Gazebo Park is a small swath of green with a gazebo on it in historic downtown Ft. Pierce. It is in…read morethe same area that they hold the farmers market every Saturday morning. It is a popular location for weddings and it has electricity so you can plug in lights. The landscaping around the gazebo is very attractive with flowering crepe myrtle all around it. It's a popular place to take pictures but someone is usually occupying the gazebo.

This is a neighborhood park located in the the Palm Lake Gardens neighborhood completed in 2005 in…read moreFt. Pierce. The park is set up around a lake. You can exercise by walking a path that runs the perimeter of the lake. Other park amenities include grills, pavilions, picnic tables, and a playground. You can't swim in the lake but people use it for RC boat racing. The lake is stocked so it is a popular fishing spot. I saw quite a bit of wildlife during my visit including a heron, turtles, and a young alligator. This is a really beautiful spot to cook out, picnic, fish, or just take a stroll. As I was leaving I saw someone walking their dog right next to the edge of the water. I cannot not emphasize enough that this is not a smart thing to do. At a park in Davie a woman was killed doing the same thing. An alligator attacked her dogs and she was killed trying to save them. Alligators will not normally attack people but they have been known to go for dogs at the waters edge. I definitely saw alligator activity at this lake. Children and pets should not be near the edge of water where there could possibly be alligators. Prevent another tragedy and stay on the path.

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.

Museum Pointe Park is locate at the base of South Bridge. This is the park that surrounds the St…read more Lucie Regional History Center and the St. Lucie County Aquarium. If you plan on visiting either pack a picnic and enjoy it in the park after for a fun and inexpensive family day out. Museum Pointe Park is on the Indian River so it has great water views. The park also has plenty of free parking, picnic pavilions, a playground, and a lot of large shade trees The paved walkway along the water was my favorite part of the park. I noticed that there were a number of rock agama lizards sunning themselves on the rocks. Rock agama lizards are an invasive species from Africa. They were first introduced to Florida in 1976 from the pet trade. Adult males have distinctive red heads and black bodies and can grow up to a foot long. Their range has been expanding and they are now found as far north as Jacksonville and as far south as Big Pine Key. Unfortunately they like to feast on Florida's endangered butterfly species. Scientists are currently studying their effect on the environment. If you enjoy fishing there is a pier underneath the South Bridge close to the right of the park and South Causeway Park is to the left for more picnicking and swimming. Museum Pointe Park is filled with history, science, and nature. It is the perfect place to take the family this summer.

Tracking Station Beach Park is a 6.37 acre park in Vero Beach. The entrance is a little hard to see…read morebut it is located off Highway A1A between the CVS Pharmacy and 7-11 store. The park takes its name from the university ocean research facility located by the park entrance. Park amenities include a beautiful 624 feet of life guarded beach from 9:10 am - 4:50 pm, one pavilion with picnic table and grill, water fountain, restrooms, outdoor shower, and best of all there are 74 free parking spaces. I love free beach parking which is sadly lacking in Broward County. Inside the park is a memorial to 17 year old Lynn Carol Elliott (1965-1983). Elliot was a student of Vero Beach high school. She was hitchhiking with her fourteen year old friend Regan Martin when they were picked up by serial killer David Alan Gore who committed crimes with his cousin his Fred Waterfield. The pair were dubbed the killing cousins. When Elliot escaped outside of the house while Martin was being attacked, Gore followed her and shot her in the head which was witnessed by a neighbor boy riding his bicycle. The police were called and the pairs crime spree came to an end. Gore was executed by lethal injection in 2012. If not for Elliots courage in trying to escape, there may have been many more victims. This is such a sad story of promising lives cut too short. This beach is ADA accessible. It is favored by surfers and sun worshippers. It is also beloved by nesting sea turtles so stay off the dunes, watch out for the nests, and take your garbage with you. Sea Turtle nesting season is from March 1-October 31. All sea turtles are protected by state and federal laws. I was disappointed to see that a new condo complex called Indigo is going to be built at the entrance to the park. I hope that this does not negatively impact the sea turtles. For now this remains a lesser known beach in Vero and a great place to enjoy the ocean and outdoors.

Best beach in Vero beach! Parking can be difficult depending on time of day, I would suggest coming…read moreduring non-peak hours. The beach does have restrooms and showers and lifeguards do supervise the beach during normal hours.

A little hidden gem in the back of a neighborhood. Location is a little off the beaten path but…read morethat's part of the charm. Feels like old Florida, the way it was before all the overdevelopment. Definitely a great escape and worth checking out. Hope it stays public and undeveloped.

The Petravice Family Preserve is a two year old, 35-acre preserve on the north fork of the St…read more Lucie River. This preserve is named in honor of Peter Paul Petravice (1915-1999). During WWII Mr. Petravice served in the Army as a Captain in the 405 Medical Collecting Company. After the war he became an opthalmologist in Chicago. He always retained a passion for medical plants and for many years he attended the plant fair at the Diplomat Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. In 1974 he purchased the land this preserve sits on and he turned it into a plant nursery in 1978. You can still see the nursery plants, mostly palms, some still in pots. The Petravice Family Preserve has 4 ADA parking spots, picnic pavilions, ADA kayak launch, and restrooms. Near the trailhead is an overlook and picnic pavilion with grill. A 1.5-mile nature trail winds through the preserve giving you scenic views of the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. Beyond the loop trail is a pedestrian bridge connects the Petravice Family Preserve to the Captain Hammond's Hammock Preserve.

North trail offers straight and firm opportunity to get a sweat via walk/run/bike…read more South trail offers scenic and partly rugged areas to stroll and leisurely pace through if desired. Plus, Indian burial mounds and pioneer cemetery adds to the enjoyment

Spruce Bluff Preserve is 97 acres. In the 1990's a community of more than 60 homes was planned for…read morethe area but in 1995 the St. Lucie County saved the historic spot by buying the land and making it into one of the county's first preserves, The hiking trail is on the marsh and scrub land in between the houses off Southbend Boulevard along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. This is one of the more interesting hiking trips I have taken because there is so much history here. If you take the trail from the parking lot about half a mile down you will come to the site that was a pioneer settlement and cemetery along the banks of the St. Lucie River. The trail itself was the roadway for the development that never happened. The area was settled in 1891 after the Second Seminole War ended in 1842. Spruce Bluff founder John Enos Fultz Jr. came from South Carolina to farm pineapples which did well in the sandy soil. Spruce Bluff was a community of several families with a school, post office and sawmill. To make $10 a month Fultz rowed the St. Lucie River to Stuart to deliver the mail to Stuart. In 1894 and 1895 a winter freeze killed the crops and the families moved out of the area. Fultz moved to Ft. Pierce where he became the first Clerk of the Circuit Court for St. Lucie County when it was created in 1905. To find the cemetery look for the two wooden posts on the side of the right hand trail that leads to a sandy trail that takes you to it. The cemetery is surrounded by a fence with a monument. It is owned privately but you are welcome to visit. The seven headstones of the Spruce Bluff pioneers buried inside the fence were vandalized so one monument was put up instead. If you take the trail behind the parking lot it leads to an Ais midden which was their trash dump. Middens are important because they can tell you a lot about the people who lived in the area. This midden has yielded fish bones during excavations. To get to the site you travel along a one mile trail. As you make your way down you come to two boardwalks that cross over the wetlands. The Ais were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the Atlantic Coast of Florida from present day Cape Canaveral to the St. Lucie Inlet. They became extinct in the 1760's when they were sold off for slaves or succumbed to disease. The best knowledge we have of these people came from Jonathan Dickinson's journal when he was taken prisoner by them. There is no sign for the mound. It's 20 feet high and 180 feet wide and may be hundred of thousands of years old. If you didn't know it was back there it would just look like a hill. In addition to the hiking trails which can also be biked there is canoe access. A saw a lot of birds on the trail as well as many adorable rabbits. It's an easy hike and the history of this area makes it a very special place to visit.

Charles Park is named in honor of Charles Parks. I love that his last name was Parks! Mr. Parks…read morebecame the city's director of recreation after moving to Vero Beach in 1958. He retired from the post in 1982. This neighborhood park was named in his honor after his successor, Vero Beach-Indian River County Recreation Department Director Pat Callahan approached then-City Manager John Little five years later with a proposal to name a new park after her mentor. The city decided to drop the s from Parks name and the park was called Charles Park. The amenities at Charles Park include a popular walking trail through a nature area, restrooms, picnic pavilion, tennis courts and volleyball court. The playground area is currently closed but there are plans to build a new playground this year. The wooden fitness equipment is in really terrible condition too. I enjoyed the fitness trail which is the best part of the park while it is under construction. Once this park receives upgrades it should be really nice.

It's hidden but the playground is big for the little ones to burn off steam. I enjoyed watching the…read moresquirrels burry things and they have small trails for runny and fitness. So if you want a free activity for your young one I'd say check it out.