Timers Power Park is a spacious 37 acre park located in Indiantown. Historically the Jupiter…read moreIndiantown Road which existed from the 1900's until the late 1950's ran through the park. The 16 mile Jupiter Indiantown Road connected the communities of Jupiter and Indiantown, giving residents access to resources. The road took two days to travel by oxcart. During that time brothers Joe and Dessie Bowers developed citrus groves and ran a trading post exchanging goods for hides with the Seminoles. Later the road was known as the Jupiter Grade Road, the Jupiter Okeechobee Road and the Central Dixie Highway. In 1936 it became State Road 29. By the late 1950's nearby paved highways replaced the historic dirt road. In 1993 the road was declared a Scenic By-Way by Martin and Palm Beach Counties. Later this park was named in honor of Eugene "Timer" Powers (1937-1992). Mr. Powers was a significant figure in Indiantown known for his roles in establishing the Indiantown Gas Company in 1960, serving on the board of the South Florida Water Management District, and acting as a Martin County commissioner for twelve years, where he also helped shape water and Everglades policies. He was only 55 when he passed away from cancer. Upon his passing he was eulogized by then Governor Lawton Chiles who said "I recall a Bible verse that tells us, 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' We will miss Timer as a person and as a peacemaker. He was one of the finest people you could know, and his belief that people can work together to solve problems will be sorely missed. The Florida Everglades, too, has lost a friend." What makes this park really unique is that it has a state-of-the-art, covered equestrian arena that is the only public equestrian arena in Martin County. It is available to the public for general usage and for organized horse shows. Timer Powers Park is the location of the annual Indiantown Rodeo which is one of the nation's most prominent rodeos dating back to 1947. The park also has many other amenities like a public boat ramp and fishing pier on the St. Lucie Canal. There is an amphitheater, numerous pavilions with tables and grills, and a playground. Large oak trees provide shade throughout the park. Timers Power Park is part of the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. This park is ideal for a family celebration, play, fishing, or just a peaceful stroll like the one I enjoyed.

Well if your in the indiantown area on a Wednesday evening, you'll have to stop by for the horse…read moreriding show! Riders come from all over for this event. They also have a fishing area, cleaning station and a boat ramp which is free and open from dawn to dusk. A Really nice parking area and a playground for the kiddies! They also have a nice arena for rodeo events that take place around October of each year. Also picnic areas with charcoal grills with gazebo's for shade! The park is supplied with city water and restroom facilities. The fireworks display was truly an awesome experience last night and the Village did a spectacular job!

Heart and Soul Park opened on June 19, 2021 in the Northwest Historic district in West Palm Beach…read more This neighborhood dates back to when Henry Flagler announced plans to extend the Florida East Coast Railway to Southeastern Florida. Blacks from northern Florida, Georgia, and the Bahamas moved to this area for work. When West Palm Beach was incorporated in 1894, it became the oldest municipality in Palm Beach County. During segregation the black community lived and worked here adding their own identity and culture to the city. Heart and Soul Park was designed to pay tribute to the musical history of the Northwest community. The park is next to Sunset Lounge known as the Cotton Club of the South. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Sunset Lounge was one of the premier African-American entertainment venues in the south. Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong were some of the artists who played here and they are honored next door in the park. The West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is currently restoring this iconic music and entertainment venue. Heart and Soul Park was built as a continuation of the adjacent award-winning 7th Street Streetscape. The musical themed park includes a musical themed playground and swing set under shades. Along the piano key-themed walkway are history stations, art work, instruments to play, picnic tables, benches, and concrete walls that offer additional seating. The park has also been beautifully landscaped. The city also put new art into the park that pays tribute to the history of the area and to the musical trailblazers that used to play next door at the Sunset Lounge. The recently completed mosaic public art project modeled on vintage posters and record covers was created by Dominican South Florida-based artist Elio Mercado also known as Evoca1. It was designed to celebrate the neighborhood's heritage. Names featured in the art include the original owners of the Sunset Lounge, Dennis and Thelma Starks, Florida's first black woman legislator, Gwen Cherry, the first black doctor in West Palm Beach, Dr. Thomas Leroy Jefferson, black educational pioneer Alice E. Moore, musician Ray Charles, architect Hazel Augustus, jazz pianist Count Basie, and musician James Brown plus many more. There are QR codes on the art so you can learn more about the people represented. One unusual thing I noticed about this park was that it has a full time security guard. This is the first park I have ever been that has its own security. As I was taking pictures I was followed and I started to feel unwelcome. There weren't any signs that said photography was prohibited. Other than that strange interaction I really like how this park combines history and art in a way that children and families in the can enjoy. It is also a great place for the city to stage community events.

In 2012 Hobe Sound commissioners changed the name of the 24.2 acre South County Ball Park to…read moreWilliam G Doc Myers Park in honor of hometown hero William Myers. Myers was a Martin County physician who went on to serve as Martin County Commissioner for two terms in the late 1960s-1970s during which time the County's Comprehensive Plan was approved. He also served as State Representative from 1978-1982 and State Senator from 1982-2000. I discovered Doc Myers Park when I pulled in for a restroom break and ended up stretching my legs and walking around for a few minutes. The park is located next to the railroad tracks on Jimmy Buffet Memorial Highway. This park offers a variety of athletic facilities and recreational amenities. One of the most popular is the 6 outdoor hard courts for pickleball. Pickleball is a cross between table tennis, badminton, and tennis. It was invented by three vacationers on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, in 1965. There are now 36.5 million pickleball players in the U.S and it was named the fastest growing sport in the U.S. in 2024. Other park amenities include two lighted baseball/softball fields, two basketball courts, and two soccer fields. Doc Myers Park is the home of the Hobe Sound Soccer Club and it is a popular spot for outdoor recreation for families, walkers, and sports enthusiasts.

The Gardens North County District Park opened in June of 2019 in conjunction with the city's 60th…read moreanniversary Diamond Anniversary event. The park was built at a cost of 13.7 million dollars. North County District Park is a 82-acre athletic and recreation complex. It is located on 117th Court North near the city's tennis center. The sprawling park includes seven lighted multi-purpose fields, two open fields, a splash pad, nature trail and walking areas, three pavilions, two playgrounds, gravity rail and 23.6 acres of preserve. it is the largest athletic complex in the area and has more than 600 parking spots. The pristine athletic fields make this park ideal for team sports but children will also love cooling off at the splash pad and playing at the ninja styled shade covered playground. My favorite part of the park was the nature trail. I just wish it had parking closer to the entrance. The field next to trail is under construction so I am excited to see what will be added to the park next.

Came across this park from an Instagram video so I decided to check it out. Big park with lots of…read morefields, playground, splash park. Plenty of parking. Cool playground with a unique swing that look like a roller coaster. Love their little free library. Definitely coming back with the kids this weekend.

Possom Long Nature center is a 5 acre nature preserve behind the Martin County Audubon office…read morelocated in a historic home that was part of the Camp Murphy (1942-1944), a top secret army camp for the signal corps that was created during WWII in what is now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The house is a classic example of the frame vernacular building style used by the Army at that time. Today it has has meeting rooms, displays, and bird photography. The Audubon Society offers events and guided tours of the preserve. This natural area is named in honor of Clifton "Possum" Long who was a Martin County High School agricultural teacher in the 1940's. He was a graduate of the Officers Training school at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the football field at Martin County High is named for him. Legend has that Possom got his nickname from playing possom, in other words pretending to be dead, in order to catch his students misbehaving. Around 1950, he built a house on the foundation of an old barn where local children once stabled their horses. He operated a plant nursery and for years when couples married in Stuart, they received a plant as a wedding gift from him. Possom Long nature Center is being rehabilitated through the Audubon's Native Plant Restoration Project in partnership with the Stuart Garden Club. Memory Lane at Possum Long Nature Center is being cared for by the members of the Garden Club as an ongoing project honoring the memory of its members. The club has planted living memorials in the form of trees, shrubs and various specimens of plant life and inscribe names of deceased members on the permanent plaque each year displayed at Possum Long House. Other preserve amenities include natural earth trails, picnic tables, a butterfly garden, and native trees and plants. Although the nature preserve is in the middle of a neighborhood, it attracts a variety of wildlife including nesting Cardinal Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and Osprey. Finding this charming preserve was a highlight of my day exploring Stuart.

Gazebo Park is a small park in downtown Stuart. At the center of the park is a beautiful large…read moregazebo. When I visited it was displaying a Christmas tree. The park was also displaying a cheerful snowman made out of tires. I guess that is what Florida snowmen are made of. Other park amenities include benches, a paved walkway, and a water fountain to drink from. During the year the park hosts concerts and events. While not large the park adds to the quaint hometown feel of Stuart.

John D. MacArthur Beach State Park seemed like such a hidden gem from everything I had read and…read moreseen online. I loved that it offers so many activities in one place--kayaking, paddleboarding, the beach, picnic areas, a gift shop, and educational exhibits--all at very reasonable prices. Parking was only $5, and the kayak and paddleboard rentals were affordable too. Unfortunately, I happened to visit on a day with an extremely low tide. Paddleboard rentals were suspended, but kayak rentals were still available. The staff did warn us about the low tide and advised us to stay near the edges to avoid getting stuck. However, as someone new to kayaking, I didn't realize just how much the tide would impact the experience. For a large portion of our trip, the water was so shallow that our kayaks constantly got stuck. We had to repeatedly get out and drag them through the water. At times, the water wasn't even ankle deep. I completely understand that the staff can't control the tides, but I honestly wish kayak rentals had also been paused that day because the conditions made it difficult to really enjoy the experience. By the time we finished kayaking, we were exhausted and felt pretty gross from walking through the murky water, so we ended up skipping the beach altogether. Outside of that, the park itself looked lovely. There was a nice picnic area, a cute gift shop, and they even had a rescued sea turtle with a volunteer sharing information about sea turtle conservation, which was a really nice touch. There also appeared to be several educational exhibits throughout the park, although they happened to be closed during our visit. One downside was a pretty unpleasant smell near the gift shop, but I'm guessing that may have also been related to the unusually low tide. Despite my experience, I haven't written the park off. The photos I've seen online make it look absolutely beautiful, and I think we were just unlucky with the timing. I'd definitely consider coming back on a day with higher water levels to give it another chance. It sounds like a great park overall--I just recommend checking the tide conditions before planning to kayak or paddleboard so you can enjoy it at its best.

This was a nude beach when I was a kid. That ended in 1982 when it became a beloved state park…read more They have done a lot to preserve native plants. You can rent kayaks here or swim. It's usually not too crowded. This is where we would go to see sea turtles laying eggs. And that continues to this day. It's a great location and a beautiful park.

Pine Glades is a 6,651 acre natural area that protects environmentally sensitive pine forest and…read morewetland habitats. It opened in 2014 making it one of Palm Beach's newest natural areas. There are five native Florida ecoystems here: mesic flatwoods, wet flatwoods, wet prairie, depression marsh, and dome swamp. Previously the land was used for agriculture and was purchased for the preserve between 1999-2010 with some of the funds coming from the Florida Communities Trust. Non-native invasive plant were removed including 576 acres of melaleuca, an invasive tree, water flow was restored across the site, and the pine flatwoods/wet prairie mosaic community that were removed for farming were replaced. This natural area is part of the Northeast Everglades Natural Area and Loxahatchee River watershed. Most of the acres of this natural area are wet prairies, marshes, ponds and wet flatwoods with cypress domes, slash pines and cabbage palms. The wetlands attract native wading birds like the roseate spoonbill, great blue heron, little blue heron and white ibis. Other animals that have been recorded here include the great horned owl, raccoons, deer, river otters, bob cats, box turtles, and alligators. Plants that live here include goldenrod, pickerelweed, slash pine, giant wild pine, and beauty berry. There are several hiking trails here. The Flagfish Loop Trail is paved and is only .8 miles. There are two overlooks along the trail that give you a great view of the birds on the wetlands. The Wiregrass Loop Trail is 4.4 miles and is natural earth as is the 1.5 mile Quail Trail. The Old Wire trail is .6 miles and it connects the two ends of the Wiregrass Loop Trail. There wasn't any shade here so it was pretty brutal in the sun. Maps are available on a board adjacent to the parking lot. Bikes are not permitted on the trail. In addition to hiking there is a canoe/kayak launch so you can launch your non motorized boat here. I brought my inflatable kayak. This natural area is also wonderful for nature photography and bird watching. There is no drinking water here here but there is portable toilets. Pine Glades is open until sunset and is listed as one of the best places to see the sunset in Palm Beach County. Unfortunately I had to leave early and get ready for work the next day but I hope to come back and see the sunset and explore the trails I missed.