I’ll admit it… we’ve been in a quarantine funk. Even as establishments begin to open, we’re still weary to visit them. At the same time, we can not stay at home any longer without going bananas! This week, we visited MacArthur Beach State Park and even though there have been some changes due to COVID-19, we still had a much needed, unique day of exploring and fun!
MacArthur Beach State Park offers many options to have a jam packed day! First, we soaked in the nature trails and to beat the heat we arrived right at 8 A.M. when the park opened. The subtropical atmosphere was peaceful, cooling and made the boys’ imagination flourish. We spoke about which tall trees would be the best for a tree-house, animals we hoped to see and listened to the sounds of the birds. The park is excellent at promoting education and offers many stops to learn about birds and offers a Beach Bird Species List and Plant Guide on their website here. Two trails are offered: Dune Hammock Trail, which takes you along the Nature and Welcome Center and the Satinleaf Trail, which was our favorite. We felt more “in the woods” on this trail and enjoyed collecting leaves, sticks and other items we decided to hunt for during our scavenger hunt.
Our next adventure was on the MacArthur Park boardwalk, also known as the “Peaceful Long Boardwalk”. Stretching 1,600 feet long, the beautiful path connects the Lake Worth Cove estuary where kayakers and paddle-boarders grace across the water, and MacArthur Beach. Even though it was getting hot out, this path offers covered benches, informative stops about wildlife in the water and of course, the opportunity to race each other wildly. We saw fish, a baby alligator and lots of birds!
The boardwalk was perfect because the sun soaked walk made reaching the beach that much more pleasurable! Almost two miles of turquoise water spans across the park and unlike some areas of our public beaches, was not crowded at all. As an added bonus, the snorkeling is one of the best spots in Palm Beach County! Cooling off in the calm waters and enjoying sea life made our day the most memorable. We packed standard pool goggles and still had a great time.
If you’re looking for a way to create memories and exhaust your children (Naps = Mommy Time!) than I highly recommend exploring MacArthur Beach State Park to Go, See and Explore!
Tips:
- To enter the park it does cost a $5 donation. Due to the current events, they request exact cash or payments can be made online and shown to the park ranger at the gate.
- Whereas the park used to offer kayak rentals, that option is currently on hold. You can still bring your own kayak to launch off any of their access sites.
- Due to repairs, the boardwalk to Munyon Island is closed. Once reopened, we look forward to updating everyone on that adventure too!
- Currently, the Nature Center and Gift Shop is also closed. I suggest still taking a walk to the front of the center to view the aquarium and sea turtle outside.
