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Wet prairie in Loxahatchee Slough

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area

Escape to a vast watery wilderness where you can hike, bike, or paddle through Northern Everglades habitats on the outskirts of residential Palm Beach County

Palm Beach Gardens      ( 26.85291, -80.21533 )      

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With more than 20 square miles of very soggy habitats west of Palm Beach Gardens and south of Jupiter Farms, Loxahatchee Slough is an enormous piece of public land edging the urban boundary.

Following side paths along the canals, we first explored it in 2004 as part of the first Ocean to Lake Hike, helping to determine a viable route for a 61-mile spur off the Florida Trail at Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean.

Since then, the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail route firmed up as a diagonal across two tracts of Loxahatchee Slough, the Lucky Tract and the Sandhill Crane Tract.

The canal paths are now named trails with connections to trailheads, enabling cyclists to ride significant distances across the north part of Palm Beach County.

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area One of several named trails on forest roads in Loxahatchee Slough


Ditched, drained, and farmed, the landscape needed restoration. Over the past two decades, it’s amazing how the scars have healed.

As certain roads and waterways were removed, others have been permanently designated as trails through the preserve.

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area Removal of old canals and roads is a slow process leading to habitat restoration


Resources

Florida Trail Hikes book cover The Florida Trail Guide book cover South Florida Explorers Guide book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.


Overview

Location: West Palm Beach
Trailhead: 26.85291, -80.21533
Address: 11855 Beeline Hwy, West Palm Beach
Fees: None
Restroom: at Sandhill Crane Access Park
Land manager: Palm Beach County ERM
Phone: 561-233-2400

Open dawn to dusk unless you have a camping permit or entering Sandhill Crane Access Park, which is open 24/7.

Dogs not permitted. Where posted as bike trails, the levee paths are open to cyclists.

Mosquitoes can be intense here, especially at dusk and dawn. Use insect repellent. Most trails have no shade. Sun protection is a must.

Loxahatchee Slough

If you wish to use one of the backcountry campsites, contact Mary Canada by email (link at bottom of page) or phone (weekdays 9-4) for a free permit.


Directions

 
The northernmost access point to Loxahatchee Slough is via Riverbend Park just west of Florida’s Turnpike in Jupiter.
 
For central access, from Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Gardens, follow PGA Blvd west for 3.9 miles. The Sandhill Crane Access Park is on the right. It provides access for paddlers to put in for the Loxahatchee Blueway and for cyclists to tackle several trails that connect here, including the other end of the Pântano Trail and the Bluegill Trail.
 
For the west side of the preserve, continue along PGA Blvd for 2 miles to where it meets the Beeline (SR 710). Turn right and drive 1.3 miles to the trailhead on the right.

About the Preserve

With such an enormous landscape to roam, this isn’t a place you’ll encounter crowds, except perhaps at the trailheads on weekends.

Karen T. Marcus Sandhill Crane Access Park has less parking than Riverbend Park. Both have restrooms at their trailheads. You will find no others in the preserve.

Sandhill Crane Access Park cypress

Sandhill Crane Access Park

With an observation tower overlooking adjacent trails and an expanse of cypress swamp, Karen T. Marcus Sandhill Crane Access Park provides a gateway to adventure

Riverbend Park boardwalk

Riverbend Park

Protecting the headwaters of the Loxahatchee River, Riverbend Park provides nature, tamed.

Biking

Cyclists have access to two linear trails through the preserve, the Pântano Trail and the Bluegill Trail. The two meet at a pedestrian bridge just south of the Riverbend Park gate.

It is 1.1 miles through the park to the back gate to access the north ends of the Pântano Trail and Bluegill Trail along the C-18 canal.

The Pântano runs down the west side of the C-18 canal south of Riverbend Park, while the Bluegill runs down the east side. Each has a firm packed surface.

Pantano Trail backpackers
Backpacking the shared section of the Pântano Trail north to Riverbend Park. It had just been graded.

The Pântano Trail meets the C-18A canal after 2.6 miles. It turns west. Soon after, it crosses the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail at a bridge over the canal.

After 7.1 miles from the back gate at Riverbend Park, the Pântano Trail ends at SR 710. Eventually it will cross the highway and extend west to Corbett WMA.

C-18A Loxahatchee Slough
The Pântano Trail is across the C-18A canal from the Sandhill Tract

It’s 8.1 miles each way along the Bluegill Trail from PGA Blvd to the bridge south of the Riverbend Park gate, or 9.2 miles between trailheads.

There is no shade other than one shelter along the route. The trail also extends south of PGA Blvd as a paved path for 2.3 miles at Northlake Blvd.

Crossing the highway to the southwest corner then connects cyclists to the extensive Owahee trail system along the eastern side of Grassy Waters Preserve.

Although it is not in Loxahatchee Slough, extending east from Sandhill Crane Access Park, the Mirasol Trail parallels PGA Blvd for more than 2 miles through a linear greenway in Mirasol.

Bluegill Trail Sandhill Crane Access
View north up the Bluegill Trail from the observation deck at Sandhill Crane Access Park

Hiking

The Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail (OTLHT ) is the primary footpath across the entire natural area, spanning 9.6 miles between access points.

At its western end, it enters the preserve off SR 710 at a walk-through, and it exits the preserve where it leaves the Lucky Tract to join the Pântano Trail north along the C-18 canal.

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area Along the Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail in the Sandhill Tract


After 2.8 miles along the Pântano Trail, the OTLHT enters the back gate at Riverbend Park, where you can reach the park’s trailhead off Indiantown Rd or continue backpacking east.

We’ve backpacked these two segments of the trail, which revolve around Loxahatchee Slough as a midpoint for camping at Lucky Hammock.

Crossing a boardwalk

Florida Trail, Corbett WMA to Lucky Tract

On this 12.1 miles of the Florida Trail from Corbett WMA to the Lucky Tract campsite, immerse in the full diversity of habitats you’ll find in Palm Beach County

Backpacker in pine scrub

Florida Trail, Lucky Tract to Kitching Creek

10.7 miles. A hike of extreme contrasts, this segment of the Florida Trail between Loxahatchee Slough and Kitching Creek offers the best of the Loxahatchee River basin.

Sandhill Crane Tract

Our friends in the Loxahatchee Chapter of the Florida Trail Association built and maintain the OTLHT through Loxahatchee Slough.

Thanks to them, we documented a 4.8-mile day hike loop in the Sandhill Crane Tract starting and ending from the new trailhead along the Beeline.

It uses the footpath of the OTLHT to connect together the Echoche Trail and Wah-too-lah Trail, both of which are broad forest roads.

Lake in Loxahatchee Slough

Sandhill Crane Loop

Discover the wild beauty of the Sandhill Crane Tract of Loxahatchee Slough on this soggy loop hike through swamps, prairies, and to a tall observation tower with panoramic views

From the Sandhill Crane Tract trailhead, an accessible Nature Trail leads to a pretty overlook on a pond, a 0.6-mile round-trip.

It’s the only place in this vast wilderness area, other than the trails along the canals, where you can mostly guarantee your feet will stay dry, and is a nice short walk for families.

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area Overlook at the end of the accessible trail


That trail is also part of a 1.6-mile loop called the Loxahatchee Loop. This red-blazed loop stays closest to the trailhead.

It loops the prairies and the ponds, providing stops at the observation deck and the fishing pier. Fishing is permitted with a valid FWC freshwater fishing license.

Fishing pier on lake The pier along the Loxahatchee Loop


An extension off the north side of this loop, the Echoche Trail, leads north to a tall observation tower overlooking the vastness of this preserve.

A trek up to the tower and back from the Loxahatchee Loop adds another 1.8 miles to your hike.

View from tower to wet prairie belowA view across an open wet prairie from the tower


Hikers can also walk the bike paths along the C-18, the Bluegill and the Pântano, but both are rather lengthy and in full sun.

Out-and-back trips from access points at Sandhill Crane Access Park and Riverbend Park are best.

Sandhill Crane Access Park Looking north up the west side of the C-18


Paddling

Paddlers have one corner of the preserve entirely to themselves along the Loxahatchee Blueway Trail. July 2020 update: it is currently closed to accommodate nesting for Everglades snail kites.

It starts off along Cypress Run before going under a bridge on PGA Blvd, after which there is a short portage to continue along Anhinga Creek.

Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area Launch point for the Loxahatchee Blueway Trail


The trail extends two miles south from the put-in to Anhinga Island, the turn-around point for a four-mile paddle.

Paddlers must bring their own kayak or canoe. Alligators are common along this waterway and there are low-hanging branches.

Loxahatchee Blueway
Cypress Run on the Loxahatchee Blueway Trail

Trail Map

Loxahatchee Slough Trail Map Orange: Ocean to Lake Hiking Trail. Red: Trails in Sandhill Tract. Purple: Mirasol Trail. Green: Bluegill Trail. Yellow: Pântano Trail. Dark blue: connector trails. Light blue: Loxahatchee Blueway. Lower middle parking area is the Sandhill Crane Tract trailhead.


Explore More!

Slideshow

See our photos of Loxahatchee Slough Natural Area


Nearby Adventures

More worth exploring while you’re in this area.

Grassy Waters Preserve

Grassy Waters Preserve

Protecting a sheet flow of rainfall moving steadily southward and parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, Grassy Waters Preserve bears a striking resemblance to the Everglades – because it is.

Hog Hammock Trail at Grassy Waters Preserve

Hog Hammock Trail

Offering a hike into the Loxahatchee Slough, the Hog Hammock Trail at Grassy Waters Preserve leads into a dark, fern-filled cabbage palm hammock with a 2.8 mile loop.

Apoxee Wilderness

Apoxee Wilderness Trail

In the wet prairies and tropical hammocks of Apoxee Wilderness, an urban wilderness area, you’ll walk through the water supply of West Palm Beach on a 4.7-mile day hike through the southernmost part of Grassy Waters Preserve

Following yellow blazes into woods

Limestone Creek Natural Area

Centered on pine flatwoods along a historic creek basin, Limestone Creek Natural Area is a green gem in a busy corner of Jupiter


Reserve Campsite Official Website

Category: Backpacking, Biking, Blueways, County Parks, Day Hikes, Equestrian, Hikes, Launch Points, Loop Hikes, Natural Lands, Off Road Biking, Paddling, Paved Bike Trails, Southeast Florida, Swamp Walks, TrailsTag: Botanical, Fishing, Jupiter, NENA, Observation Decks, Observation Towers, Palm Beach Gardens, Primitive Camping, West Palm Beach, Wildflowers

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