Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Jonathon Dickenson SP–Pine Grove Campground

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Campsite at Jonathon Dickenson State Park

With the new Travel Trailer, and a long break from updating my blog, I’m starting to get back into the swing of things.  This trip was a three night stay, but unfortunately the weather wasn’t really on my side.  It got (what I call) Florida cold – temperatures in the low 60’s.  Luckily though I packed my hiking pants in addition to the shorts I usually wear.

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On the first day, I had time after setting up camp to go for a bike ride up to the Hobe Mountain Lookout.  It was a nice ride on the roads, and only about four miles round trip with a slight uphill grade on the whole way out.  At one point the wind blew my hat off so I had to stop part way up the hill.

The way back was pretty fast though – downhill is a lot more fun!

View from Hobe TowerThe view from the top of the tower is pretty nice.  If the weather was a little more clear, I’m pretty sure that I would have been able to see the ocean.

On the second day, I went looking for some hiking opportunities in between the bouts of rain.  I started looking at the Kitching Creek trail, but it a little underwater.  It was only about ankle deep, but I didn’t want to spend the day in wet shoes.  Instead I stopped by the visitor’s center and they recommended the River Trail which starts right behind the building.

River Trail BeginningThe River Trail is a short hike along the river and winds through the mangroves. I met a woman from Germany along the way and we ended up making the hike together.  The tide wasn’t completely low, so the path we took looks a little strange in the linked map, but our feet stayed mostly dry.

There is a sign at the beginning of the trail that says the trail markers are under construction, so the pink ribbons should be followed.  That didn’t help in the latter part of the hike though.  At a fork in the trail we took a turn to the right instead of the left and ended up in the campground.  We weren’t far off the planned trail; just had a slight detour.

2022-10-20_12-35-20On the third day (yes, it was still raining) I took the bike out on the Camp Murphy Paved Bike Trail.  This trail runs alongside some railroad tracks where a train was parked.  Nothing much to say about this one – it’s long and straight and kind of boring.  There is an off road trail just off to the side and I saw a couple of folks whipping through the turns and hitting the ramps.  That trail looked like a lot of fun.

I will say that I liked this campground.  My only disappointment was that the river tour wasn’t running until the weekend because they were down to only one captain on staff so the days of the tour were limited.  Next time I’ll have to make sure my visit spans a weekend so I can take the tour down to Trapper Nelson’s Interpretive Site.

QuickStats

Web Site  
Fee $33
Reservations Yes
Electricity Yes
Water Yes
Sewer Yes
Shower/Bathhouse Yes
Internet Access Yes – Excellent 5GUC
Location 16450 SE Federal Hwy, Hobe Sound, FL 33455

More Photos

Purple Flowers Thatched Pavillion Roots Exposed
River View Swamp River Trail View
Camp Murphy History-1 Camp Murphy History-2 Camp Murphy History-3

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