Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Visitors will enjoy relaxing and experiencing the park’s beach, dunes, maritime hammock, mangroves and diverse mix of wildlife. Upon entering, drive south to the parking area on the southwestern tip of the peninsula. Black Skimmers loaf on sand spits on the west side of Dynamite Point. Along the half-mile long beach, look for wintering shorebirds like Dunlin and Sanderling working the tidal area. Royal and Sandwich Terns (and Least Terns in summer), plus wintering Bonaparte’s, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls loaf higher up on the beach. Common Loons (winter), Red-breasted Mergansers (winter) and Double-crested Cormorants fish in the surf. Sea turtles nest on the beach in summer. At the north end of the beach parking area, hike the 30-minute long Oak Hammock Trail during spring and fall migration; up to 20 species of wood-warbler have been recorded. Bring your canoe or kayak and paddle Tucker Cove, a pristine estuary on the Indian River Lagoon, where manatees, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Anhingas, and Roseate Spoonbills gather. A satellite location managed by the park is the Jack Island Preserve, a 641-acre site located a mile north of the park off A1A. There are trails winding through mangroves and coastal hammock and at the west end of the Marsh Rabbit Run Trail, you may climb an observation tower for a bird’s-eye view of the island and Indian River Lagoon.