St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park — Sebastian, Florida

St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park is a Florida state park on the mainland west of Sebastian, spread across Brevard and Indian River counties around the St. Sebastian River. The Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, lists the preserve at 21,628 acres and names the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Recreation and Parks, as manager. The Florida DEP coastal access guide lists 21,362 acres, so the two state listings differ slightly for the same St. Sebastian River Preserve.

Pine flatwoods define the St. Sebastian River Preserve. According to Florida State Parks, pine flatwoods are the focal point of the preserve and serve as a backdrop to over 23 distinct natural communities, and cypress domes, strand swamps, scrub ridges and other features are home to over 70 listed species of threatened flora and fauna. The park address is 1000 Buffer Preserve Drive in Fellsmere, and it is open 8 a.m. to sunset, 365 days a year, with no fee for day use.

The preserve is best known for a rare woodpecker. Florida State Parks states that St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park is one of only two state parks in Florida to harbor red-cockaded woodpeckers. The park lists red-cockaded woodpeckers, Florida scrub-jays and Bachman's sparrows as its most popular birds, with sandhill cranes, wood storks, Southern bald eagles and American kestrels among more common sightings, and says the preserve is part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.

Sighting spots are split across the St. Sebastian River Preserve. The park directs those seeking Florida scrub-jays to the southwest side of the preserve, 1 mile west of Interstate 95 off County Road 512, the side nearest Sebastian, and red-cockaded woodpecker watchers to the Stumper Flats or Horseman's Headquarters parking areas on the northeast side.

Manatees arrive in winter. Florida State Parks reports that West Indian manatees gather from November through March in the C-54 canal at the eastern end of Buffer Preserve Drive in Brevard County, where a manatee observation deck overlooks the water. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also points manatee watchers to the C-54 canal overlook east of the equestrian trailhead. Other wildlife listed for the St. Sebastian River Preserve includes deer, coyote, bobcat, wild turkey, quail, Eastern indigo snakes and gopher tortoises, and alligators in the St. Sebastian River and the C-54 canal.

The St. Sebastian River Preserve is a long-distance trail park. Florida State Parks states that the preserve has 60 miles of trails equally split between Brevard and Indian River counties, and that most trails are very long and better suited for horseback riding, mountain biking and extended hikes. Only mountain bikes or fat-tire bikes are recommended because of soft sand, logs and palmetto stems, and off-trail biking is not permitted. Trails marked with a blue hikers-only sign are closed to horses.

Entrances sit on both sides of the C-54 canal. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission lists a north entrance at 990 Buffer Preserve Drive in Fellsmere and a south entrance on WW Ranch Road in Sebastian. The south side in Indian River County, off County Road 512, has two picnic pavilions and an interpretive kiosk with historical photographs, while the visitor center is on the north side in Brevard County. According to the park hours page, the visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday, and there are currently no entrance fees for St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park.

The river gives the park its name and a second way in. Florida State Parks states that there is currently no boat ramp or launch in the St. Sebastian River Preserve, and that the park is accessible from other boat ramps on Roseland Road in Sebastian, such as Dale Wimbrow County Park (spelled Dale Windrow on the park page). Both the North and South prongs of the river enter the park, and two canoe landings give paddlers entrance to the trail system from the water.

Fishing is allowed in the preserve's ponds, along the shoreline of the C-54 canal and in the St. Sebastian River. The park notes that the river water is brackish, which sustains both freshwater and saltwater species, including tarpon, snook, bass and mullet, and that state fishing rules and licenses apply. The Florida DEP describes Sebastian as sitting at the junction of the Saint Sebastian River and the Indian River, which places the preserve upstream of the city's riverfront.

Camping in the St. Sebastian River Preserve is primitive. Florida State Parks lists six hike-in primitive tent campsites: two on the north side in Brevard County off County Road 507 and four on the south side in Indian River County off County Road 512. Reservations are required, payable by cash or check, and firewood collection is prohibited. Five of the six sites take groups of up to 20 people at $5 per person, per night.

Three equestrian camps serve riders. Storytelling Camp, also called Horsemen's Headquarters, in Brevard County has five paddocks and a picnic pavilion; Ranch Camp in Indian River County has four paddocks; and Eagle Camp in Indian River County is a ride-in-only site requiring a 5-mile ride each way from the parking area. The County Road 512 and County Road 507 entrance gates of the St. Sebastian River Preserve are locked at sunset and open by 8 a.m.

The land west of Sebastian carries traces of frontier travel. The Florida State Parks history page states that during the Second Seminole War the Hernandez-Capron Trail was built to link St. Augustine with Fort Pierce, that the road later allowed settlers into the Brevard and Indian River area, and that ranchers used it to move cattle until the 1970s. Around 1889 the Herndon family settled the land, and their homestead was burned in the early 1940s; none of the homesteads remain.

Before it was a park, the St. Sebastian River Preserve land was used for growing citrus, ranching, turpentining and logging, and the state began acquiring it in 1995, according to Florida State Parks. Fire is now a management tool: Sebastian Daily reported in May 2023 that the park would burn approximately 300 acres south of the C-54 canal, 1.5 miles east of I-95 and west of Sebastian, after obtaining a burn authorization from the Florida Forest Service.