Oxbow Eco-Center

My son took me hiking out at Oxbow for Mother’s Day 2014. I brought my service dog along for mobility support. The center building was closed, but the trails were wonderful! Saw some wildlife; had a great three mile hike, and took a lot of photographs. I am definitely a fan now, and if I lived in the area I would be sure to vary the hiking trails but hike there often. Even my SD fared well, as most of the trails are sandy and easy on the paws. Well preserved… a great bit of wild Florida!

Dude, I got scared. Maybe it’s me but i hadn’t been to such unpruned trails before. If you stayed on the turtle path you were fine but the deeper you went it got sketchy. I seriously panicked at one point where it was so unkept I thought I must’ve been off route then started jumping at every sound i heard… Okay overall cuz i guess i’m a weeny for the outdoorsy stuff… scared of the wild boars, snakes, and gators they warn you of. But nice ice cold water fountain at the welcome building to fill up on before and after.

Best place to take in mother nature and enjoy the quiet trails. Have seen turtles and all kinds of animals along the paths. Map gives you accurate distances of each trail. Also have very educational building that the children seem to really enjoy. I go here to jog the trails and take in some of the beautiful scenery. Go on the Otter trail and there are several wooden bridges that overlook the water. The best place to exercise outside of a gym. Take along a camera for some of the best shots in the county.

Early this month when I wrote my first Oxbow Eco-​Center review, I had spent most of my time relatively close to St James Drive and hadn’t explored the trails thoroughly down by the St Lucie River. I suggested in that review simply taking a kayak (if access to one is a problem, feel free to just send me a Personal Message for suggestions on rentals) to the Oxbow Eco-​Center dock and exploring from there. I tried that myself in the days since that review. After tying up at the Center’s dock, I especially explored the grounds near the River. My earlier suggestion of doing that worked out very well; the tieup was easy, my belongings were unmolested (I am not sure that my strategy of leaving them unsecured while I hiked will always work, but it did this time), and the ecotone (well defined in the Center’s materials and exhibits) near the river turned out to be much different from those only a few inches higher and lower in elevation and a few yards closer to the Center’s buildings and was very much worth exploring.
This is a definite case in which I highly recommend reading the filtered reviews. These add good information and seem to have been separated from other reviews in a great abundance of caution.

Great nature center for Port St Lucie.

Oxbow trails are a great way to get to know St Lucie nature. I went for a hike in late Oct. 2010 and enjoyed the diverse trails.
We started on the River Otter trail which runs along the river. I have to say that this was my favorite trail. The thick, tall trees cast shade on the path and my hiking boots dug in to the soil to keep me trudging up and down the meandering terrain.
Other trails weren’t quite as strenuous but were equally as enjoyable. The pine flatlands were serene with the sandy pathways through palmetto bushes and pine trees. There are observation towers throughout the flatland loop that give you a good overview of land.
My favorite part of the trails is the «Ecotone.» This is the place where two ecosystems meet and change. For example, as we came out of the thick, shaded, musty River Otter trail you could experience a quick and visible change in scenery as we walked in to the more open pine flatlands. From what I understand, the ecotone takes place because of elevation. Just a few feet of elevation and the trees and foilage will visibly change.
Before I knew it, we had been there for two hours and hiked the whole park!
I highly recommend the Oxbow Ecocenter for those who want an afternoon with nature, to burn some calories, and to see some beautiful sights.