Jonathon Dickenson State Park, Jupiter FL

Campsite 51 at Jonathon Dickinson State Park

We arrived at Jonathon Dickinson State Park yesterday, and we are leaving tomorrow.  This is a very nice park offering full hookups with sewer.  We are staying in the newer section.  There is another older campground closer to the river, but that area  doesn't have sewer, and the sites are not as large nor as level as the new ones.  The only problem with these newer sites is that there is no shade - you're really out in the open.

This land originally contained Camp Murphy, a top secret radar training base during World War II.  In 1944 it was handed over to the state, and Jonathon Dickinson Park was opened in 1950.

The Loxahatchee river runs through the park, and I wish we had more time to explore it.  It would be a great place to put our canoe in.  In 1985 the Loxahatchee was named Florida's first National Wild and Scenic river.  The park runs a guided boat tour of the river for $20/person, but we really didn't have the time since we're only here for a day.

There is also a swimming beach, but I don't think I would go in.   There are plenty of gators in the area, although we didn't see any just touring through.

Swimming beach at Jonathon Dickinson State Park

 We did, however, see this neat tortoise.

We took a quick drive to Hobe Sound national wildlife preserve which is right down the road.  There is a nice swimming beach there, and they allow dogs on the beach.  Hobe Sound and Jupiter Island are lined with absolutely gorgeous homes - definitely a place where the one percent lives (Tiger Woods has a $60 million mansion on Jupiter Island).

One of the beautiful homes on Hobe Sound, Jupiter Florida

Beach on Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge

Tomorrow it's off to Anastasia State Park in Saint Augustine for three nights.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get to the beach.