Hiking Gomez Preserve

Protecting 61 acres of what was an early Bahamian settlement along the Indian River Lagoon, Gomez Preserve is well hidden from casual view.

Accessible only by a traverse of the East Coast Greenway, where it functions as a nice rest stop, it lies halfway between trailhead parking at Seabranch Preserve and Peck Lake Park.

Pine/palm flatwoods at Gomez Preserve

Access to the Gomez Preserve Nature Trail is a mile north of the parking area at Peck Lake Park and 1.5 miles south of the parking area off A1A for Seabranch Preserve State Park.

While the limerock path winding through the preserve is only 0.3 mile long, it’s the getting there and back that piles up your mileage.

Cyclist riding away from Gomez Preserve entrance

Exiting the south end of Gomez Preserve

Your choice of route lies in your interest in the terrain in-between. From the south end, the approach along the East Coast Greenway is a sidewalk in a tropical area adjoining a dead end road.

The sidewalk becomes a broader paved bike path after the road ends, with visual confirmation of the southern access point for the preserve soon after.

Preserve sign with cyclist riding past it

Entrance at north end of Gomez Preserve

From the north end, you’ll be inside Seabranch Preserve State Park for two-thirds of the approach route, but the scrub habitat is largely open and hot.

The bike path parallels A1A for some time before making a series of scenic turns through the scrub, crossing the Yellow Trail twice before exiting the park.

East Coast Greenway inside Seabranch Preserve scrub forest

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

South Florida Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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Overview

Location: Hobe Sound
Length: 2.5 mile round-trip with loop
Trailhead: 27.1064, -80.1483
Address: 8108 Gomez Ave, Hobe Sound
Fees: Free
Restroom: Along the parking circle
Land manager: Martin County
Phone: 772-288-5400

Open sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. No camping or alcohol permitted.

A picnic pavilion is supplied at the north end and a shaded bench at the south end of the preserve. The trail is a hard-packed natural limerock suitable for hiking and biking.

Directions

From Interstate 95 exit 96 drive east 6.2 miles along SE Bridge Rd to the traffic light for US 1 in Hobe Sound. Cross the highway and follow Bridge Rd through downtown Hobe Sound, making a left onto SE Gomez Avenue just past the traffic light for A1A. Follow SE Gomez Ave north for 3.3 miles to the Peck Lake Park entrance on the right, a half mile north of Jimmy Graham Park Rd. Park at the first lot inside the gate.

Hike

We explored Gomez Preserve as part of a round-trip bicycle between Seabranch and Peck Lake on a very hot day, and so recommend the shorter southerly approach for those on foot.

Leaving Peck Lake Park–where parking is available both along the park loop and right by a picnic shelter near the entrance–cross Gomez Rd and turn right on the sidwalk across from the park entrance.

Entrance sign at Peck Lake Park

This narrow sidewalk parallels SE Gomez Rd to a dead end, passing a gated subdivision and a small industrial plant before reaching a dedicated bike path.

Here, 0.8 mile north of Peck Lake Park, signage for the East Coast Greenway confirms you are on the correct route.

A narrow gap leads into a protected stretch of greenway

Pass by the southern entrance of Gomez Preserve with its prominent sign and continue to the northern entrance at 1.2 miles.

No matter which route you take to reach the preserve, we prefer this entrance thanks to its large picnic chickee affording a stop for shade.

Chickee at the northern entrance

It’s adjoined by a bike rack, a trash can, and an odd device that looks like a set of drums but is the first of a series of pieces of exercise equipment along the path.

From here, the trail winds in a southerly direction through pine/palm flatwoods that, by the types of vegetation found here, show that this was once a homestead.

Portions of the trail are broad

While relatively broad around its middle, the trail narrow before and after to pass between tall pines and cabbage palms. The first curves and straightaways offer little shade.

The path narrows as it enters a denser pine forest, and pieces of exercise equipment are tucked in little shady niches along the route.

The nature trail narrows as the understory grows more dense

Walls of saw palmetto buffer portions of the trail, and the appearance of marsh ferns belie moister spots in the habitat.

While the preserve extends to the Indian River Lagoon, there are presently no walkways or boardwalks reaching in that direction.

Tropical trees and shrubs are part of the understory

The nature trail runs firmly north-south, paralleling the East Coast Greenway but well out of sight of it.

A final set of curves leads to another manmade shady spot, a chickee with a park bench.

Shade under the chickee

Emerging from the forest, the pathway reaches the southern attachment to the East Coast Greenway after 1.5 miles.

Turn left if you came from Peck Lane Park to return along the same route for a 2.5 mile hike, or right if you came from Seabranch for a 3.5 mile hike.

One of the exercise stations along the trail

Trail Map

Explore More!

Explore Peck Lake Park and Seabranch Preserve

Hiker in red against mangroves on boardwalk

Peck Lake Park

In a hidden corner of Hobe Sound, Peck Lake Park lets you tunnel through coastal habitats along the Pioneer Passage to an observation point along the Indian River Lagoon.

Seabranch Preserve State Park

Find a wonderland of white sand and small shrubs at Seabranch Preserve State Park, which protects a sand pine scrub and more along the Atlantic Coastal Ridge