the st lucie River north fork

ft pierce

Launch from White City Park. 

2081 W Midway Rd, Ft Pierce, FL 34981

Admission to the park is free and facilities are limited and primitive.  You can launch from the boat ramp or anywhere you can find to pitch your kayak in the water.  The park is surrounded by water.  Wild life you make encounter include birds of all kinds, alligators, turtles, manatees, raccoons, and river otters.

Paddling North, the waterway will get narrow and twisty; more creek than river.  This is a good place to get away to on windy days. You may see more gators than people.  This part of the river will eventually turn west and becomes part of Ten Mile Creek.  It ends at the spillway at Gordy Road about five miles upstream and just west of the Turnpike.  The water varies from fresh to brackish and can be very shallow in sections depending on the tide and flow from Ten Mile Creek. 

Paddling South is more wider and more "civilized".  There are more creeks to explore but also more development and some light boat traffic.  Not far south of the park you can stop at the Oxbow Eco-Center for a break. About five miles south is another county park called River Park Marina.  If you were to do a one way trip, this could be your take-out. 

NATIVE WATER SPORTS

Click the link for a printable PDF of the North Fork of St Lucie River Paddling Guide

more places to paddle will be added to this page as we have time, so keep checking back.  

places to paddle

The treasure coast

offers endless places to paddle with easy access. Fish off the beach on a flat summer day. See dolphins and manatees on the Indian River Lagoon while you explore the mangroves, flats, and coves.  On the coast ridge between Indian River Drive and US1 sits the Savannahs, a pristine freshwater marsh that will take you back 100 years.  Just west of US1, the North and South Forks of the St. Lucie River offer miles of winding waterways with something new around every corner.  There are some great places to paddle within a short drive as well.  Just to our South is the Loxahatchee River and to the North the Sebastian River.  To the west of Vero Beach is the unspoiled Blue Cypress Lake.  It would take a lifetime to explore it all.  Trust us. We're trying.