Located in Palatka, Ravine Gardens is one of the nine New Deal-era state parks in Florida. Azaleas were chosen as the theme flower because of their brilliant bloom during the tourist season. By 1934, more than 95,000 flowers had been planted. In 1937, the gardens were declared 'the Nation's Outstanding CWA Project.' Ravine Gardens was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1999, and was recognized as a National Landmark for Outstanding Landscape Architecture by the American Society of Landscape Architects.
In 1938, the local Jaycees transformed their Jaycees Day into the first official Azalea Festival. The first Azalea Pageant was held at the Amphitheater in 1938 and the Azalea Festival was touted as one of the oldest festivals in Florida. There were 10 contestants at this first pageant. The first Azalea Queen was crowned in white azalea blooms with a matching azalea bouquet. She was given a $100 prize and photographed at Ravine Gardens.
More than 7,500 visitors attended this festival, according to an article by the Palatka Daily News. In the upcoming years the festival grew and activities expanded throughout the town and Courthouse lawn. In an effort to streamline the schedule, in 1980 the gardens were abandoned as the location for the pageant. The Jaycees decided to hold the competition at the newly dedicated riverfront.
Ravine Gardens still joined in celebrating the Azalea Festival in the years following special park events. In 1995 the park Citizen Support Organization (CSO), the Friends of Ravine Gardens, Inc., decided to bring the celebration back to the park by joining the festival with their own festival version called Azalea Days. This event features plant and craft vendors, a variety of food, music and entertainment, and ranger-led wagon tours around the azalea covered slopes of the ravines. Azalea Days is an old-fashioned, fun-filled annual event for the whole family.
The park has two ravines up to 120 feet deep with steep banks at 45 degree angles. Unlike common gullies, trenches or sinkholes caused by temporary flooding, the steephead ravine is a permanent feature with a spring-fed creek that never dries up, called Whitewater Branch. The underground water bubbling up cuts into the bank and carries the sand and soil downstream to the St. Johns River. Over thousands of years the ravine has widened and deepened to what you see today. In 1933, this ravine was transformed into a dramatic garden by the federal Works Progress Administration. Much of the original landscaping still exists as formal gardens and an extensive trail system. A 1.8-mile paved road winds around the ravine, offering motorists and bicyclists a view of the gardens. The Ravine Loop is closed to vehicle traffic one hour before sunset, but remains open for pedestrians, bicycles, and wheelchairs.
The garden's peak flowering period is azalea season, late January to April. Numerous picnic sites, equipped with tables and grills, are available to visitors. The Roy E. Campbell Civic Center complex features a large covered pavilion, auditorium and meeting rooms that are available for rent. The park is located in Palatka at 1600 Twigg Street.
Be sure to catch every Out There and Average Angler segment by tuning in near the :23s and :53s each hour during 'Your Sports' airing daily with new episodes starting at 6 nightly, exclusively on Spectrum Sports HD 1147!