Hutchinson Island Beaches, St. Lucie County: Lifeguards, Dogs, Horses and Avalon

The St. Lucie County side of Hutchinson Island has a run of county beach parks along A1A, from Pepper Park at 3302 North SR A1A to Waveland at 10350 South Ocean Drive, plus Avalon State Park on North Hutchinson Island.

St. Lucie County's beach index singles out three uses that set its Hutchinson Island beaches apart: horseback riding at Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, dogs at Walton Rocks, and lifeguards at Pepper Park and Waveland (St. Lucie County beaches page). Waveland Beach, at 10350 South Ocean Drive, calls itself the southernmost guarded beach in St. Lucie County and marks the start of a 13.2 mile bike path that runs north along A1A to Blue Heron Boulevard south of Fort Pierce Beach (St. Lucie County Waveland Beach page). Last verified: October 22, 2026, against nine St. Lucie County beach and turtle pages, the Avalon State Park page and the 2014 Avalon management plan.

Several Hutchinson Island beach parks carry a Jensen Beach mailing address even though the county runs them: Walton Rocks, Dollman and Waveland all list Jensen Beach 34957 on their St. Lucie County pages (Walton Rocks page, Dollman page, Waveland page). The Pepper Park guide and the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park guide cover the two big parks at the north end of the island in more depth.

St. Lucie County stations lifeguards at Pepper Park and Waveland, and most county beach pages list dawn to dusk, though Waveland's own page says 24 hours.

The county beach index says all county parks, beaches and preserves are open during daylight hours, from dawn until dusk, and gives direct tower lines for Pepper Park, 772-332-8298, and Waveland, 772-332-8221, along with the Beach Conditions Hotline at 772-462-1421 (St. Lucie County beaches page). The Waveland Beach page instead lists Waveland as open 24 hours, 7 days a week (Waveland Beach page), so the two county pages give different hours for that beach. Walton Rocks, Frederick Douglass, John Brooks and Dollman each list dawn until dusk on their own pages.

Blind Creek Beach, at 5460 S. Ocean Drive, posts its own rule of sunrise to sunset, free admission and parking, and no lifeguards, with swimming at visitors' own risk (St. Lucie County Blind Creek page). Avalon State Park runs on state hours instead: 8 a.m. to sunset, 365 days a year, with a fee of $2 per vehicle, pedestrian or bicyclist paid at an honor box with correct change (Florida State Parks Avalon page).

Walton Rocks Beach at 6700 South Ocean Drive is the only dog approved beach in St. Lucie County, with an off-leash area on 24 acres of beach.

The Walton Rocks page says the off-leash dog park was established on 24 acres of beach property, open dawn until dusk, and that a dog that bothers other dogs or people must be on a leash no longer than eight feet, held or controlled (St. Lucie County Walton Rocks page). Amenities listed there are beach access, fishing, picnic tables, a restroom, swimming and pavilions, and the contact line is 772-462-1522.

The St. Lucie County sea turtle page repeats that Walton Rocks Beach is the only dog approved beach in the county and asks that dogs stay leashed so they do not dig up sea turtle nests (St. Lucie County sea turtle page). Other Hutchinson Island beaches say the opposite plainly: Blind Creek lists pets, alcohol, glass and fires as not permitted (Blind Creek page).

Horseback riding on Hutchinson Island is allowed at Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, 3600 South Ocean Drive, for riders with a St. Lucie County annual or weekly permit.

St. Lucie County's horseback riding page says the Parks and Recreation Department and the Tourism Office manage the program at Frederick Douglass Memorial Beach Park (St. Lucie County horseback riding page). An annual permit costs $50 for St. Lucie County residents and $200 for non-residents, each covering up to two horses; a weekly permit costs $35 for residents and $100 for non-residents. The limit is 3 permits (4 horses) per person, buyers must be at least 18, and annual holders may ride 4 times a month: one Saturday, one Sunday and two weekdays.

The Frederick Douglass rules are specific. Riding runs from 8am to 5pm on the scheduled day, every ride is booked at least 48 hours ahead at 772.462.1521, riders stay on the wet, hard packed sand at the water's edge and never on the dune, and they ride north about one mile to an end-of-trail marker and turn around (St. Lucie County horseback riding page). Under Section 773.06, Florida Statutes, a child younger than 16 must wear a fitted riding helmet, and all manure must be bagged or removed from the park by the permit holder.

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Park page reads: permits are not being issued at this time as the beach access is closed until spring of 2025 for renovations, and Tours on Horseback, a private vendor, has been relocated to John Brooks Park at 3300 S Ocean Drive (Frederick Douglass Memorial Park page). The county horseback riding page sets out the permit program without that notice (St. Lucie County horseback riding page). The park is named for Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, editor and author.

Avalon State Park is a state beach park of about 657 acres on North Hutchinson Island, open 8 a.m. to sunset for a $2 honor box fee, with undeveloped beach and World War II history.

Florida State Parks lists Avalon at State Road A1A North, North Hutchinson Island 34949, phone 772-468-4007, and describes it as ideal for swimmers, snorkelers, anglers and sunbathers, with sheltered picnic tables overlooking the beach (Florida State Parks Avalon page). The same page warns swimmers and snorkelers to be cautious of underwater obstacles left behind by amphibious warfare exercises during World War II.

The sources give different beach lengths. The park page welcome says more than a mile of undeveloped beachfront, its manager's message says 1.7 miles, and the 2014 Avalon State Park unit management plan says nearly 1.3 miles of Atlantic shoreline, used by nearly 170,000 Florida residents and visitors each year (Florida State Parks Avalon page, 2014 Avalon unit management plan). The plan records that the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund bought the first 152.8 acres on December 12, 1985 through a state coastal land acquisition program (abbreviated SOC in the plan), that the park now covers approximately 657 acres, and that management passed to the Division of Recreation and Parks on July 15, 1987.

The Avalon name itself is history. The 2014 plan says the park was named Avalon in honor of the Navy soldiers who trained there during World War II for the invasion of Normandy, that the Navy used the area to train landing craft crews and the Frogmen who later became the Navy SEALs, and that the submerged hazards along part of the Avalon shoreline were built at that time (2014 Avalon unit management plan). The 2014 plan also states that erosion is not an issue on the Avalon beach and that no beach renourishment projects had taken place there.

John Brooks, Dollman and Blind Creek are beach access points inside larger St. Lucie County preserves, with dunes, surf fishing and few facilities.

John Brooks Park, at 3300 South Ocean Drive, is a 226 acre upland and wetland preserve with two miles of beachfront dunes, seashore fishing and one wooden ramped dune crossover with a covered viewing area (St. Lucie County John Brooks Park page). Dollman Park Beachside, at 9200 South Ocean Drive, is part of a 143 acre beachfront and riverside preserve with paved parking and showers; it was closed from February 14 to February 20, 2026 while contractors renourished the beach under the South St. Lucie County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, which the county says protects roughly 3.3 miles of South Hutchinson Island shoreline (St. Lucie County Dollman page).

For Blind Creek Beach, the county describes a 409 acre coastal preserve stretching from the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic, with 108 acres covering a mile and a half of undeveloped, dune backed shoreline that is a nesting area for green and loggerhead sea turtles (St. Lucie County Blind Creek page). The south entrance has the main dune crossover, a small shaded shelter, a short interpretive trail and a lagoon view tower, while the north side uses a free gravel lot at Little Mud Creek; the county page lists the south lot as currently being paved and ADA restrooms as under construction, and says that shell middens nearby testify to centuries old Ais occupation. The phone listed for Blind Creek is 772-462-2526.

Sea turtle nesting season on St. Lucie County beaches runs March 1 through Nov. 15, and bonfires are banned on every county beach year round.

The St. Lucie County sea turtle page says the county's 21 miles of beaches are nesting grounds for green, leatherback and loggerhead turtles, and that last season the first recorded nest came in late February (St. Lucie County sea turtle page). Window treatments are required on windows within the line of sight of the beach, exterior lights should be modified or turned off so they are not directly visible from the beach between sunset and sunrise, and pits, holes and sandcastles can turn into pitfalls that trap hatchlings.

Pages for individual Hutchinson Island beaches describe the season in their own words. The Blind Creek page says nests are common between March and October (Blind Creek page), and the Avalon page says loggerhead, Atlantic green and leatherback turtles nest there in the spring and summer (Florida State Parks Avalon page). Horse riders at Frederick Douglass are barred from the vegetated dunes so they do not disturb the dune plants and nesting sea turtles (horseback riding page).