.

About Gulf Islands National Seashore: Created in 1971, the national seashore stretches 160 miles along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida and Mississippi, and includes barrier islands, maritime forests, historic forts, bayous, and marine habitat. Visit us at www.nps.gov/guis, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 433 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities.

Perdido Key Area visitor use improvement project map closure