It’s a true island of biodiversity, surrounded by the residential community of Rocky Point in Port Salerno outside Stuart.
Maggy’s Hammock Park honors long-time county commissioner Maggy Hurchalla, who advocated for its conservation.
Sand pine scrubA mazy network of trails branch across habitats ranging from dense tropical hammock to sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, and scrubby flatwoods.
Bisecting the park, a sidewalk provides an easy winding path through the woods, passing through an open grassy area for outdoor play adjoining a playground and picnic pavilion.
Sidewalk across the parkTrails are largely unmarked but the outer loop is well illustrated on a map at the first major trail junction encountered beyond the parking area.
Walk a half mile, a mile or more, depending on your route. Our loop tallied 1.2 miles.
Expect narrow footpathsResources
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Overview
Location: Port Salerno
Length: 1.2 miles
Trailhead: 27.157667, -80.183201
Address: 3854 Kubin Ave, Stuart
Fees: Free
Restroom: None
Land Manager: Martin County
Phone: 772-288-5400
Open sunrise to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome; pick up after your pet. Be cautious of poison ivy along the trail. Sandals are not suggested.
Directions
From the intersection of US 1 and Cove Rd in Port Salerno, drive east on Cove Rd for 1.1 miles to the traffic circle with A1A. Take the third exit onto North A1A and make an immediate right onto SE Anchor Ave. Make the second right onto SE Horseshoe Point Rd. After 1.1 miles, turn left on SE Kubin Ave. Continue a half-mile to the trailhead parking area on the left.
Hike
Deep shade envelopes the sidewalk leading into Maggy’s Hammock from the trailhead, ancient oaks and strangler figs forming a canopy over a dense thicket of tropical shrubs.
Marlberry and wild coffee edge the paved path. The natural-surface perimeter trail begins at the map kiosk. Turn right to walk counterclockwise around the park.
Map kioskOrange blazes mark the well-trodden tunnel through the tropical forest. Making many turns, the footpath passes beneath large live oaks.
Beyond a bed of ferns, sunlight dapples through the canopy at a hairpin curve. Not far from a scrub hickory, a strap fern rises from the leaf litter, an unusual juxtaposition.
Follow the orange blazesThe roots of an enormous live oak creep into the footpath, inviting inspection of its skyward reach. Pass a pair of posts at a curve soon after, a cross trail to an inner loop.
At the next junction, bear left; the trail to the right leads to a walk-in entrance off Kubin Ave.
Sizable live oakSurroundings shift from tropical forest to scrubby flatwoods, the footpath now white sand. Brilliant red blossoms of coral bean hover on slender stacks above a spill of grapevines.
Streamers of Spanish moss sway from scrubby oaks. At the T intersection at a quarter mile, turn right to stay on the perimeter trail, passing oaks and scrub hickory.
Sand pine scrubWax myrtle marks the edge of a hidden wetland; slash pines rise in the distance. Sand pines start to appear. Enveloping the limbs of sand live oaks. ball moss grows profusely.
By a quarter mile, enter a sand pine scrub, silver-tinged saw palmetto dominating the understory.
Boundary fenceAt a junction amid the slender young sand pines, bear right to follow the sandy path between clumps of saw palmetto to a low wooden fence marking the boundary of the park.
Turning away from the fence, follow the sandy path between oaks and palms towards the tall slash pines dominating the far corner of the preserve.
Scrubby flatwoodsPine duff carpets the footpath as it curves through this lush habitat. Where the trail splits within sight of a house outside the property fence, stick with the inner trail.
Leaving the tall pines behind for stands of saw palmetto, it heads towards the softer, shorter sand pines. At a sandy junction, keep right.
BoardwalkPast more saw palmetto and hog plum, emerge next to a boardwalk, part of the central paved path.
Turn left to wander through the scrubby flatwoods on it, leaving it for the sandy path on the left at the Nature Trail sign.
Faded Nature Trail signQuickly immersing in the scrub, wind through this open habitat along a narrow path beneath scattered sand pines.
Reach the edge of the oak hammock and a trail junction at an orange blazed post. Turn right.
Trail junctionThe shaded corridor yields to scrub before opening onto the recreation area in the middle of the park, three-quarters of a mile into your hike.
Cross to the picnic pavilion to reach the paved path and make a left. Peer into the first unmarked path on the left as the trail enters the tropical hammock.
Recreation areaIt’s home to a sizable strangler fig with prop roots enveloping not just one but several oaks.
Continue along the paved path past paradise tree and enormous mounds of wild coffee, reaching the perimeter trail junction at the map kiosk.
Big strangler figTurn right onto the narrow footpath into the tropical forest for the last leg of the perimeter hike.
Tightly winding through the dense understory, it reaches the oak hammock after a handful of sharp curves.
Shady hammockAscending a little more, transition along its curves into scrubby flatwoods. Pass under an older sand pine before the surrounding forest becomes sand pine scrub.
The scrubby oaks are dense with tiny bromeliads. Not far past a stand of younger sand pines, reach the central paved trail once more at a mile.
Sand pine scrubTurn right and follow it through its curves, around the playground and picnic area and into the tropical hammock, passing the map kiosk a final time.
Emerge at the parking area, completing this pretzel-shaped loop after 1.2 miles.
Exit to the parking areaTrail Map
Explore More!
Video
Hiking Maggy’s Hammock Park
Slideshow
See our photos from Maggy’s Hammock Park
Nearby Adventures
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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.
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.
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