Location

Northern Flagler County, approximately 16 miles south of St. Augustine.

Size

505 acres

Date

Established in 1970.

Pellicer Creek is part of the northern watershed in the Upper East Coastal Basin. The majority of the watershed in this basin is drained by relatively small creeks or branches. The Hulett, Pringle, Stevens, Dave, and Schoolhouse Branches all drain into the aquatic preserve from the west. Styles Creek flows south out of Pellicer Creek, near the Matanzas River. From the Matanzas River lagoonal area, the flow of water eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Matanzas Inlet.

The undisturbed salt marsh portrays one of the most pristine estuarine/riverine systems along Florida's east coast providing exceptional biological and aesthetic value to the state and resulting in its designation as a State Canoe Trail.

Pellicer Creek flows into the Matanzas River, which is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. This river can better be described as a coastal lagoon with access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Matanzas Inlet, located approximately 2.5 miles north of Pellicer Creek. The long, narrow chain of barrier islands outside the preserve, acts as the first line of defense for the mainland against storm surges. Inlets have formed along these islands during storms, forming temporary shallow inlets that later closed due to siltation. Human intervention of the existing inlets has allowed saline water to mix with fresh water, creating the estuarine environment that now exists. Matanzas Inlet is the only natural uncontrolled inlet in Florida and one of the few on the east coast of the United States.