16450 SE Federal Highway
Hobe Sound

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It's hard to imagine a more spectacular place than Jonathan Dickinson State Park. You want views? Climb Hobe Mountain. It's only 86 tall, the remnant of an ancient coastal dune, but it offers dazzling vistas from atop an observation tower that stands at the peak. To the east lies the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. To the west lies a sprawling coastal pine forests and cypress swamps.

Then there's the Loxahatchee River, a natural time machine that meanders deep into the park's interior, and deep into Florida's natural past. Within its banks are manatees, alligators, turtles, otters and fish. Bobcats and deer come to its banks; ospreys, hawks and bald eagles (in the cooler months) patrol overhead. And then there's the Florida scrub jay. Jonathan Dickinson is among the best places to view this rare bird, which is found only in the Sunshine State and nowhere else in the world.

Jonathan Dickinson is wild, yet accessible. Roads cut through it. There are hard surface hiking trails, boardwalks and natural surface trails. There are trails for horses and trails for bikes. There is boating and camping — take a tent, take an RV. The park accommodates both. There is fishing. And a bit of history — the park was the home of Camp Murphy, a top-secret radar school during World War II.

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