Been into this park a few times to use the brand new skating area. I was pleasantly surprised with…read morehow nice this park is. You have pretty much everything you can think of in this park with a very large parking lot. If your kid loves baseball, there's always baseball games going on and there's also a playground for kids to enjoy. I haven't really explored the whole park on foot, only driven by since the skating area is all the way in the back. It's pretty new. I heard they just filled it in. I would say it's like the size of a normal skating area you would find at an indoor rink. I will come more often, but it is a 20 minute drive and they're doing a lot of construction on the roads that I take together. I wish there was more of these skating areas in different parts of Port St. Lucie.

Built in 1992, this is a 37 acre park located off of Darwin Blvd in Port St Lucie. It is used to…read morehost community events like the garage sale next weekend and movies in the park. Park amenities include a baseball/softball field, football field, playground, pickle ball court, volleyball net, and restrooms. There is a large 35x25 pavilion with electricity and two 16x16 pavilions that can be rented for private events. Whispering Pines also has a 14 court tennis center which is shared by the Parks and Recreation Department and the High School. You can sign up for lessons at the tennis center and the courts service all levels of players, from beginners to professionals. The fields are lighted and the park is open every day from 8 AM to 10 PM. My favorite part of the park was watching the birds. While I was walking around two Sandhill cranes came by. I don't get to see them in South Florida so it is always a treat to find them when I travel north. These two characters were hollering at the top of their lungs. It was the first time I've ever heard the call of a Sandhill Crane. This is a really beautiful and well maintained park providing sports, leisure activities, picnics, and events for the community of Port St Lucie.

Great for kids plenty of pavilions to throw your own party. and always fun to watch the trains go byread more

This park was built by the Kiwanis Club of Stuart, which has been serving the children of Martin…read moreCounty since 1938. They are the second oldest club organization in Martin County. In 1990 the Kiwanis entered into an agreement with the City of Stuart who owned the property this park sits on. The Kiwanis and the local historical society, Stuart Heritage partnered together to raise funds for the park by selling historical Stuart themed Christmas ornaments. Every year the two groups work together to study the history of Stuart and design the ornament. The first ornament was sold in 1995. Stuart Heritage sells the bulk of the ornaments and in return they get to keep $5 per ornament for their organization while the Kiwanis use their portion of the proceeds for the park. Over a million dollars has gone into park renovations. The goal of the Kiwanis Club was to create a place where all children can play. Handicap accessible vehicles can pull right up to the entrance of the park. The park has specialized play equipment including a roller tunnel, accessible see saw, airplane bouncy, and roller slide. In addition to the playground equipment the park has benches, grills, pavilions, picnic tables, paved walkways, and a restroom. Everything in the park is beautifully maintained with lots of flowering bushes and trees to add color to the park. The park can be rented from the Kiwanis Club for parties and private events. For all of the efforts put in by the Kiwanis Club, this park has been named the premier park in Martin County. I love discovering parks that are made to include all children, especially those with sensory issues or physical disabilities. The children at this park looked like they were having a wonderful time. Martin County is beautiful and when you see a park like this you know they really care about their children.

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.

The Maggy of Maggy's Hammock was environmentalist and long time county Martin County commissioner,…read moreMaggy Hurchalla. Before being renamed in Maggy's honor this was known as Rocky Point Hammock. This is a 22 acre natural conservation area consisting of scrub and maritime hammock communities. Scrub habitats are particularly endangered in Florida. They used to cover many miles but have been reduced to small patches since they occur at higher elevations which is exactly where developers like to build. This park is like walking back in time to before Florida was turned into strip malls and subdivisions. There is a paved trail that is ADA accessible and leads to a picnic area and playground. Along the presenter of the hammock is a one mile natural earth loop trail. As you walk along the trails you will see gumbo limbo trees nicknamed the tourist tree because the peeling bark looks like sunburn. Also look for white stopper known for its skunk like smell, the thorny acacia, oak and paradise trees, slash pines, strangler fig, wild coffee, beauty berry, resurrection ferns, hickory, the white blooming marlberry, Florida and scrub rosemary, wild lime, and saw palmetto. The large number of berry producing plants attracts an assortment songbirds. Look for them in the trees. This park is part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. On the ground you may be able to spot the state protected gopher tortoises. The destruction of their habitat has dealt a blow to their population. I was excited to see two tortoises walking around the preserve. Although I can form easily spot their burrows I rarely see them walking around as they spend up to 80 percent of their time burrowed under dry sandy ground. I loved my walk through this natural area. Martin County has 93,000 acres parks and preserves to explore and it is always fun to discover a new one. A visit to Twin Rivers Park a half a mile away is also well worth your time. There is a gorgeous view of the St. Lucie River and the chance to spot even more gopher tortoises.

From 2007 to 2012, Port St. Lucie leased the property that is now Winterlakes Park to the St. Lucie…read moreSchool District for the purpose of constructing a temporary school site. The District paid to prepare the land for construction and built the playground. In 2012, the School District allowed the lease agreement to expire and the Port St. Lucie Parks and Recreation Department assumed maintenance responsibilities for the 28 acre property. After holding meetings with the public the city decided to turn the land into a park. Winterlakes Park opened on January 23, 2021 becoming the largest park in Port St. Lucie. Today Winterlakes Park is a well designed park with many popular recreational amenities for residents and visitors of the Winterlakes neighborhood and the Torino area. During my visit I was impressed by how much this park has to offer. There is a baseball field, covered basketball court, dog park with sections for small and large dogs, a paved exercise walkway with fitness stations, picnic pavilions with tables, pickleball court, shade covered playground, soccer field, softball field, tennis court, sand volleyball court, fishing deck on the lake, and restrooms. All of the facilities in the park are meticulously maintained and the park still looks brand new. As I walked the park on the exercise trail I noticed a summer camp using the playground, pups playing in the dog park, and a large number of people enjoying the shaded basketball court. There is so much to do in this park, there is truly something for everyone to enjoy.

Very nice dog park with two fenced areas for off-leash dog play. One area is for large dogs - over…read more30 pounds - and the other for smaller dogs. Located at the end of Winterlakes Park, a new community park in northern Port St. Lucie, FL. Lots of parking very close to the dog park areas, so you don't have to wander through the whole community park to find the dog area. Fences are high, and the gate lock is also high, so small children cannot get in and out at will. The parks have seating areas for pet owners, and some are under cover, so that's nice when there's a lot of sunshine. The parks seem well well-maintained and are not crowded, possibly because there isn't a lot of publicity about them yet.

The four residential housing lots that make up this park were purchased in 1979 by WWII veteran…read moreCarl Reddish (1915-2012). After a career as an air plane mechanics in Miami for 30 years, Carl retired to Port St. Lucie with his wife June and built their home here where Carl spent his days building his backyard plant nursery. The three live oaks in the park were planted by Carl in honor of his children and grandchildren. In 2015 the Florida Department of Transportation purchased this land in order to create the Crosstown Parkway leaving a six acre open space at the Southeast corner of Crosstown Parkway and Floresta Drive. In 2019 a park was proposed for the site by the Treasure Coast Submarine Veterans who wanted to create a new memorial and place it in their very own park to honor the sixty-five submarines that have been lost in the U.S. Navy's history and the more than 4,000 submariners killed. The park has a memorial to honor all U.S. Navy submarines and crews lost since 1915, including the names of 65 U.S. Navy submarines and the dates they were lost displayed on granite stones. The park also contains a WWII era Mark 14 training torpedo. In addition to the memorial, the park has a parking lot, outdoor fitness equipment that uses your body weight, and a 1/3 mile paved walkway around the lake that people can use for exercise. If you are looking for a longer route can take the park path to where it connects to the route that takes you over the Crosstown Parkway. Whether you are here to attend one of the memorial events presented by the Treasure Coast Submarine Veterans or you are here to exercise, I think Carl Reddish would be pleased to know that people are making good use of the land he poured his heart and gardening skills into.

This park is part of a freshwater marsh or savana that used to cover the southeast coast of…read moreFlorida. This preserve is one of the longest remaining tracts of east coast savanna. It is 10 miles long stretching from Ft. Pierce to Jensen Beach.The term savanna for the marshland and ponds was first used by Lt. Colonel Benjamin Pierce during the Second Seminole Wars. In 1879 Captain Thomas Richards came here from Key West to plant pineapples which thrived in the sandy soil. From 1895 to 1920 Jensen Beach became the pineapple capital of the world. In 1977, 6,000 acres of land were acquired to create a park that protects this biologically unique ecosystem. Today the park offers many amenities to the nature enthusiast. There are 15 miles of trails for hikers, bikers, and equestrians. There is also a canoe and kayak launch. At 8:30 AM every Friday and Saturday morning volunteers lead two hour guided tours. Reservations are required and you can call this number: 772-398-2779. Fishing is available in the park if you have the proper license. If all of the fun outdoor sports makes you hungry there are a number of picnic shelters around the preserve. To learn more about the savannas you can go to the Visitor Center Education Center which is open Thursday through Monday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. I only got a chance to scratch the surface of this wonderful park and now I can't wait to come and explore it more fully. Admission to the park is $3 that you put into an envelope on the honor system. If you visit bring cash make sure to have the exact amount. The money goes to supporting a wonderful outdoor space rich in history, plants, and animals.

Nice area for larger venues. They have a mini beach that connects to the river. A nice dock that I…read morebelieve you can fish off it could be wrong. 24hr water and bathroom access. Great courtyard, scenery.

It was an amazing day to walk the park. A beautiful view on the pier for fishing and the little…read morebeach area was beautiful.