This park is really nice, on Seacrest in Boynton with limited parking. Saw gopher tortoises through the fence just walking up. The paths are not long, but the perfect length for a short but mostly shady walk through the woods. The sandy path is not particularly well-marked, but doable! We saw several gopher tortoise holes along the paths here. This park is managed by Environmental Resources Management, and at the front is the usual signage with maps and also large pictures of the wildlife and plants you might see here. These parks are all over the County and especially in more urban areas, which I appreciate. read more

It's a nice walk but not on a hot day! There is limited shade and not much to see beside the one tortoise, although he made our day. Easy parking, take lots of water with you, I finished my water bottle and was still dying of thirst before we were done. Ladies, it's not somewhere I felt safe alone. Hardly anyone there, was a little scary in certain parts, I didn't realize it was so isolated. The day I went I didn't see anyone there except when I was leaving a group of three was coming in. read more

Beautiful local indigenous nature. A beautiful place that has been preserved. Rather small, sandy trails. There are tortoises and all kinds of birds. read more

Nice place to hike. Limited parking. No facilities at all, not even a bathroom. The concrete walking path is really short but the area is raw and beautiful. After coming to the end of the path, we decided to walk on the trail that loops around the area. It's really pretty and quite interesting to see what this part of Florida looked like before it became wall to wall shopping centers and communities. I do want to recommend that any visitors wear long pants and close toed shoes because there are definitely snakes here and they're not shy about slithering down the trail next to you. We ran across an Eastern Racer and it flew up the sand right in front of us. They're not venomous I discovered, but they can give you quite painful bites if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. read more

This a 54 acre preserve that protects the rare scrub habitat which formed on top of sand dunes when the sea level fell. There aren't very many of these communities left because since they were on high land and dry they were the first to be used for commercial development. There is less than 2 percent of the original scrub habitat left in Palm Beach. I came to explore the area because it is listed as a site on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail which is a network of 510 place to view wildlife across the state. Seacrest has a parking lot, bicycle rack, and an educational board. There is a gate to the trails that has a sign urging you to keep it closed to protect the gopher tortoises in the preserve from getting out. There are two trails, a paved nature trail that is .18 miles and a natural earth hiking trail that is 1.15 miles. The hiking trail is where you would need to go to see wildlife. Seacrest is home to several protected plants and animals such as the gopher tortoise. I was lucky enough to see one at the end of my hike. I also saw a cardinal in a tree. Some of the plants I saw were American Beautyberry, slash pines with their pine cones which were used by settlers for lumber, sand pines, and pokeweed which has purple and black berries that feed wildlife but are poisonous to humans. Seacrest is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals. Some mammals you might see include the Gray Fox, armadillos, Gray Squirrels, and raccoons. Unfortunately the natural area is also home to Golden Orb Spiders also known as Banana Spiders. I have never seen so many in one place. They were everywhere in the trees. If you have arachnophobia stay far away from here. Except for the spiders I enjoyed my hike here. Since the scrub pine is on top of dunes there was an incline on part of the hike. I will be back to explore more of the area when the weather cools down. Kudos to Palm Beach for saving and protecting this ecologically important area. read more

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This natural area is practically entirely dedicated to Gopher Tortoises! The location has its own small parking lot (free parking), and right as you enter the park there is a small gate to keep the tortoises from wandering out near the road. The property is fully fenced in and also very large with a few different trail loops that you can walk in with gopher tortoise dens directly next to the main path. It's very dry (perfect for the tortoises, but maybe not the people!) and doesn't have a stream or pond, but it is shaded throughout the location, so that's a plus! I really enjoyed my visit and being able to see so many tortoises who weren't shy of having their photos taken! read more

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This is gorgeous! It has lots of shade. Can get pretty hot out there though so bring cold water! Came around 11am didn't see any tortoises but it was 90 degrees and pretty hot out, someone told us to come later on in the day to see the tortoises. There are several paths so don't listen when other people say it's 1 small path. It's a pretty big space and there is even a large loop on the perimeter to walk, but no shade and all sun. I highly recommend going here! Very beautiful, lots of cactus to view. Watch out for dog poop though, it's in the walk space in some of the areas. read more

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Sooo I am really interested in these public habitats that South Florida has to offer. I appreciate nature walks and breathing in that quiet air. I live within a bike ride of Seacrest Scrub and I noticed that it doesn't seem to get much traffic, if any. I thought, perhaps, that it was closed to the public for whatever reason. Turns out it is totally open, it's just overrun with spiders. Just overrun my friends - with huge & intimidating spiders. o_0 When I got home I put on my safari outfit to appropriately set the mood in order to do a little research at floridabackyardspiders.com (which is a nifty little website by the way). It appears this natural area is infested with spiders of the Family Araneidae and Tetragnathidae a.k.a. orbweaver spiders a.k.a. banana spiders. The insects do appear to be harmless - but this is a potential nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia. It's also very difficult to walk the paths because of the spiders' webs. No thanks! read more

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This patch of wilderness is located between the residential communities on Seacrest Blvd. off Woolbright Road in Boynton Beach. This is one of the rare areas left in Florida due to rapid deforestation and uncontrolled developments. It has a paved trail for people with disabilities which cover a small area, however the unpaved walking trail is extensive and will delight any hiker or stroller. Parking is limited to a very few cars and there's no restroom or drinking water. During my afternoon stroll, I read the instructions about the different inhabitants of the Natural area, most popular being the rare Gopher tortoise. I suggest taking a trail map and reading the instructions before entering as it's not a normal park but a protected Natural area giving access to people with a genuine love for nature and the wild. The area is completely fenced. You have to close the gate immediately behind you upon entering or exiting as carelessness may result in the rare tortoises escaping onto the busy road and getting run over by the traffic. There is a wide variety of trees and plants you will notice on the trail and it's recommended to stay on the unpaved trail areas with wooden markers. Deviation from the path can result in destruction to rare plants or disturb other life forms and is a punishable offense as these areas are patrolled by passionate resident volunteers, Palm Beach county Sheriff's office and hidden cameras. I made a mistake of not carrying the map and was circling around in the trail for quite a while until I figured my way out with the help of a volunteer's guidance. Do not touch, disturb or feed the wildlife and simply observe them and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. The trail also has natural sand from the sea as part of its original formation. It is also a home to a variety of spiders, butterflies, birds, rabbits, snakes etc. I came across a variety of large spiders in their massive webs, parrots and a tortoise. It's very quiet and peaceful with nothing except the jungle sounds in the center of the trail though at the periphery you can hear dogs and lawn mowers from surrounding homes or cars on the road which is a nuisance. Care is suggested on the trail to stay clear of the spider's webs and not damage them by running into them. The trail is ideal for all age groups. Local visitors are encouraged to check Palm Beach county website for any information or updates and also enroll for volunteer opportunities from time to time by yourself or with kids. Best times to visit are mornings and afternoons. read more

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Small 1 mile path but beautiful scrub pine trees. We saw pair of kestrels hunting as well.

This area is SO COOL. There is a concrete sidewalk area going in a circle for about 1/2 mile, but better yet, another 'loop' in the wilderness which is another 1/2 mile on top of that. The wilderness trail is marked by posts with yellow dots painted on them and maintained by the County. It is an easy trail to follow. You can step off the trails to investigate the things, sites and more you will come across. Be CAREFUL of the cactus, Do NOT leave your trash, and be aware there is NO RESTROOM here. :) Enjoy the PEACE, Respect the wilderness we have in the middle of al this development. Appreciate all the species you will come across as you explore these areas. PEACE & Be Safe read more

In the past couple of years I have been visiting as many of the Natural Areas of Palm Beach and Broward counties as possible. Some are woefully neglected and used for drug deals and waste dumping while others are little treasures. From my search so far, Seacrest Scrub is one of the best. I certainly hope that this area is never developed so that people can get a taste for what this part of Florida looked like a century or so ago. The large pine trees are a pleasant sight here. Even within a lot of State Parks you don't see such healthy pines, except on the gulf coast. There are not very many highlands areas left undeveloped, so this place feels very special. The undergrowth exhibits a good variety of indigenous plants, though most in small quantities. I saw lots of footprints of racoons, but did not spot one. I did encounter one of the tortoises. There are plenty of spiders casually hanging in their webs here as you will find in any natural area of South Florida, but they are of the harmless varieties. They are quite fascinating to observe. The short paved pathway allows for handicapped access and those who are not accustomed to the woods. The unpaved wide paths are very easy to walk and basically just go in one direction (E-W or N-S) to the outer perimeter paths, so there is no way to get lost. They are marked with more than enough of the short painted posts. The parking lot has plenty of spaces and the kiosk has lots of great information. The only place around that could probably top this one is Frenchman's Forest in Palm Beach Gardens. My only complaint is that there should be a couple of benches on site in order to sit for a while and take in the peace that is found here or to wait for the birds to come by. read more