Treasure Coast Parks and Beaches Guide

The Treasure Coast park guides split into beach guides for St. Lucie and Indian River counties, state park guides, and topic guides for dogs and horses on the beach.

For the St. Lucie County barrier island, the Hutchinson Island beaches guide compares every county beach park from Fort Pierce south to the Martin County line, and the Pepper Park guide covers the guarded beach park at 3302 North SR A1A (St. Lucie County Pepper Park page) and the Urca de Lima shipwreck preserve offshore. The Fort Pierce Inlet State Park guide covers the jetty, Jack Island and Tucker Cove, and the Savannas Preserve State Park guide covers the freshwater marsh park in Port St. Lucie. Last verified: October 22, 2026, against county beach and preserve pages for St. Lucie and Indian River counties and two Florida State Parks pages.

For the Indian River County barrier island, the Orchid Island beach parks guide covers the county oceanfront parks such as Tracking Station and Round Island, while the Sebastian park guides already cover Sebastian Inlet State Park, Golden Sands Park, Wabasso Beach Park and Ambersand Beach Park, and the Vero Beach park guides cover Jaycee Park and Conn Beach. Two topic guides answer the most common rule questions across both counties: the dog friendly beaches guide and the horseback riding on the beach guide.

St. Lucie County stations lifeguards at Pepper Park and Waveland, while Indian River County beach parks such as Tracking Station, Golden Sands and Round Island Oceanside post lifeguards from 9:10am to 4:50pm.

St. Lucie County's beach page lists lifeguards at Pepper Park and Waveland and opens all county parks, beaches and preserves from dawn until dusk (St. Lucie County beaches page). The Indian River County page for Tracking Station Park, at 800 46th Place in Vero Beach, lists daily hours of 7am to sunset, lifeguards on duty 9:10am to 4:50pm and 624 linear feet of guarded beach (Indian River County Tracking Station Park page). Golden Sands Beach Park lists the same guard hours with 573 linear feet guarded (Indian River County Golden Sands page), and Round Island Oceanside Park, an 11.36 acre county park on South A1A in Vero Beach, lists 390 linear feet (Indian River County Round Island Oceanside page).

Each county runs its own beach line. The table gathers the numbers a Treasure Coast beachgoer would call before a swim.

Dogs are allowed on one St. Lucie County beach, Walton Rocks, and on no Indian River County park, while horses can ride the beach only at Frederick Douglass Memorial Park with a St. Lucie County permit.

The St. Lucie County sea turtle page says Walton Rocks Beach is the only dog approved beach in St. Lucie County and says dogs should be on leashes to avoid digging up sea turtle nests (St. Lucie County sea turtle page). Indian River County sets the opposite rule on its beach park pages: no pets are permitted within any county park under County Ordinance 205.03.22, and alcohol and open fires are barred as well (Tracking Station Park page). The dog friendly beaches guide sets the two counties side by side, including the leash length rule at Walton Rocks and the ordinance numbers Indian River County posts on each park page.

Horseback riding on the sand is a St. Lucie County program. The county's horseback riding page says the Parks and Recreation Department and the Tourism Office manage riding at Frederick Douglass Memorial Beach Park, sell annual permits covering up to two horses at $50 for county residents and $200 for non-residents, and take questions at 772.462.1521 or 800.344.8443 (St. Lucie County horseback riding page). In Indian River County, the Golden Sands page lists no equestrian activities under County Ordinance 205.03.3 (Golden Sands page). The horseback riding on the beach guide covers the permit rules in full.

Avalon State Park charges $2 and Savannas Preserve State Park charges $3 per vehicle, both open 8 a.m. to sunset, and Fort Pierce Inlet State Park covers 713.60 acres at the inlet.

Avalon State Park, on State Road A1A North on North Hutchinson Island (772-468-4007), is open 8 a.m. to sunset 365 days a year; the Florida State Parks page sets the entry at $2 for each car and the same $2 for anyone arriving on foot or by bike, dropped in an honor box in exact change (Florida State Parks Avalon page). The same page warns swimmers and snorkelers about underwater obstacles left from World War II amphibious warfare exercises, which the Hutchinson Island beaches guide explains.

Savannas Preserve State Park, at 2541 S.E. Walton Road in Port St. Lucie, is open 8 a.m. to sunset with a $3 per vehicle fee and cashless entry by QR code (Florida State Parks Savannas page). The park page also says the Savannas Sun Trail is not open to the public because of construction and repairs, with its opening delayed, while the Hawks Bluff trail and the Evans Creek Canoe Launch are open; questions go to (772) 398-2779. Fort Pierce Inlet State Park was initially acquired on August 10, 1973 and comprises 713.60 acres, according to its 2021 FDEP management plan (Fort Pierce Inlet State Park management plan).

St. Lucie County protects more than 11,000 acres of preserves, almost all open from dawn to dusk at no charge, from lagoon impoundments on Hutchinson Island to cattle country in the west.

The St. Lucie County preserves page counts 28 preserves and more than 11,000 acres, almost all of it open dawn to dusk every day at no charge, describes a 60 foot tower above the Indian River Lagoon, and says voters approved a $20 million bond in 1994 to buy the land, which county staff have since more than tripled through state and federal partnerships (St. Lucie County preserves page). Further down, the same page introduces twenty-nine preserves grouped by where they sit in the county.

Several St. Lucie County preserves meet the beach parks on Hutchinson Island. The Pepper Park guide covers the Wildcat Cove trail that links to Pepper Park, the Hutchinson Island beaches guide covers the Blind Creek, John Brooks and Dollman preserve beaches, and the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park guide covers the Jack Island impoundment trails. In Indian River County, the Round Island Oceanside page ties the beach to the history of the Fort Pierce Amphibious Training Base (Round Island Oceanside page), and the Orchid Island beach parks guide follows that thread. Round Island Oceanside also lends a beach wheelchair from 9:30am to 3:30pm with a photo ID and a signed waiver, a detail the county repeats on the Tracking Station page (Tracking Station Park page).

St. Lucie County counts its sea turtle season as March 1 through Nov. 15, while an Indian River County park page gives March 1 to October 31, and both counties ask beachgoers not to leave holes in the sand.

The St. Lucie County sea turtle page covers 21 miles of beaches, bans bonfires on every county beach year round, and requires window treatments on windows within the line of sight of the beach (St. Lucie County sea turtle page). The Round Island Oceanside page in Indian River County gives a nesting season of March 1 to October 31, during which several beach sections are blocked off to protect nests (Round Island Oceanside page). For a resident with a beachfront home, the St. Lucie County page adds that exterior lights should be modified or turned off so they are not directly visible from the beach between sunset and sunrise, and that pits, holes and sandcastles can trap hatchlings (St. Lucie County sea turtle page).

Indian River County's beach park pages also ask visitors to stay off the dunes, the vegetated areas west of the open beach, under County Ordinance 205.02.25, and to report injured or dead sea turtles to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922) (Golden Sands page). At the Indian River County beach parks, fishing is allowed outside the guarded areas, and surfing and scuba diving are listed among normal beach activities during park hours (Tracking Station Park page).