This Season, the Way to Trapper Nelson's Starts in Jupiter
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
The docks at Jonathan Dickinson State Park are still there on the Loxahatchee. The rental kayaks that used to push off from them are not. In July, CBS12 described the docks as empty and the water as still. Nothing on the official park page has changed that picture since.
As the season begins, the gate on Federal Highway in Hobe Sound is open from 8 a.m. to sunset, and admission is still $6 per vehicle. What has changed is who can get onto the river from there. Trapper Nelson's Interpretive Site is open to personal watercraft, and the park no longer has a boat to take anyone there. For anyone who doesn't own a kayak, the trip to Trapper Nelson's now begins about 8.5 river miles upstream, at Riverbend Park in Jupiter, with an outfitter's guided paddle downriver.
According to Florida State Parks, every concession at the park has been unavailable since June 30, 2026. That covers canoe, kayak and bicycle rentals, boat tours, and the general store's food, drinks, ice and souvenirs.
The operator was BF Jonathan Dickinson, Inc., a private company that ran these services under an agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The company announced the closure on its Explore Jonathan Dickinson State Park Facebook page. It thanked customers, employees, vendors and community partners, and said it was "permanently closed and will no longer be providing services" as of Tuesday, June 30. The same post said the park itself was not closing. CBS12 embedded that post in its coverage.
Park officials told WPTV that the vendor's contract had expired. They said the park was looking for a new vendor and warned that approval could take months. WPTV's report named the Loxahatchee Queen tour to Trapper Nelson's Island among the losses. For many visitors, that boat was how they got to the site.
The replacement process started before the old operator left. In a Facebook post reported by CBS12, Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park said concession services were in transition and that a Request for Proposals had gone out.
That request is solicitation SUP-BP #02-26. It calls for a new concession covering boat tours, event management, food and beverage, and recreational equipment rental, for a proposed 10-year term. Its published schedule ran on a tight summer timeline:
The posted schedule ends there. As of mid-October, the call page lists the solicitation and its deadlines but no award, and the park page still says all concessions are unavailable. No reopening date has been published for the Loxahatchee Queen, the rental fleet or the store. Any plan that depends on one of them should be checked against the park's own page first.
The scope of the solicitation describes the kind of operation the state is looking for, with boat tours and recreational equipment rental both on the list. It doesn't name the Loxahatchee Queen or promise the rental dock's return, so what comes back will depend on the operator chosen and what it offers.
Trapper Nelson's site has always been reachable only by water. The DEP's Loxahatchee paddling guide places the cabin near the end of a trail that starts at Riverbend Park and finishes 8.5 miles downstream at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Since July 2026, the site has been open to personal watercraft Wednesday through Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is closed on Tuesdays.
With the state park dock closed, that trail works the other way for most people. The upstream end has an active outfitter. Palm Beach County lists Riverbend Park at 9060 Indiantown Road in Jupiter, open sunrise to sunset, with five miles of waterways and canoe and kayak access. The county names Jupiter Outdoor Center as the park's rental concession and notes that the county doesn't run it. In a July 13, 2026 update, Jupiter Outdoor Center said new kayaks and canoes were in service at Riverbend and that it was open until 7 p.m.
Here is how the ways onto the Wild and Scenic Loxahatchee compare this season:
| Starting point | What it involves | Listed cost | Reaches Trapper Nelson's? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Dickinson State Park ramp, Hobe Sound | Bring your own canoe or kayak and launch at the park ramp | $4 plus tax ramp fee, on top of $6 vehicle admission | Yes, by your own boat, Wednesday through Monday |
| Riverbend Park rentals, Jupiter | Self-guided single kayak, tandem kayak or canoe from Jupiter Outdoor Center | $40 single, $60 tandem or canoe | Not as a round trip; the site sits near the far end of the 8.5-mile trail |
| Riverbend Park guided tour, Jupiter | About two hours with a guide on the Wild and Scenic river | $75 | No |
| Riverbend to Jonathan Dickinson, full day | Six to eight hours guided downriver, with a stop at Trapper Nelson's and a return shuttle | $209 single kayak, $418 tandem kayak or canoe | Yes |
Before June 30, the Loxahatchee Queen left from the state park in Hobe Sound for Trapper Nelson's. Now there are two choices. One is to bring a boat to the park ramp in Hobe Sound. The other is to drive south to Indiantown Road in Jupiter and spend most of a day paddling downriver, with a shuttle back to the start. The full-day trip is the only listed guided option that includes a stop at Trapper Nelson's. Jupiter Outdoor Center's tour pages don't carry dates, so it's worth confirming a specific day directly with the outfitter.
Jupiter Outdoor Center has also announced paddleboard, kayak, full-moon and high-tide tours as "coming soon," with schedules still to be posted. Those are its own Jupiter outings, not a temporary replacement for the state park concession.
The park's ranger programs are on their own calendar. On its programs page, Florida State Parks lists Nature Explorers on the second Saturday of each month, Scrub Jay walks on the first and third Wednesdays from October through May, and guided nature walks on Fridays. The page also notes that any program can change or be canceled.
Nature Explorers is a family program at the Kimbell Center that starts at 10 a.m. The next two sessions are scheduled for:
Farther down Federal Highway, at 13640 SE Federal Highway, the Hobe Sound Nature Center is hosting its Creepy Creature Feature on Friday, October 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Bug Buddies follows on Tuesday, November 3, from 10 to 11 a.m. The Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge has a fee-free admission day on Wednesday, November 11.
None of these programs need the concession. A visit to Trapper Nelson's does. For now, that trip begins with a boat of your own at the Hobe Sound ramp or a full day on the water starting at Riverbend Park on Indiantown Road.
When a waterfront home's appeal rests on a river, a ramp or a short drive to a preserve, the details of access shape its value as much as the floor plan. If you're weighing what the Loxahatchee and the parks along it mean for a Jupiter Island or Hobe Sound property, Donna Hutchins can walk you through it. Schedule a Confidential Selling Consultation.
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