Hiking Limestone Creek Natural Area

With a grand stand of healthy pine flatwoods providing a gateway to 53 acres of protected land, Limestone Creek Natural Area is a rare patch of green in a heavily developed corner of Jupiter

A paved accessible trail winds through the woods to an observation deck and nearby fishing pier on the C-18 canal.

Natural-surface trails lead you deeper into the preserve to explore scrub, marsh, and a dense hammock of cabbage palms.

An easy place to stop and explore while traveling through the area, it’s just off the Indiantown exit of I-95 and Florida’s Turnpike.

Looking across part of the C-18 Canal

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: Jupiter
Length: 1.2 mile round-trip
Trailhead: 26.941239, -80.135387
Address: 6570 Church Street, Jupiter
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land manager: Palm Beach County ERM
Phone: 561-233-2400

Open sunrise to sunset daily. Dogs are not permitted. A portion of the trail system is accessible.

Bicycles are permitted on the multiuse trail. A kayak launch is provided.

Directions

From either Florida’s Turnpike or I-95, Jupiter (Indiantown Road exit) follow Indiantown Road east a half mile past I-95 to the traffic light at Central Boulevard. Turn left. After you cross the bridge, turn left on Church Street. The trailhead parking area is immediately on your left.

Hike

Start your hike at the kiosk for Limestone Creek Natural Area by checking for a map and signing the trail register.

As you’ll find at most Palm Beach County Natural Areas, the entrance trail – blue blazed and called the Bracken Fern Nature Trail – is pretty much a sidewalk, suitable for wheelchairs and strollers.

The trailhead kiosk

Nicely shaded by a dense stand of South Florida slash pine, which is known for its resistance to disease and insects, the trail is within sight of a neighboring subdivision.

Fortunately, they don’t intrude greatly into the natural surroundings, as the understory is dense with saw palmetto.

After a slight jog to the left and a gentle rise, the trail enters an even denser forest, transitioning into scrubby flatwoods. Sand live oaks cast pools of shade.

The dense understory attracts many birds, and you’ll hear them warbling and rustling in the underbrush.

Paved walkway through the slash pines

Despite the dryness of the habitat, delicate bromeliads and clumps of ball moss cling to tree branches.

Dropping slightly, the trail enters a moist zone, a hydric hammock thick with cabbage palms, some of which have draping, grass-like shoelace fern growing from their trunks.

The earth is wet underfoot, and the trail crosses a bridge in the hammock. A sluggish trickle of water moves through the remains of an old streambed.

It’s likely what remains of Limestone Creek, which fed the Loxahatchee River until modern-day water management replaced the natural flow of water in this region with canals.

Bracken ferns growing near the trickle of a stream

Netted chain and cinnamon ferns grow out of the muck in this lush oasis, as does wild coffee. Laurel oaks provide a dense canopy overhead.

Rising up again, the trail enters another stretch of scrubby flatwoods, where the pines above are not as dense, but the understory is still thick with saw palmetto.

Bracken fern grows in shady spots, and fragrant tarflower draws your attention to its blooms.

You emerge from the forest after a quarter mile, facing the C-18 Canal (which replaced Limestone Creek) and a covered observation deck over the water where the sidewalk ends.

Active restoration efforts – replanting vegetation, removing dumped items – means it’s a pretty spot despite its very urban character.

The back side of a strip mall rises behind the vegetation on the far shore. A pair of white ibis pick through the shallows of the tidal swamp along the shore.

The boardwalk back to the shoreline

While the Bracken Fern Nature Trail ends here, continue down the rough track paralleling the canal upstream to follow the Gallberry Hiking Trail. It’s blazed with yellow circle markers.

Next stop is the fishing pier on your left. It’s another place to hang out over the water and watch the wading birds.

Mangroves grow right along the boardwalk, reminding you that you’re not very far from Jupiter Inlet.

Past the fishing pier, the trail ducks into the woods off to your right, up and over a small berm. Sword ferns grow in profusion.

Shady spot where you cross the berm

At the next trail junction, make a left, or you’ll end up at a back gate into the adjoining residential area.

The corridor is narrow, edged by ferns and saw palmetto, with oaks providing patches of shade.

As the elevation increases slightly, the trail becomes more open, still surrounded by trees but not as shady.

An osprey glides overhead, perhaps spying a fish in the canal, which is now out of sight.

Along the Gallberry Trail

Reaching a dense hammock, the footpath narrows more and scrambles over and down a slight berm.

This is also perhaps the edge of the original waterway, since several concrete slabs here help prevent you from getting your feet wet.

In the damp area at the bottom, sword fern and swamp fern grow in a riot of green.

The landscape opens up, with a hammock of palms forming an island amid a sea of rough vegetation.

Stepping stones in the low spot

Look for gopher tortoise burrows in this area. You can turn around here. The trail continues to the west end of the property.

A gate leads out to Island Way Road after 0.6 mile. There is no parking at this end of the trail.

Turn around and retrace your journey back through the woods. At the T intersection, turn right to hop back over the berm.

Walk back along the C-18 Canal. You reach the paved trail after 0.9 mile. Follow it back through the forest to the parking area for a total hike of 1.2 miles.