South Brevard EEL sanctuaries — Brevard County, Florida

Brevard County's EEL Program lists four South Brevard sanctuaries with trails: Malabar Scrub and Jordan Scrub in Malabar, Grant Flatwoods in Grant-Valkaria and Micco Scrub on Micco Road (Brevard County EEL Program).

The county pages for Malabar Scrub, Jordan Scrub, Grant Flatwoods and Micco Scrub give the same phone, (321) 255-4466, and the same hours, Monday through Sunday, day use only. The FWC Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail lists Malabar Scrub and Micco Scrub as free to enter and managed by Brevard County (FWC).

The choice comes down to distance and terrain. Malabar Scrub has a long marked network and a paved road, Micco Scrub has two fixed loops where trails can flood after rain (FWC), Grant Flatwoods has a 3.6-mile trail from its south entrance, and Jordan Scrub sits on a proposed trail link from Malabar toward Grant-Valkaria (Town of Malabar).

Malabar Scrub Sanctuary offers 8.3 miles of sandy scrub trails for hiking and biking, six miles of equestrian trails and a paved road that bisects the site and is accessible to the physically challenged (FWC).

Brevard County puts Malabar Scrub at 577 acres of xeric hammock, scrub, scrubby flatwoods, pine flatwoods, sand pine scrub, ponds, sloughs and marshes, with trails through areas recently treated with prescribed fire, and says restrooms are at the adjacent Malabar Community Park (Brevard County). FWC notes breeding Florida scrub-jays and lists Wood Storks, Glossy Ibises, Gopher Tortoise, Bobcat, River Otter and Eastern Indigo Snake, with morning hours best for birds to avoid heat and full sun (FWC Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail).

The EEL Program counts its visitors. The Town of Malabar reported that EEL Program trail cameras, projected over 12 months, put Malabar Scrub at 38,000 visits a year, and described the Malabar Trail System North as the town's Cameron Preserve in the middle with Malabar Scrub Sanctuary East and West on either side (Town of Malabar). The main loop of that north system has about 12 miles of trails (Town of Malabar).

The town's main trailhead is the Sand Hill Trailhead #1 at 1400 Marie Street in Malabar, which the town lists with kiosks showing aerial trail maps, ADA restrooms and ADA parking, a covered pavilion and parking with space for horse trailers (Town of Malabar). From the Sand Hill Trail Head the Al Tuttle Trail, a 10-foot-wide paved multi-use trail, meanders along the border of Malabar Scrub Sanctuary; the Space Coast TPO says it officially opened in 2013 (Space Coast TPO).

Micco Scrub Sanctuary protects 1,322 acres of scrubby flatwoods and mesic flatwoods, according to Brevard County, and FWC describes a 3-mile red loop with the best birding but little shade and a 1.5-mile white loop with some shade (Brevard County; FWC).

The county lists Micco Scrub at 500 Micco Road with a Palm Bay, FL 32909 address and day use hours every day (Brevard County); FWC gives the same street address with a Micco, FL 32976 mailing line and lists parking, horseback riding and a paddling launch, but no restroom (FWC Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail). Florida scrub-jays, Great Horned Owls, Hairy Woodpeckers and Gopher Tortoises live in its flatwoods and scrub, and marshes and bay swamps in the eastern and northern parts feed teal, shovelers, Wood Ducks and wading birds. FWC notes that a few Red-cockaded Woodpeckers have been seen feeding on the south side.

Water is the practical difference from Malabar. FWC warns that portions of the Micco Scrub trails may flood after heavy rains, says the entrance kiosk has trail maps and the trails are well marked, and advises plenty of water and sun protection (FWC).

The county's 1,322 acres matches the Micco Scrub addition the state's Land Acquisition Advisory Council approved on March 9, 1994, sponsored by Brevard County, which then acquired the site (FDEP, page 3). The FWC trail page lists Micco Scrub Sanctuary at 1,736 acres, a figure the county page does not use.

Grant Flatwoods Sanctuary is a 2,600-acre EEL site within the Town of Grant-Valkaria at 7000 Crepe Myrtle Drive, with a 1.5-mile nature trail from its north entrance and a 3.6-mile trail, 7.2 miles round trip, from its south entrance (Brevard County).

Brevard County lists cypress domes and forests, pine flatwoods, oak hammocks and marshes at Grant Flatwoods, with wading birds, white-tailed deer, bobcat, gopher tortoise and many reptiles and amphibians (Brevard County). Biking, equestrian use, hiking and wildlife viewing are listed activities, and hours are Monday through Sunday, day use only.

Access differs by entrance. The north trail starts from the cul-de-sac at the end of Crepe Myrtle Drive, where the county asks visitors not to block the access gate and says a planned parking area has been delayed by budget limits and final approval of the site management plan; the south trail starts from a parking area off Micco Rd. (Brevard County).

Jordan Scrub Sanctuary, at 2425 Marie Street in Malabar, is a 354-acre EEL sanctuary in the Malabar Trail System South, which the Town of Malabar says adds about 8 miles of trail to the roughly 12 in the north system (Brevard County; Town of Malabar).

Brevard County describes scenic lakes, seasonal marshes and scrubby flatwoods at Jordan Scrub, where bald eagles fish in the lake and scrub-jays forage in the flatwoods. The county says recreational planning for Jordan Scrub recently began, additional trails are planned, and the land was acquired in partnership with the State of Florida; biking, equestrian use and geocaching are listed activities (Brevard County).

Jordan Scrub may also carry a regional trail. The Space Coast TPO lists the Al Tuttle Trail as part of the proposed 22-mile South Brevard Linear Trail, which will connect preserve lands in Malabar, Palm Bay, Grant-Valkaria and Micco (Space Coast TPO). The Malabar and Grant-Valkaria trail committees favored a route through Jordan Scrub over Marie Street, where about 1,000 to 1,200 feet of wetlands would need a long boardwalk unsuited to horses, and noted that the EEL Jordan Scrub management plan already anticipated the trail (Town of Malabar).

Land totals show how much of Malabar this covers. The Town of Malabar counted 1,063 acres of EEL Program land in town as of 2017, and with 1,072 acres of town parks and government land the combined 2,135 acres made up 33 percent of its 6,447 acres (Town of Malabar).

Brevard County bought Malabar Scrub piece by piece from 1993 to 2006, reaching 568.95 acres with the 173.09-acre Brookhollow purchase in 2006, according to FDEP's 2026 Florida Forever record for the Brevard Coastal Scrub Ecosystem (FDEP, page 5).

The record lists the early Malabar Scrub purchases as 60 acres in May 1993 and 285 acres in July 1993 (FDEP, page 2), then 30.86 acres in January 1994 and 20 acres in October 1994 (FDEP, page 3). The state project's stated purpose is protecting some of the best scrub fragments in Brevard County to aid the survival of the state-threatened Florida scrub-jay, because the strip of coastal scrub that once paralleled the Indian River is now small fragments surrounded by housing (FDEP, page 1).

Grant-Valkaria is part of the same effort. The record's original Valkaria site covered about 2,764 acres with multiple owners, of which Brevard County had acquired 155 acres (FDEP, page 2), and the record names Brevard County as manager of the original six sites and of the Valkaria/Micco Expansion Site, added in 2002 (FDEP, page 6).

Brevard County Code chapter 78 counts environmentally endangered lands among department managed lands, so county park rules, including the equestrian rules that matter at Malabar Scrub and Micco Scrub, apply on EEL trails (Brevard County Code chapter 78).

The code defines environmentally endangered lands as environmentally unique, irreplaceable lands that are valued ecological resources at risk in Brevard County. Under section 78-113, horses are allowed only on roadways and bridle paths designated for them, riding after dark and before daylight needs a permit, and every horse needs a negative Equine Infectious Anemia test from the previous 12 months on hand for county staff (Brevard County Code). That applies to the six miles of equestrian trails at Malabar Scrub Sanctuary.

The sanctuary pages add their own do's and don'ts. Brevard County's pages for Malabar Scrub, Jordan Scrub and Micco Scrub prohibit pets, smoking, alcohol, motorized vehicles and hunting, ask visitors to stay on the trail, and bar removing plants, animals, archaeological or cultural resources (Brevard County; Brevard County). Hours at all four South Brevard sanctuaries are Monday through Sunday, day use only. Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County EEL Program, FWC Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail and Brevard County Code websites.