Overview: Combine Seabranch Preserve State Park with adjacent St. Lucie Inlet State Park and you have a continuum of habitats from off-shore reefs to estuary in the form of the Indian River to the scrub and scrubby flatwoods that make up most of Seabranch's 992 acres. It's one of the few such intact ecosystems south of Canaveral National Seashore.There's also baygalls, mangrove forests, even a bit of blackwater stream. It is, for the most part, easy hiking. You can't get to St. Lucie Inlet unless you have a boat of some sort; Seabranch, however, is an easy drive away.
Seabranch Preserve is a wilderness area where the emphasis is on wilderness. There are a few interpretive signs near the trail head and a few along the way, but otherwise, it's just you and nature. Makes for interesting exploring. On the bonus side, there is no admission charge, the only free state park we've visited.
History: Irony of Ironies, what is now Seabranch Preserve State Park was, once upon a time, destined to become a golf course community until the state of Florida along with Martin County stepped in and bought the land on Oct. 22, 1992. We note the irony because this is being written in September 2024, about the time the state announced — and withdrew — plans to build golf courses at nearby Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
There is evidence that ancient Floridians lived on the land but no significant archeological remains within the park. Geologically speaking, in the distant past this was beach dunes, which is why the land is so scrubby.
What You'll See: More than half of Seabranch Preserve State Park is sand pine scrub — 519 acres — plus 54 acres of scrubby flatwoods. There are 169 acres of baygall, wetlands so-called because of the dominance of bay trees like loblolly bay, plus red maples and dahoon holly. As you move east through the park, mangrove swamp becomes the dominant habitat and then the open water of the Indian River estuary.
Bald eagles have been known to nest within the park; swallow-tailed kites sail the skies in spring and summer; wading birds such as wood storks and little blue herons frequent the Manatee Creek section of the park. You may spot manatees patrolling the Indian River
We have seen gopher tortoises in drier parts of Seabranch, feral hogs as well as white ibis and blue-gray gnatcatchers and warblers. Scrub provides habitat for Florida scrub jays, though we have not seen any during our visits. The park's management plan notes that Seabranch could act as a kind of way station between populations at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and Savannas Preserve State Park where the birds could mix and possibly interbreed. There is also the possibility that a population could be established within the Park. There are feral hogs here. You might not spot them but there is ample evidence in the form of plowed up ground. Seabranch was the first place we encountered the beasts.
Seabranch offers a bounty of wildflowers, including our favorite skyblue lupine, zigzag bladderwort, Nuttall's meandowbeauty, West Indian meadowbeauty and a ton more.
Amenities: Seabranch Preserve offers plenty of parking, 8 miles of hiking trails, a 1.3-mile paved section of the East Coast Greenway open to bikers and roller bladers, picnic tables and grills, restrooms, interpretive signs and a few benches along the trails.
Nearby: Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge Beach Unit and Mainland Unit are both a few minutes away. Jonathan Dickinson State Park is 10 miles to the south. Hobe Sound Scrub Preserve is to the south along Dixie Highway.
Links: The Institute for Regional Conservation's inventory of plants at Seabranch Preserve is here. The management plant for the park is here.
Of Note: Seabranch Preserve State Park is open 8 a.m. to sunset everyday of the year. It is an oddity among state parks in that there is no entrance fee.
Cover Photo: Sand pine snags, bleached by years in the unrelenting South Florida sun, stand like ghosts over this scrubby field north of the park entrance. Second photo: Slash pines, not sand pines, dominate this section of mesic flatwoods.
Seabranch Preserve is a wilderness area where the emphasis is on wilderness. There are a few interpretive signs near the trail head and a few along the way, but otherwise, it's just you and nature. Makes for interesting exploring. On the bonus side, there is no admission charge, the only free state park we've visited.
History: Irony of Ironies, what is now Seabranch Preserve State Park was, once upon a time, destined to become a golf course community until the state of Florida along with Martin County stepped in and bought the land on Oct. 22, 1992. We note the irony because this is being written in September 2024, about the time the state announced — and withdrew — plans to build golf courses at nearby Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
There is evidence that ancient Floridians lived on the land but no significant archeological remains within the park. Geologically speaking, in the distant past this was beach dunes, which is why the land is so scrubby.
What You'll See: More than half of Seabranch Preserve State Park is sand pine scrub — 519 acres — plus 54 acres of scrubby flatwoods. There are 169 acres of baygall, wetlands so-called because of the dominance of bay trees like loblolly bay, plus red maples and dahoon holly. As you move east through the park, mangrove swamp becomes the dominant habitat and then the open water of the Indian River estuary.
Bald eagles have been known to nest within the park; swallow-tailed kites sail the skies in spring and summer; wading birds such as wood storks and little blue herons frequent the Manatee Creek section of the park. You may spot manatees patrolling the Indian River
We have seen gopher tortoises in drier parts of Seabranch, feral hogs as well as white ibis and blue-gray gnatcatchers and warblers. Scrub provides habitat for Florida scrub jays, though we have not seen any during our visits. The park's management plan notes that Seabranch could act as a kind of way station between populations at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and Savannas Preserve State Park where the birds could mix and possibly interbreed. There is also the possibility that a population could be established within the Park. There are feral hogs here. You might not spot them but there is ample evidence in the form of plowed up ground. Seabranch was the first place we encountered the beasts.
Seabranch offers a bounty of wildflowers, including our favorite skyblue lupine, zigzag bladderwort, Nuttall's meandowbeauty, West Indian meadowbeauty and a ton more.
Amenities: Seabranch Preserve offers plenty of parking, 8 miles of hiking trails, a 1.3-mile paved section of the East Coast Greenway open to bikers and roller bladers, picnic tables and grills, restrooms, interpretive signs and a few benches along the trails.
Nearby: Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge Beach Unit and Mainland Unit are both a few minutes away. Jonathan Dickinson State Park is 10 miles to the south. Hobe Sound Scrub Preserve is to the south along Dixie Highway.
Links: The Institute for Regional Conservation's inventory of plants at Seabranch Preserve is here. The management plant for the park is here.
Of Note: Seabranch Preserve State Park is open 8 a.m. to sunset everyday of the year. It is an oddity among state parks in that there is no entrance fee.
Cover Photo: Sand pine snags, bleached by years in the unrelenting South Florida sun, stand like ghosts over this scrubby field north of the park entrance. Second photo: Slash pines, not sand pines, dominate this section of mesic flatwoods.
