Weekend Travel

The Five-Point Weekend Escape Plan

Pitch a Tent in South Florida

A winter camping trip to Florida’s Gold Coast, between Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter, offers a surprising bounty of wildlife.

By Laura Siciliano-Rosen
Published Jan 5, 2008

1. Where to Stay

Jonathan Dickinson State Park

(Photo: Courtesy of Florida Division of Recreation and Parks)

Get reacquainted with the camping life at the John Prince Park Campground, a 726-acre park with 50 tent sites (from $24.53) in Lake Worth, just south of the Palm Beaches. Request a lakefront site between Nos. 46 and 68, close to all the necessities: restrooms, petanque courts, horseshoe pits, and abundant freshwater fish (buy a Florida fishing license here ).

Farther north in Hobe Sound, reserve a tidy campsite or one of twelve furnished cabins (from $85; linens and towels not provided) at Jonathan Dickinson State Park near the Loxahatchee River. The cabins have private picnic tables and fire pits for cookouts (ask for No. 6 or 7 if you want a porch) and tack on such creature comforts as A/C, beds, couches, and kitchens.

If you can’t make a clean break from civilization, book a poolside cottage at Tropical Gardens (from $145), an ecofriendly B&B in West Palm Beach’s historic district. Borrow one of the owners’ bikes to hit the sands in Palm Beach, or ask for directions to the semi-hidden Lake Trail, a peaceful path that runs north along the Intracoastal Waterway.