John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

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John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
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Location	Monroe County, Florida, U.S.
Nearest city	Key Largo, Florida
Coordinates	25°07′12″N 80°24′18″W / 25.12000°N 80.40500°W / 25.12000; -80.40500
Area	53,000 acres (210 km2)
Established	1963
Visitors	1,000,000 (in 2004)
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a Florida State Park located on Key Largo in Florida. It includes approximately 70 nautical square miles (240 km²) of adjacent Atlantic Ocean waters. The park is approximately 25 miles in length and extends 3 miles into the Atlantic Ocean along the prominent Hawk Channel passage.^[1][2] It was the first underwater park in the United States. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1972. The primary attractions of the park are the coral reefs (such as Molasses Reef) and their associated marine life.

In Fiscal Year 2004 the park had more than a million visitors, making it the most popular park in the Florida State Parks system. The Florida Keys and the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast are the only living coral reef formations in the continental United States.