By far our favorite place to have a Fun Family Adventure together is on the southern portion of Jungle Trail in Vero Beach, FL. This stretch of the historic Jungle Trail, built in the 1920's for citrus growers who used the barrier island, is a pristine stretch of old florida. This portion of the road is a little over two-miles long and runs alongside the shores of the Indian River Lagoon.
We usually park at Captain Forster Hammock Preserve, which has super convenient bathroom facilities (one of two such facilities on Jungle Trail) and an amazingly scenic trail to a pristine beach.
Our favorite route on Jungle Trail is to head south from Captain Forster 1.6 miles until we hit pavement at Old Winter Beach road.
The entire trail is smoothed out sand, which is very easy on the knees and good for strollers. Watch out for cars though, some of the corners are blind and some of the locals like to drive very fast on this road.
On your way south you'll pass a small duplex complex, shortly after on the riverside of the road is a public dock where you are welcome to fish and just chill for a bit. There is also a public trash bin here if you need to throw something away. Further down the road you'll pass some blah gated communities on your left but on your right, is an amazing view of the river and endless mangroves.
The biggest highlight of heading south on the Jungle Trail is the historic Purple Martin Sanctuary or The Jone's Pier Conservation Area.
A man by the name of Seaborn Jones (I swear Im not making this stuff up) homesteaded around 160 acres of land on the road that he, his family and neighbors built back then known as Orchid Narrows road, today known as Jungle Trail, to transport their crops.
Today, the property has been brought back to its original condition through a good amount of funding from the county and the Florida Inland Navigation District. We love exploring the famous Jones Pier. Rumor also has it that a trail will soon be opened on the actual Jones farm as well.
After the farm, its just a short way to Old Winter Beach road. This is where we typically turn-around and head back to Captain Forster.
However, if you are interested in a slightly longer adventure, you can continue to your right on Old Winter Beach road onto Winter Beach blvd. At the end of the road is a small park not many people know even exists.
This small parcel of land with an exquisite view of the Indian River Lagoon, is the site of the old bridge tender building, there is even some remnants of the old Wabasso bridge built back in 1927.
There is a good amount of parking, if your looking for a good secluded spot to kayak or paddleboard, this is one of the best spots to put in. The park isn’t listed on any county sites or even on the town of Indian River Shores website, so it really is a hidden gem.
The way back to Captain Forster is usually very hot, thank god fall is here, but your still guaranteed awesome views the entire way back.
We recorded the above video to give you all a little idea of Jungle Trail. Nothing though, can do Jungle Trail justice, other than just visiting this incredible place of history.
Like I mentioned above, this is only the Southern portion of the trail. If you head North, there is about 7 more miles of trail, which will eventually lead you to the first National Wildlife Refuge in the United States, Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge. We will do a walkthrough of Pelican Island shortly as well, so stay tuned for that.
We love everything the Historic Jungle Trail has to offer, we hope you, your friends and your family, will take full advantage of this unique place of beauty in a modernized Florida.
