Overview: Delaplane Preserve is a small, peaceful natural area set back in a quiet residential neighborhood of suburban Stuart. Its main attraction is its 3,858 feet of waterfront along the South Fork of the St. Lucie River, where there is a canoe/kayak launch, a fishing dock and some picnic tables.
The entire preserve is 51 acres, but much of it is inaccessible. The hiking trail is only about a quarter of a mile, gravel/crushed rock-based, an easy walk and ADA compliant. The trail meanders through open woods, dominated by cabbage palms and live oaks, the surrounding habitats becoming wetter the farther into the preserve you go. Near the St. Lucie, a project intended to restore the natural flow of water on the site becomes evident. Despite its diminutive size, it is surprisingly diverse, home to 10 plant species and 15 animals the state has deemed in some danger of extinction.
History: The area now known as the Delaplane Peninsula was an island in the South Fork of the St. Lucie River until the 1930s, when the river channel separating it from the mainland was filled in. The area became a popular spot for local residents to fish, swim, boat or just enjoy the beauty of the river. During the 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal agency created during the Depression, built a dock and picnic pavilion, and created a sandy beach.
In April 2002, the now-defunct Martin County Regional Land Trust received state funding to buy 51 acres of the peninsula and create the Delaplane Peninsula Blueway Preserve. Martin County assumed ownership of the property when the land trust was dissolved in 2008. Delaplane Preserve opened roughtly eight years later after after years of restoring the land, removing a Rogues Gallery of invasive plants — melaleuca, Australian pines, Brazilian pepper, old world climbing vine — and adding signs, benches, parking, an accessible hiking trail and renovating the 1930s era dock.
What You'll See: As we noted above, Delaplane Preserve has an impressive diversity of habitats for its size, including scrubby and mesic pine flatwoods, hydric (wet) and mesic (wet and dry, depending on the season), tidal swamp and open water.
If you're lucky you might spot a manatee foraging for sea grass or a bald eagle flying above the river in search of a meal or perched in the stands of slash pines. More common are roseate spoonbills, little blue herons or brown pelican stalking the waters. Gopher tortoises inhabit drier areas. Among the plants we spotted: partridge pea, fetterbush, staggerbush, lindenleaf rosemallow and southern needleleaf airplants.
Amenities: There is parking, a few interpretive signs, a fishing dock on the St. Lucie River, a kayak/canoe launch, picnic tables but no restrooms or drinking water. As noted above, there is a quarter-mile trail that is hard-packed stone, wide and an easy walk.
Nearby: Both Halpatiokee Regional Park and Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park are within a few minutes drive time of Delaplane. Also nearby: Kiplinger Nature Preserve
Links: The 2014 Management Plan for Delaplane Preserve is here.
Of Note: Delaplane Preserve is open sunrise to sunset every day of the year. Admission is free.
Cover Photo: A blue dasher dragonfly, small and beautiful just like Delaplane, perched, waiting for a meal or a mate to pass by. Second photo: Old world climbing fern making its way up the trunk of a slash pine. It's one of the nasty invasives that Martin County had to clear while restoring Delaplane. Unfortunately, the work of keeping a preserve free of invaders is unending.
The entire preserve is 51 acres, but much of it is inaccessible. The hiking trail is only about a quarter of a mile, gravel/crushed rock-based, an easy walk and ADA compliant. The trail meanders through open woods, dominated by cabbage palms and live oaks, the surrounding habitats becoming wetter the farther into the preserve you go. Near the St. Lucie, a project intended to restore the natural flow of water on the site becomes evident. Despite its diminutive size, it is surprisingly diverse, home to 10 plant species and 15 animals the state has deemed in some danger of extinction.
History: The area now known as the Delaplane Peninsula was an island in the South Fork of the St. Lucie River until the 1930s, when the river channel separating it from the mainland was filled in. The area became a popular spot for local residents to fish, swim, boat or just enjoy the beauty of the river. During the 1930s, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal agency created during the Depression, built a dock and picnic pavilion, and created a sandy beach.
In April 2002, the now-defunct Martin County Regional Land Trust received state funding to buy 51 acres of the peninsula and create the Delaplane Peninsula Blueway Preserve. Martin County assumed ownership of the property when the land trust was dissolved in 2008. Delaplane Preserve opened roughtly eight years later after after years of restoring the land, removing a Rogues Gallery of invasive plants — melaleuca, Australian pines, Brazilian pepper, old world climbing vine — and adding signs, benches, parking, an accessible hiking trail and renovating the 1930s era dock.
What You'll See: As we noted above, Delaplane Preserve has an impressive diversity of habitats for its size, including scrubby and mesic pine flatwoods, hydric (wet) and mesic (wet and dry, depending on the season), tidal swamp and open water.
If you're lucky you might spot a manatee foraging for sea grass or a bald eagle flying above the river in search of a meal or perched in the stands of slash pines. More common are roseate spoonbills, little blue herons or brown pelican stalking the waters. Gopher tortoises inhabit drier areas. Among the plants we spotted: partridge pea, fetterbush, staggerbush, lindenleaf rosemallow and southern needleleaf airplants.
Amenities: There is parking, a few interpretive signs, a fishing dock on the St. Lucie River, a kayak/canoe launch, picnic tables but no restrooms or drinking water. As noted above, there is a quarter-mile trail that is hard-packed stone, wide and an easy walk.
Nearby: Both Halpatiokee Regional Park and Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park are within a few minutes drive time of Delaplane. Also nearby: Kiplinger Nature Preserve
Links: The 2014 Management Plan for Delaplane Preserve is here.
Of Note: Delaplane Preserve is open sunrise to sunset every day of the year. Admission is free.
Cover Photo: A blue dasher dragonfly, small and beautiful just like Delaplane, perched, waiting for a meal or a mate to pass by. Second photo: Old world climbing fern making its way up the trunk of a slash pine. It's one of the nasty invasives that Martin County had to clear while restoring Delaplane. Unfortunately, the work of keeping a preserve free of invaders is unending.
