Indiantown: DuPuis offers hiking, biking, no crowds

( MATTHEW RATAJCZAK/STUART NEWS / February 27, 2007 )

Once a ranch, the 21,000 acres that comprise this preserve offer outdoors-oriented visitors plenty of room to ramble. This is a good place for camping, hiking, biking, fishing, picknicking and horseback riding, generally without another person in sight.

On a recent winter afternoon, we saw a feral hog, wild turkeys, osprey, several hawks and caught a fleeting glimpse of one of the resident bald eagles soaring overhead. We brought our bikes and enjoyed a 9-mile round-trip on a shell-rock graded road. (Washboard and ruts made it at times a slow go.) We parked our bikes and hiked several miles through woodland and prairie along The Florida Trail, which crosses the road.

DuPuis is just west of Indiantown a few miles from Lake Oceechobee.

DuPuis is managed by the South Florida Water Management District, which has more information on this site.


-- Bonnie Gross