Twelve acre, six foot deep Pelican Lake was once a natural marsh. In the early 1950s, Juno Beach…read moredevelopers Bessemer Properties built a small dam into the marsh and turned it into a lake. It was named Pelican Pond by the local Garden Club before becoming Pelican Lake. The developers used the lake as an attraction to draw residents before the town it was incorporated in 1953. Although beautiful to look at the lake also serves an important function. It protects the surrounding buildings from flooding during heavy rain by providing a place for the rain to drain away. Around Pelican Lake is a pleasant one mile loop, perfect for a walk, jog, or bike ride. The lake has a fountain in it. Along the path you will find benches and trees. I even found a Rainbow Eucalyptus tree which you don't usually find out of botanical gardens. There is a gazebo where you can watch the turtles bob their heads out of the water. I think people must feed them because they came swimming right over when they saw me. I also saw fish and birds like the common moorhen, ibis, and ducks. There used to be more wildlife but the chemicals added to the lake through the years to prevent algae blooms eventually reduced the animal and plant populations. Plans are being made to rehabilitate the ecosystem by removing invasive species and adding native plants and fish. They also want to add a shallow nesting area to attract birds. One small part of the walkway around the lake takes you to the sidewalk along Ocean Dr. but it goes back down to the lake. When you finish your walk you can cross the street to Kagan Park where there is some outdoor exercise equipment along with a basketball court and a playground. This is a very nice to exercise and take in the fresh air.

Apparently what I thought was a pond is actually a Lake. On a Saturday afternoon, I encountered a…read morelot of people walking here, some with dogs and others with kids/strollers. The South side of this Walk can serve as a path to get to Juno Beach Access JB-7 from the parking lot at Kagan Park; I definitely passed families carrying beach equipment. This Walk is interesting in part because the path is lined with engraved stones memorializing loved ones or saying something. Many are so worn that you can no longer read them. A couple that I did read were heartbreaking. On the West side of the Lake is a pavilion with a boardwalk going out to it over the Lake. The Lake has fountains. We could see many, many turtles and ducks from this pavilion. Parents beware: the built in benches have a ledge at the top of the seats which are the perfect height for a child to hoist themselves up onto and stand dangerously high up to the top of the barrier. The Western side of the Lake Trail gets larger and has a green area with trees, a bench and a little gazebo. I didn't go too much farther when I saw the road head up to the regular road.

I've been wanting to visit this ERM park ever since visiting its neighbor, Juno Dunes Natural Area…read more The last time I tried to visit, the very small parking lot was full. From the road, this park looks to be all scrub, but like the other park, it contains multiple habitats inside. The first paved walk leads to a very nice pavilion overlooking the River. The view was peaceful and beautiful. Trying to access the unpaved trails, however, proved problematic. We turned onto the red path, only to find that the marker stakes had most of the red faded away and were difficult to find. At one point there is a huge fork in the path with no direction on which way to go. The end of the trail is practically non existent, with no clear path, but it does return us to the park entrance. I insisted on trying to get to Ski Beach- whatever that was! It looked about a 1/3 the way of the yellow trail. The path was very sandy, and difficult to walk on for that reason, and it seemed to take forever! When we finally found Ski Beach, we found another Park kiosk, a garbage can, and a tiny path down to... a beach! and the Intracoastal. We watched fish swim by, and lots of boats go by. This could be a nice place to wade or further explore, if you lugged all of your things here. ERM, would have loved finding a bench here, so we had someplace to take our shoes on and off. We did not continue down the yellow trail due to being exhausted, but I would like to do this again. The landscape was nice- just difficult to walk in due to the white sand. We saw a cactus in bloom, a snake, and a TON of lichen. Lichen everywhere! It really looked like little fairy landscapes to me. I think I finally identified Florida rosemary too! Kudo to ERM for the map/brochures. My kids pore over every aspect of it while we walk, trying to find all the natural items pictured, excitedly matching the pictures to plants. Thank you!

Jupiter Ridge is located south of the Jupiter inlet. It is part of the Great Florida Bird and…read moreWildlife Trail. This natural area is made up of 274 acres of scrub that contain five native Florida ecosystems: scrub, scrubby flatwoods, mesic flatwoods, depression marsh and mangrove swamp, It is one of the few places you can go in Jupiter to see how Florida looked before it was developed. Thirty one plant species live here as well as threatened and endangered species like the large-flowered rosemary, the Florida scrub-jay; and the gopher tortoise. Jupiter Ridge is owned by the state Conservation and Recreation Lands project which is managed by Palm beach County. This natural area has the longest shoreline along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway of any other natural area in Palm Beach County. There is also 7,600 feet of water frontage along the Intracoastal Waterway along the Loxahatchee River/Lake Worth Creek Aquatic Preserve. There are three hiking trails, the paved Little Blue Heron Trail, (0.2 miles), the sand Scrub Lizard Trail (1.7 miles). and the sand Pawpaw Trail (0.6 miles). The sand trails really give your legs a work out and there is no shade so the sun can be brutal. The natural area has canoe and kayak access from Ski Beach and you may be able to spot manatees. There is also an observation platform on the Little Blue heron Trail that overlooks Old Lake Worth Creek. Jupiter Ridge Natural Area is open to the public, sunrise to sunset, seven days a week.

The water was very nice and clear, enjoyed the beach. We rode our bikes over the long boardwalk…read morethat crosses over the intracoastal, we were hoping for more bike trails but there was not much as far as bike riding trails. The boardwalk is pretty long if crossing over carrying a lot of stuff on a hot day that may not be too enjoyable for some. It's also pretty bumpy on a bike. But the beach was great and it's a great scenic boardwalk.

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.

Cool, hidden place to check it out. This beach was better than I expected. The sand was a dark…read morecolor like dark Grey, not what I was used to. It was a great color for pictures. The beach had a nice path connecting to the beach. It was a nice canopy of trees. A very enjoyable path. At the beach you see the beautiful rock formations. It was something different and beautiful. This beach had an education center across from the beach with nice clean bathrooms. This center had nice walking paths around the intercostal, the other side. The parking was free but limited. There was space to park on both sides. If you can find parking. I recommend checking the beach out.

Blowing Rocks is an amazing natural look at what the Florida Shoreline should look like. They have…read moretwo trails you can go through for the maritime hammock one close to the beach and the other by the intercoastal. The beach is unguarded and as the name suggests has exposed rocks. The rocks are super fun to explore. While I enjoyed my time there the parking area is quite limited so getting parking can be a hassle but one that is well worth it.

This trail area is a great spot to enjoy some nature right outside the city. All the pictures in…read morethis review were taken on a single 2-3 hour hike one morning/afternoon but on the Owahee canal trail, not Apoxee. I live right behind this trail, walking distance from my apartment (a rarity in this part of WPB) so I care about it quite a bit. There are certainly plenty of improvements that could be made. If you're not walking the Owahee canal trails on the outskirts, and trying to walk the actual Apoxee trail, it's almost always too flooded by rainfall to make it very far. There has been word of more elevated boardwalks for the trail, but no progress has been visible for a while. Still a great place for a nature hike in WPB.

Really nice LONG trail and worth the walk. Beautiful and well preserved. Not much wildlife when I…read morewent but tons of beautiful picture opportunities. We went to shoot some videos for fun of nature and we got a lot of really good pictures and videos.

Still the most lovely park, especially the Intracoastal side. Ample parking right along the shore,…read moreand a large shallow are ripe for snorkeling, far from boats which might pass by. We arrived early and staked our spot in the shade under mangroves. My kids take their kayaks out to explore the mangrove islands and paddle around. It's so protected without currents pulling them out or speeding boats close by, which is such wonderful freedom for them. This is a popular spot on the weekends, and some folks bring out tents and equipment for the whole day. This is a perfect first-time snorkeling spot for beginners, because the water is so shallow. We swam with a sea turtle this time. Even not at high tide, it's still a lovely way to be on saltwater without waves or seaweed. It seems that dogs and fires are welcome.

Traveled to "Jupiter" looking for a nice beach as I heard their beaches are clear and clean…read more. stumbled across this beach park. There was plenty of parking, which we liked. The boardwalk was closed for repairs so we had to walk thru the sand with our stuff (coolers etc). Part of the beach was on a small like hill, you had to jump down to get towards the water which was annoying. The beach was filled with seaweed. I did like there was a lifeguard on duty. It wasn't crowded for a Sunday. Probably won't be back to this one.

Nice little walk on a paved travel about .5 miles in covered shade. You can go longer on unpaved…read moretrails too. No bathroom, water station and small parking lot with only about 7 spots. A lot of people park on the side. We saw a tortoise right when we walked in which was cool. One was eating and the other was by its home which looked like a hole in the ground. Also saw some zebra butterflies. Would come back again and walk more.

Fabulous walk and nature area. Not many people and not too buggy either. I was fortunate enough to…read moresee a snake, gopher tortoise and boat tailed grackle. Will be back!

This place is great for those into the outdoors or nature in general. Kayaking, camping, fishing,…read moreand plenty of wildlife you might run into. There's overlooks and and an endless supply of trails to choose. I will definitely be back with some chairs and hoping for some quiet time to myself. The environment is so unique here you feel like you're in a different country at times.

Cool park! We drive by often and it's always something we've wanted to stop and check out. I had no…read moreidea this park is so huge! You could drive for 30 minutes and still not see everything! We stopped by on a weekday and the park was pretty and relaxing. Not too many people on the couple of trails we did. The observation tower is closed but they still have a nice boardwalk up to that area that makes for a great walk! It's pretty highly elevated for Florida - kind of impressive in person! Entry is $6 per car, and the lady provided a map and recommended her favorite trail. We checked that trail out as well (the white trail), but the height of the observation tower trail was really the star! We decided to drive around after doing both trails, and we saw their campgrounds. So surprising at how busy this place was! It seemed there was hardly an empty spot! Must be a happening place to camp! We'd definitely return for more adventures, as this is a cool park!

Such good vibes in this park. There are people but it's expansive enough where you'll be completely…read morealone for large sections depending on the trail. You can rent bikes for a date day or even paddleboard the river. This is real florida!

Great place to relax and get some nice biking in or walks on the trails . Wide hard gravel bike or…read morewalking trails . At least 10-12 miles on the east side of the park and more by the lake and west side . Very clean , safe an