Pretty Beaches, Surf, & Kayak Paddle - Jupiter, FL

Jonathon Dickinson State Park, Jupiter FL (62 degrees, windy, cloudy skies)

Movie stars and golf pros love Jupiter Florida and have spectacular homes here along Beach Drive.  We stayed for six nights at the Jonathon Dickinson State Park and had a great time too.  We are on the east side of Florida now and it was our first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean crashing up on the beaches.  This picture was taken of the Hobo Beach with a panoramic feature I just discovered on my camera.  I like it! Maybe I should read the instructions more often.  :)

Hobo Beach

We made reservations about ten months ago for  this state park.  It offers full hook up and large level sites.  There is very little vegetation but still very nice.  The park is big (over 11,500 acres) and has much to offer with hiking and bike trails, horse back riding, and canoe/kayak rentals. 

 

 

The Kitching Creek Nature Trail at the park had a wide variety of plants and trees.  We picked up a trail guide at the camp office and enjoyed listening to Bev reading to us about what we were seeing along the way.  She is a great narrator! It was fun to identify what she was reading from the guide. 



Saw palmettos and slash pines

Observation Tower (Jupiter and Atlantic Ocean in distance)

Panoramic (Jupiter and Atlantic Ocean in the distance)

We planned a kayak trip down the Loxahatchee River. It was the first federally designated Wild and Scenic River in Florida. There was an easy launch just past the visitor's center.  The river moves slowly and the scenery was very interesting due to the water changing from salt water to fresh. You could see a significant change in the plants and trees as you paddled along it.

 

 

We saw a few birds and while we were resting were treated to seeing a manatee rise up to the surface just a few feet in front of us.  Our trip was against the tide on the way up but it was not very difficult.  The wide diversity of trees and plants were striking and we are getting much better at identifying them. 

 

 

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Halfway up the river we stopped at Trapper Nelson Interpretive Site run by the park.  If you are not a kayaker the park runs a pontoon trip to this site.   

 

 

 

 

Picnic area

Trapper Nelson lived at this site starting in 1936 and became a local legend.  He learned to live off the land, trap and sell furs and eventually built a garden and wildlife zoo he opened to the public. The park ranger told us a funny story about how he would wrap a huge non poisonous snake around his shoulders and sneaked up to visiting picnickers. Upon seeing him they would scream and dash away.  He would then proceed to eat their lunch. 

Cabin

Some famous celebrities would come and stay at his place.  This is one of the cabins which had running water.  There were flush toilets outside.  He would entertain them with alligator wrestling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alligator cages

He closed down the zoo after becoming frustrated dealing with the health department.  His death remains a mystery but is thought to have been a suicide. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned back to the campground with the tide (seven miles round trip).  There is another way you can also do this trip by starting at the River Bend Park and ending at the campground.  It does involve a couple of portages around a dam but is considered to be even more scenic. 



 

 

 

Unfortunately, JC did not get to see much of this area.  On our second night he experienced a sudden severe case of what turned out to be vertigo.  He was rushed by ambulance to the emergency department and spent the next few days keeping his head very still.  He is now doing much better and we all are hoping it never comes back again. 

 

 

We will definitely return to this area again.  There is so much more to explore.  The beaches are so beautiful.