Things to do
Parks and trails
Jonathan Dickinson is the big one: eleven thousand acres with a river you can paddle and a tower you can climb. Savannas is the quiet one, St. Lucie Inlet Preserve is the one you need a boat for, and the Riverwalk is the one with coffee at the end.
The state parks open at 8 am and close at sunset every day of the year, and charge per vehicle rather than per person. Trails are flat and sandy; the heat and the mosquitoes are the difficulty, not the terrain. From June to September start early and carry more water than you think you need.
Dogs on leads are welcome on most trails and in the campground, but not on the beaches or in the river at the state parks.
Scrub, river, marsh and a downtown waterfront
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Park
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Eleven thousand acres of scrub and river, the Hobe Mountain tower and the boat up the Loxahatchee to Trapper Nelson’s camp.
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Park
Savannas Preserve State Park
Ten miles of freshwater marsh behind the coast, with flat trails, a canoe launch and birds in numbers.
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Park
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park
A barrier island you can only reach by boat: a boardwalk through the mangroves, an empty beach and a reef to snorkel.
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Park
Stuart Riverwalk
A boardwalk along the St. Lucie through downtown Stuart, with a stage for free concerts and docks where boats tie up for…
A sign that says the trail is closed usually means a prescribed burn or standing water after a storm. Both clear within days; call the park before a long drive.