Dark skies meant random cloudbursts but the turkeys didn’t mind – they were out in droves at Riverbend Park in Jupiter this morning. Lush, green, and wet – especially unusually extremely wet – made me happy, for once, that this urban park has raised shellrock trails. My friends Jack and Liz wanted to show me the new west end trails at adjoining Jonathan Dickinson State Park, reached by an underpass along Indiantown Rd and a tall stile thereafter, but the wet at our feet and from the sky finally got the best of us.
We retreated to a newly opened section of Riverbend Park, Picnic Island, so new that we saw a chickee with green palm fronds and trails, marked on the map, still under construction. The rains retreated and the mosquitoes took their place as we found a copse of old oaks marked “historic oaks” on the map.
This new section of the park has a paved loop for biking, a shellrock loop for walking, and beaten down trails through the grass, plus lots of shady picnic spots. You can walk about 2.5 miles here in addition to the main part of the park. I’d recommend a drier day, though.
Hi Sandra,
From where do you access the new section? Do you start in Riverbend on the FT and head NE? Anything that you can share would be great.
TIA,
Chris (from myfloridahikes)
It’s a separate part of the park. Pull in the main entrance and you have two choices: park by the canoe outfitter and walk across the big bridge over the river to access the Battlefield Trail on the right, or drive across and follow the signs around to the Picnic Island trailhead.
Now if you’re asking about the new connector to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, follow the main trail system to the Ocean to Lake Trail and turn left. It passes under Indiantown Road and reaches a stile. Once you cross the stile you’re in the state park. You can then hike the Italian Farms Trail 3 mile round trip to I-95, or the Ocean to Lake Trail 7 miles to Kitching Creek campsite, 10 miles to the Kitching Creek Nature Trail trailhead if you know how to connect from the campsite (see 50 Hikes in South Florida for how).
Great info, Sandra. Thanks so much for sharing.
Chris
BTW, I was asking about the new FT connector.