Port St. Lucie: Nature, History and Baseball

Port St. Lucie offers a range of ways to plan your trip: nature and environmental education along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, water activities, local history and baseball. If you’re looking for a hotel in Port St. Lucie, these themes can help you narrow down your interests for your stay.

Nature and Trails Along the North Fork

The Oxbow Eco-Center and Preserve is a 225-acre nature preserve and environmental education center along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. The grounds include boardwalks, overlooks and an observation tower. Trails wind through pine flatwoods, wetlands and riverfront habitats. Interactive exhibits and live animal ambassadors complement the nature experiences with a focus on environmental education.

Oxbow offers workshops, lectures, public events and school field trips year-round. If a particular program is important to your trip, check the schedule in advance, as programming may change.

Also along the North Fork is the 20-acre Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens. A lake with a fountain, paved paths and a butterfly garden characterize the grounds. The walkways total 0.91 miles. Compared with the expansive preserve, the garden has a different scale: its named features are the garden areas, lake and paths, while Oxbow combines different habitats with environmental education. You can compare the two nature destinations based on their different focuses.

Water Activities and Parks

McCarty Ranch Preserve combines several recreational opportunities with a lake system spanning more than 300 acres. Fishing, canoeing and kayaking are available there. The preserve also has an 18-hole disc golf course. If you’re considering an overnight stay in a rustic setting, you can reserve tent and RV sites there; check current availability if you’re interested.

On the St. Lucie River, Pioneer Park offers a different mix of park and event features: a riverfront stage, flexible open spaces for events, renovated historic homes and a children’s playground. A roughly 3,300-foot pedestrian boardwalk also runs along the river. The park’s riverfront location and range of facilities distinguish it from nature preserves with designated habitats.

Local History and Baseball

The Port St. Lucie History Museum and Education Center offers educational experiences and curated exhibits about the city’s history. The Peacock House, dating to 1917, is right next door. The museum and historic house add a cultural and historical dimension to trip planning, distinct from the nature and recreational offerings.

Baseball is also part of Port St. Lucie, at Clover Park. Every spring, it serves as the New York Mets’ Spring Training site. In late spring and summer, the St. Lucie Mets play Minor League Baseball games there. If you want to plan your travel dates around a practice or a game, check the schedule for your chosen dates: schedules and team affiliations may change.

Getting There and Choosing a Hotel

Port St. Lucie is accessible via Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike. To choose where to stay, you can first consider which of the themes mentioned matter most to your trip: trails and habitats along the river, water activities, parks and museums, or baseball during the seasonal game and training calendar. Use these differences as a guide when looking for hotels in Port St. Lucie.

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See the main travel overview: St. Lucie.