Now a multi-use trail through Loxahatchee River Management Area, the original Italian Farms Trail was the earliest route of the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail.
Running northbound from Riverbend Park to the Masten Dam on the Loxahatchee River, the trail had been planned to cross the waterway at this point.
Take out just above Masten DamOnce a different route for the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail was chosen, this trail was renamed for the road it largely follows.
A prominent sign and stile once greeted hikers after passing under Indiantown Rd. Now a more obvious route starting out on the old road leads to the dam.
Walking through the historic Italian Farms section of Jupiter FarmsResources
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Overview
Location: Jupiter Farms
Length: 3.6 miles round-trip
Trailhead: 26.93433, -80.17452
Address: 9060 Indiantown Rd, Jupiter
Fees: Free
Restroom: At Riverbend Park trailhead. Composting toilet near Masten Dam landing.
Land Manager: South Florida Water Management District
Phone: 561-686-8800
Open sunrise to sunset. No pets or camping permitted. Off-road cyclists and equestrians share the trails.
Directions
From Interstate 95 or Florida’s Turnpike, exit at Indiantown Rd in Jupiter and drive west to Riverbend Park, which has a left lane turnout for its prominent entrance. Make the first left to park near the portico and restrooms.
Hike
Start at the prominent kiosk at the end of the parking area near the Hal Valche portico pavilion at Riverbend Park, following the Riverbend Trail.
Make a left onto the East Slough Trail, curving along the edge of the park closest to Indiantown Rd.
At each trail junction in Riverbend, stay leftMeeting the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail, turn left along the orange blazes, reaching an underpass beneath Indiantown Rd.
Pass the pedestrian ramp leading to the highway and enter the woods, coming to a trail junction in front of two fences.
Indiantown Road underpassThe orange blazes lead left up and over a stile into a hiking-only corridor for the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail.
Connecting to the statewide Florida National Scenic Trail, this hiking-only route follows a ribbon of tropical hammock on the property boundary.
The trail diverge at this junctionThe Italian Farms Trail starts to the right of it at the prominent brown sign for the Loxahatchee River and Cypress Creek Management Area.
Walk through the gap in the fence. The trail is marked with multiuse symbols and arrows on signposts and occasional blue blazes.
This gap is the entry point for the Italian Farms TrailLarge live oaks and cabbage palms line tower behind tall grasses along this well-beaten earthen path.
An array of spring wildflowers in yellows and purples invite attention to the edges before ferns take over.
The well-worn multiuse trackThe orange blazes of the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail parallel in the woods behind the fence on the left.
The two trails race towards a gap in the forest at 0.7 mile where a locked gate faces Indiantown Rd. Make a right turn here to continue towards Masten Dam.
Gate to the left at the right turnThe trail follows the old Italian Farms Road, named for the immigrants who once lived along it, tending their tomato farms.
Wind-sheared live oaks arch their limbs across this well-defined corridor, the habitat particularly lush on the right since it adjoins a creek.
Following old Italian Farms RoadA forest road comes in from the right next to an old concrete structure lined with strap ferns, hovering above a cypress swamp as if once a bridge or dam.
A pair of old floodgates sit between it and the trail. The start of Jupiter Farms, farming flourished here before World War II.
Strap ferns thriving on a concrete damAccording to the Palm Beach Post, one of the 1920s-era tomato farms along this road belonged to gangster Al Capone and he used the property as a hideout.
Easing away from the cypress floodplain, ascend slightly into uplands with another signpost confirming this route.
Worn out sign on the leftTo the left across open grassland, ancient cypress rise like a linear green mound along the river basin.
The five miles of the Loxahatchee River protected by this management area was the first Florida waterway to be designated a federal Wild and Scenic River.
The green mound is the cypress swamp along the Loxahatchee RiverWind-beaten oaks and cabbage palms provide puddles of shade between spots where the trail emerges into open shrubby areas on former farmland.
Delicate pink blooms of sabatia rise between clusters of bracken fern. Scattered slash pines rise above the shrubs, the worn path edged by chalky bluestem.
Among the former tomato fieldsBroadening onto a two-track past a blue blazed pine, the trail curves into a creek basin at 1.3 miles.
The road has a deep dip that is usually wet. Leave the road to use the adjacent footpath and its plank crossing to bridge the waterway.
Plank crossingRising to higher ground, enter pine flatwoods with mounds of grapevines, lyonia, and saw palmetto defining the understory.
Note the signpost across a broad gap where forest roads meet and continue that way into scrubby flatwoods. Scrub oaks squeeze up to the footpath, which becomes sandy.
Forest road crossingBear left at a Y intersection to see a bounty of air plants blooming among the oak limbs. At another opening in the forest, stay with the path with the signpost.
It drops into a sometimes-soggy basin with Virginia willows at its center at 1.6 miles, with another trail sign confirming your route.
Low area with willow marshScramble out of the basin over a berm to a junction with a forest road and cross it, sticking with the narrow footpath paralleling a forest road.
The trail diverges from it amid mounds of grapevines, passing a silver-tinged saw palmetto. A blue blaze confirms the route just before a curve.
Nearing the trail junctionEmerge onto a forest road, surprisingly facing a prominent composting toilet on higher ground.
Turn left to walk past it on the forest road, which narrows to a footpath on its approach to the Loxahatchee River.
Footpath towards the riverSurroundings shift to a lush hammock, a dark waterway on the left. The sounds of splashing carry up the trail from the Masten Dam.
Serving as a portage, a long platform fronts the dam, the narrow river shallow on the upper side, with an easy takeout, and deep below the lower platform.
Masten DamAt 1.8 miles, this is the end of the Italian Farms Trail, a beauty spot worth savoring from the built-in benches on the platform.
Ancient cypress rise above the waterway, with a cove full of tall cypress knees below the trail along the next bend in the river.
Peering into the clear, tannic waters near the coveTo savor this exquisite waterway, paddlers start at Riverbend Park and can continue on to Jonathan Dickinson State Park for a full-day paddle if they self-shuttle.
Otherwise, it’s more common to make your way here and turn around back to Riverbend. The Loxahatchee is very narrow through the cypress floodplain.
It’s a tricky enough paddle through the big cypresses and their knees without the added challenge of passing others along the river’s tight curves.
A paddler chases after his kayakFrom this spot, hikers must turn around; you’re on a peninsula of public land extending north from Riverbend Park.
A short blue-blazed loop starts near the composting toilet, but as it follows a fence along Interstate 95 and edges a subdivision, why break the illusion of being deep in the woods?
The loop begins across from the turn towards the riverReturn the way you came, taking care at crossroads and junctions to confirm you’re on the correct route.
Once back within sight of the Indiantown Rd gate at 2.9 miles, either turn left or make the second left onto the orange blazes.
Ocean to Lake Hiking TrailThat allows you to return in deep shade along the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail. It’s a prettier route, but requires a climb over a large stile to reach the underpass.
At the prominent thatched kiosk inside Riverbend Park, keep right. Do the same at each trail junction signs for the most efficient route to the trailhead, completing a 3.6 mile round-trip.
Riverbend Park kioskTrail Map
Explore More!
Video
A walk through the Italian Farms Trail
Slideshow
See our photos from this hike
Nearby Adventures
Riverbend Park Protecting the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River, Riverbend Park provides nature, tamed.
Florida Trail, Ocean to Lake: Luckey Tract to Kitching Creek 10.7 miles. A hike of extreme contrasts, this segment of the Florida Trail crossing Riverbend Park and Cypress Creek connects Loxahatchee Slough with Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary A wildlife rescue facility in Jupiter for forty years, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary cares for injured animals and provides education on Florida's native species.
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