Indian River Lagoon Greenway

The Indian River Lagoon Greenway is a 37.5 acre Indian River County conservation area at 850 Indian River Boulevard, Vero Beach, with a hammock trail and a boardwalk out to the lagoon shore.

The county's page for the site gives the address as 850 Indian River Boulevard, Vero Beach, FL 32960, the conservation area size as 37.5 acres, and the hours as 7:30 am to sunset, year-round, with Open to Public marked YES (Indian River County, Indian River Lagoon Greenway page). The page also prints GPS coordinates for the entrance area: latitude 27 36'58.00" and longitude -80 22'50.47". On the county's alphabetical Conservation Lands list, the Indian River Lagoon Greenway appears under the letter I at 850 Indian River Blvd, filed in the category Other (Indian River County Conservation Lands list).

The main trail runs through maritime hammock, crosses a slough on a short boardwalk, and then follows a longer boardwalk through mangroves to the Indian River Lagoon shoreline.

The county describes the walk in order (greenway description, Indian River County). The main trail begins within a maritime hammock with a short boardwalk crossing a slough, and the trail continues through additional hammock. A boardwalk then takes the visitor from the edge of the hammock to the shoreline of the Indian River Lagoon, through a broad expanse of mangroves. Two viewing platforms, one at a mangrove pond and one at the end of the trail, are there for birdwatching or for resting by the water after the hike.

The trailhead sits on Indian River Boulevard, a road the Indian River County comprehensive plan lists, with I-95 and the Florida Turnpike, among county roads that have wide rights-of-way, some exceeding 120 feet, and center grassed medians (Comprehensive Plan Chapter 10, open space roads). The amenity list on the greenway page names parking at the entrance and lists no restrooms, water fountains or picnic shelters for the Indian River Lagoon Greenway.

Dogs are allowed on a leash, but fishing, hunting, alcohol, glass, fires, camping, overnight parking and taking plants are all prohibited at the Indian River Lagoon Greenway.

The rules below are printed on the county page for the greenway, in the county's order (greenway rules, Indian River County).

The Indian River County page closes by asking visitors to leave only footprints on site. Last verified: October 22, 2026, against the county pages for the greenway, Oslo Riverfront and South Oslo Riverfront tracts, the county Conservation Lands list, and comprehensive plan Chapters 8 and 10.

Indian River County acquired the former Flinn Tract in 1998 to buffer the Indian River Lagoon from development, with funding the county page credits to the County, the Florida Inland Navigation District and the Indian River Land Trust.

The greenway page says the Indian River Lagoon Greenway, formerly known as the Flinn Tract, was acquired by Indian River County in 1998 through a combination of funding sources including the County, the Florida Inland Navigation District, and the Indian River Land Trust (greenway history, Indian River County). The conservation lands table in the county comprehensive plan's Conservation Element lists the same land as Flinn Tract Conservation Area, 37 acres, with IRC/SJRWMD/FIND in the ownership column (Comprehensive Plan Chapter 8, conservation lands table). The two county documents give 37.5 acres and 37 acres. The park page lists the County, the Florida Inland Navigation District and the Indian River Land Trust as funding sources, while the plan table lists IRC/SJRWMD/FIND under ownership.

Recent management on the Indian River Lagoon Greenway has targeted invasive trees. The county says exotic Australian pine was removed from the site, the pine canopy and sub-canopy was harvested and converted to mulch, and the county plans to keep treating regrowth while native species establish in the treated areas (land management note).

The county counts the Indian River Lagoon Greenway as one piece of a lagoon greenway effort that also includes the Oslo Riverfront and South Oslo Riverfront conservation areas on Oslo Road.

The greenway page says the preserved lands serve to buffer the Lagoon from adjacent development and aid in water quality protection and establishment of wildlife corridors (greenway page). Each Oslo tract has its own county page with an address, a posted size and a facility list.

The Oslo Riverfront page puts that tract on Oslo Road (9th Street SE), east of U.S. 1, and calls it a designated Great Florida Birding Trail site (Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area page). The South Oslo page places its tract on the south side of Oslo Road and notes a bald eagle nest in the southern portion (South Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area page). The county Conservation Element lists Oslo Riverfront C. A. (including south of Oslo Rd) as one 419 acre entry (Chapter 8 conservation lands table). A separate Digital Towns guide covers the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area in detail.

The Indian River County Conservation Element names the Indian River Lagoon Blueway among the wildlife corridors warranting conservation and makes greenways a priority when buying conservation land.

Chapter 8 says the county's Environmental Lands Program Guide identifies these wildlife corridors as warranting conservation: the Indian River Lagoon Blueway (including the St. Sebastian River Greenway), the Atlantic Coastal Sand Ridge (Winter Beach area), the Ten-mile Ridge (between CR 510 and SR 60), and Western Indian River County, west of Blue Cypress Lake (Comprehensive Plan Chapter 8, wildlife corridors). Its Policy 8.6 says the county, in evaluating lands to be acquired for conservation purposes, will give priority to those lands that create new or enhanced greenways and recreational trail systems. The same chapter says the county should continue to support the Indian River Lagoon Blueway Florida Forever project, the multi-agency effort to acquire the remaining environmentally important lands adjacent to the lagoon.