County Parks and Recreation — Indian River County, Florida

Indian River County Parks, Recreation and Conservation lists 30 parks, beach parks, docks and other sites from Roseland and Sebastian to the south county, the Fairgrounds among them, and also runs Sandridge Golf Club, a public firearms range, two pools and the Intergenerational Recreation Center.

The Parks Maintenance Division describes its job as beautifying and maintaining county parks and conservation areas, along with the buildings and equipment in them (Indian River County Parks and Campground). Its maintenance complex sits at 5500 77th Street in Vero Beach, phone (772) 226-1875 (county facilities layer), and most park listings send questions to the general parks line, 772-589-9223 (county parks layer). Groups can adopt a park for litter control through Parks Superintendent Steve Barako at 772-226-1883.

The Sebastian firearms range and the Vero Beach Intergenerational Recreation Center post the same hours on their own county pages (county firearms range page; Intergenerational Recreation Center page), and the center adds that it closes on January 1.

Four county beach parks have lifeguards from 9:10 am to 4:50 pm: Tracking Station, Golden Sands, Round Island Oceanside and Wabasso Beach.

The county parks layer gives each guarded stretch a length (Indian River County parks layer). Tracking Station Beach Park at 800 46th Place watches the longest strip, 625 feet, followed by Golden Sands at 10350 Highway A1A with 575 feet, Round Island Oceanside Park at 2200 South Highway A1A with 400 feet and Wabasso Beach Park on Wabasso Beach Road with 350 feet. Treasure Shores Beach Park, Seagrape Trail and Turtle Trail state that no lifeguards are present, and their listings tell beachgoers to swim at their own risk.

Beach rules are tight. The guarded parks list no pets, no glass containers, no alcohol and no fishing, with surfing allowed on a leash at Tracking Station, Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach and Round Island Oceanside (county parks layer). At Ambersands Beach Access, 12566 Highway A1A, the listing flags sea turtle nesting season from March 1st to October 31st and asks for lights off during it.

The north county parks run from Fran Adams North County Regional Park on County Road 512 to Moore's Point on U.S. 1, the two Roseland Road parks and West Wabasso Park.

Fran Adams North County Regional Park at 9450 County Road 512 in Sebastian has pavilions, grills, a playground, walking trails and restrooms, and shares its address with the North County Aquatics Center (county parks layer). The athletic page places it about 1.5 miles east of I-95 inside the St. Sebastian Buffer Preserve State Park, with four lighted multi-purpose fields (county field reservations page). Moore's Point Park at 14510 US Highway 1 has pavilions and a grill, and the Sebastian Canoe Launch at 9800 Canoe Launch Cove allows no motored vessels.

On Roseland Road, Dale Wimbrow Park at 11805 opens at 7:30 am with pavilions and boat trailer parking, and Donald MacDonald Park and Campground at 12315 is open 365 days a year, with quiet hours from 10 pm to 7 am, a two-week maximum stay, leashed pets allowed, and campsites limited to 2 vehicles and 2 tents (county parks layer). West Wabasso Park in Wabasso has two permit pavilions, basketball courts, a tennis court and outdoor fitness equipment. Roseland Community Center and Park at 12973 83rd Avenue rents its building through the Roseland Women's Club.

Boat ramps follow ownership. The county owns the ramps at Donald MacDonald and Dale Wimbrow Parks, the Wabasso Causeway ramp and the Sebastian Canoe Launch, while the Captain Robert Hardee launch and the Sebastian Yacht Club ramp on Indian River Drive belong to the City of Sebastian, and the Fellsmere Grade and Garcias ramps with Fellsmere addresses belong to the State of Florida (county boating access layer).

The south county parks center on Dick Bird South County Regional Park, the Hobart parks on 77th Street, Gifford's neighborhood parks, Round Island on A1A and Middleton's Fish Camp at Blue Cypress Lake.

Richard N Bird South County Regional Park at 800 20th Avenue SW has pavilions, grills, a playground and walking trails (county parks layer), and the field page lists 4 lighted multi-purpose ball fields, 4 lighted lacrosse fields, 2 lighted tennis courts and 2 lighted basketball courts there (county field reservations page). Kiwanis Hobart Park at 5555 77th Street rents pavilions with BBQ pits at $50 for the entire day, while the Hobart Ball Fields, also on 77th Street, take reservations through 772 226-1727. In Gifford, the Victor Hart Sr. Community Enhancement Complex at 4715 43rd Avenue hosts youth football and Gifford Little League, and the MLK, Jr. Walking Trail and Park sits at 2880 45th Street.

Round Island Riverside Park at 2205 South Highway A1A adds an observation tower, a fishing pier and a county-owned boat ramp, and bans swimming and diving there (county parks layer). Oslo Dock off 9th Street SE launches shallow draft vessels only. Middleton's Fish Camp Park at 7400 Blue Cypress Lake Road offers a boat ramp, primitive camping and boat rentals, with shorter summer hours from June 1 to October 31 when it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, though the park remains open.

Pavilions and campsites in Indian River County parks are booked through the county's online reservation links, and athletic fields and courts through a field request sent 30 days ahead to Parks, Recreation and Conservation.

The county's Request and Reserve page lists separate routes to rent a park pavilion or facility room, reserve a campsite and sponsor an event (Indian River County Request and Reserve), and the parks page carries the same pavilion and campsite links next to a county parks map, a boat ramp map and a live beach camera (county Parks and Campground page). Some parks still book by phone: Dale Wimbrow Park pavilions through 772-589-0087 and Kiwanis Hobart pavilions through 772-589-9223, which asks for reservations well in advance (county parks layer).

Fields and courts at Dick Bird, Fran B. Adams, Hobart and West Wabasso parks are booked through a request form on the county's reservations page (Indian River County field and court reservations). Staff reply within 72 hours, bookings are first come, first served, requests are due 30 days before the activity with exceptions possible, a reservation is confirmed on payment, and requests outside those terms go to 772-226-1780.

Chapter 205 of the Indian River County code bans dogs unless a park is posted for them, alcohol except at a few named facilities such as Sandridge Golf Club and the Fairgrounds, and glass containers on beaches.

The chapter, adopted as Ordinance 92-31 in July 1992, sets uniform rules for every county park (Indian River County Code, Chapter 205). No dogs are allowed in any park or recreational facility unless specifically posted, which is why the leash rule at Donald MacDonald Campground is the exception rather than the norm. Fires are allowed only in designated receptacles, nobody may sleep, camp or park a vehicle overnight outside designated areas without a permit, and a radio, musical instrument or similar device plainly audible 100 feet away needs a department permit.

Alcohol has carved out exceptions. The code permits sales by the authorized vendor at the Indian River County Sandridge Golf Club, consumption at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center under its lease, and permitted sales at the Fairgrounds and the South County Intergenerational Recreation Center (Chapter 205). The code also lets the supervisor appoint park rangers and lifeguards with power to eject and expel a person who breaks a park rule, with the assistance of a law enforcement officer.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Indian River County website.