New park due to hurricanes and wild fires. No trees but I was here during March and it was nice. Lots to do. Has clean, large sites. Bath houses were clean and brand new. This state park has sewer connections. We camped here in a Motorhome.

A very well organized, well managed, newly renovated park. The bathhouses are a model for any state park, and sparkling clean. Crews kept the grounds very clean and trash emptied. The sites are well planned, roomy and very level, but open and in the sun. For this reason, hats, awnings and sunblock are an absolute must. The campsites are neatly framed out with pseudo-timbers filled with fine white stone and ample parking. You are warned upon arrival not to place your tires on the grass. Do pay attention to the warning, they aren't kidding. There is plenty of room for a camper and a tent or screen house at each site.The camping area is relatively close to the highway but there is no traffic noise. The park is well secured and very quiet at night. The staff are very professional, helpful and courteous. Although we don't have small children, there was a lovely playground within the campground. Also covered pavilions are available. Hobe Sound Beach and the National Seashore are only a few miles from the campground: beautiful beaches. There are excellent restaurants within 10-15 miles of the park. We will return. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We stayed at the older "River Campground". It is over four miles from the entrance, way off the beaten track. Most the sites are relatively small but maybe 1/4 or 1/3 are big enough for a 30 foot or even bigger rig. The numerous mature pines and palmettos do making driving around challenging, and on our site (#109) there was a tree that was in the way backing in unless (at the suggestion of the Ranger) you went the wrong way around the one-way circle. There is plenty of room around the sites, and the rest rooms were older, but clean. There are hiking/biking trails that connect to the boat launch area, go along the river, and to the river beach area where there is a small store, and you can take boat tours or rent a canoe or kayak. It was a full house on the weekend with lots of families in tents, but to us that adds to the fun. The new campground right up by the park entrance next to Route 1. It has been beautifully redone, and there are absolutely no trees to worry about. There are some sites with sewer hookups. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Totally rebuilt campground after hurricane wiped it out. Wide blacktop roads with large gravel sites, all with picnic table, fire ring and BBQ. Pretty, but spare landscaping, no shade. This state park is located on the Laxahatchee River with plenty of recreational activities, including a very nice nature boat tour. We would return. There is a second, older campground near the river, it is heavily wooded, smaller sites and narrow roads, not for big rigs. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Two beautiful and very different campgrounds. One very new, is big rig friendly with full hookups and the other more rustic, old Florida, for smaller RVs and tents. 11,500 acre park with 13 different natural communities great for bicycling, boats, canoes, kayaks, fishing, swimming (river), horse trails, nature trails, visitor center with terrific presentations for all the senses, campfire circle, ranger programs, 12 mile auto tour. Very fun and convenient cities just outside the entrance on US 1. Ocean & beautiful beaches very close on A1A. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This park is enormous! You drive five or ten minutes to get to the campsites off US 1. The people at the entrance gate couldn't be nicer. I was able to get Internet using Verizon, at my site, and get a satellite signal. I really enjoyed it there, and look forward to my next visit. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This review is specific to the River campground, which is the only one currently open. We have stayed at Pine Grove and were happy with the spaciousness and access to the sites. The River campground has a very narrow access road, and it was very difficult to maneuver our 35 foot motor home. Also, maintenance was lacking in that there were untrimmed branches that scraped the motor home when driving through the campground. We would stay here again, but only when Pine Grove is reopened. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Not that impressed. We did see 4-5 deer, and the lookout tower (not within walking distance) was pretty cool. But the worst part was the staff/rangers that I felt were a deal killer for us to return to this park in the future. It was clearly a bother to them for us to be apart of this State Park, they were very unhelpful and no common sense anywhere to be found. Several issues were experienced in our 4 days camping - and I didn't feel safe if the rangers were viewing us as a bother... at least this is what we felt. I would choose another park if this is important to you. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

This could be a great park but at the time needs work. The Pine Grove camp ground has the dump station and one bath room shut down. Also they are not policing the park too well, as there were boom boxes on until 3.30 AM on the weekends.The river camp ground was full with cars parked every where, to where you could not get a trailer through the road with out dragging limbs. They say two cars per sight, but as with the quiet time, they did not enforce it. Some rangers are very nice some not so nice. There are a lot of places to ride bikes but most of the old roads are blocked off for what ever reason. This could be a very nice park but at the time is not close to what most of the Florida state parks are, as far as rangers and the general condition of the park. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Very tight parking for our 30 footer. Very desolate feeling area. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

John Dickerson State Park – Hobe Sound, Florida – two campgrounds Pine Grove and River – 24 plus tax – water and electricity. Pine Grove has 90 sites but this section was destroyed by a hurricane and there is limited shade. River is 4 miles in from the ranger station and it has 44 sites but these are well shaded and close to the boat dock, swimming, trails and bike trails. When we visited in early May there was no swimming because of bacteria or alligators. The River campground is not made for big rigs even though there are large sites the road in is narrow and hardly any room to back in – would not put anything more than a 25 footer in one of these sites. It was really hot when we were there so the Pine Grove sites you needed air conditioning until late afternoon. There are some nice bike trails there and the rangers were very nice. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Part of this campground where we stayed was ravaged by a hurricane and controlled burn fire that got away from the staff. It looked like a war zone. The portion near the river however, is very nice. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The river sites are tight and not recommended for big rigs the Pine Grove sites are open and roomy we stayed in a 40 ft 5th wheel. The park is very big with plenty of places to bike it is 5 miles from the Pine Grove to the River. Has hiking trails, canoe rentals, boat tour to an old trappers camp. Great kayaking. Close to the beaches. A nice state park. It is very open from the recent storms that knocked down trees and then they burned the place down with a "Controlled Burn". We are going back here. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Excellent campground. Not a lot of shade, but plenty of open sky for satellite use. Huge sites, plenty of separation. Park rangers can't do enough for you. Would definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is a nice park in a part of Florida that can be very expensive. The sites are all back-in, but very easy to navigate and good size. The people at the park couldn't be friendlier. There are some things to do here, but we just stayed for a couple of days and didn't do much in the park. We would stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

There are two camping areas here. One up front by highway and the other down by the river. It is a long drive to the camp sites down by the river. The sites are of normal size and very shady. Wild life all around. They have fire rings on the ground. There is a river there for boating, but not for swimming. Nice, long paved bike trails. Bathroom and shower rooms were old and need to be re-modeled, half the things were not in working order. However, it's a very peaceful, relaxing place to stay and I would go there again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

I think this was once a very nice park. They had a serious fire a few years ago and lost all of the trees in the "Pine Grove" area. We were fortunate in having one of the few sites that still had some tall trees around it. Most of the campground is very barren looking. The hosts also need to do a bit more cleaning up of the sites. There was a lot of trash in our site and dog waste! The park itself is nice with nice trails and a boat tours of the Loxahatchee River. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This is our first stay here so I we are not familiar with how this campground used to look. We found good paved interior roads, sand/dirt sites with 30 amp & water at the sites and an easily accessible dump station. The front campground is pretty wide open but we had small pine trees & palms next to & in front of us. We were able to travel the roadways & park our 41 foot motorhome with no difficulties. The camping area closer to the river has some beautiful smaller sites and was mostly occupied by tenters while the front area was full of RV's. We barely heard the roadway noise and never heard the train during our 1 week stay. We used this park as a jumping off point for several spring training baseball games in Jupiter & Vero Beach as well as sight seeing in Palm Beach. We also enjoyed the river & hiking/biking trails. We will definitely stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This was a nice state park. Campsites are close together, but plenty of foliage creates some privacy. Bathrooms were fairly clean, but infested with mosquitoes. We had a terrible problem with mosquitoes and no see 'ems. I blame this on the time of year we went (being just after a tropical storm). Also, heat was a definite problem. I wouldn't recommend this park unless it's cool enough to be outside without shade. The campsites and trails don't offer much in the way of shade trees. However, the trails are terrific, for the most part. The beginner bike trails are very technical, but not physically exhausting. The intermediate trails though, were nearly impossible with large logs blocking the path. All in all, we stayed to the beginner trails for two days and had plenty of fun. Also, please note that the staff was particularly nice. They were so helpful in checking us in and providing us with maps for all the trails. I cannot comment on the swimming area as this was closed during our trip (due to the tropical storm). We camped here in a Tent.

The park has 2 campgrounds. PINE GROVE is near entrance and thus near US1 (noisy) and within 1/4 mile of CSX railroad tracks. This campground was the most popular and was very shaded at one time, the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 have levelled all the shade trees. As of June 2006, the remaining debris has been removed, leaving a very open campground. Sites are mostly level, grassy or sand. No 50 amp here, but big rigs would fit. Bathouses are clean but utilitarian. I saw no evidence of long term campers when I was there. Give this campground 20 years for the shade to grow back. This would be a nice place to camp in winter when shade is not such a necessity. RIVER is about 4 miles from entrance to park, near the Loxahatchee River. Strangely, there are some 50 amp sites here but those sites are too small for a rig big enough to need 50 amp service. For some reason, the utilities have been updated on each site, but when the upgrade was made vegetation between sites was removed, so many sites look out on the next site's hookups. Some shaded, mostly level ,sandy sites. I would not try to get a rig larger than 30' in this campground, and many sites won't accommodate anything bigger than a small TT or pop-up. Some sites are shaded and gorgeous, but many are either too open or too small. Overall I give the campgrounds a 3, but the recreational opportunities at this state park are excellent. Several beautiful trails through various Florida habitats are available, including sand scrub pines, slash pines, cypress stands, and hardwood hammocks. The river is a great paddle (try paddling up to Trapper Nelson's and beyond or up Kitching Creek for a real treat). The local area includes many nice beaches on the ocean and the intercoastal. Bring your pets as pets are now welcome at both campgrounds. If you camp here, don't come looking for a great campground, you won't find one, but you will find a gorgeous state park with lots of nature to explore. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The reason for a bad rating, is that this park received heavy damage from hurricanes in the past two years. The Pines Campground had a lot of trees damaged, so they leveled all of them to get to the damaged ones. This used to be a very shaded campground. It breaks my heart to see it in this condition. The River sites are still in good shape, but you can't have pets down there. Great for canoeing and great boat tour to the Old Cracker Homestead. Lots of hiking in the woods. We love to take our dog down trails in the woods, and clean up after her! A wonderful beach a few miles north in Hobe Sound that allows dogs on it. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

While the Pine Grove campground in the park is pretty rough and scrubby right now it's not entirely without trees or greenery. Some sites were very open and a bit barren but not all. We like site #84 OK, it was level, had some plants and there was no one close on our awning side but we were a bit cozy with our neighbors on the utility side. In the Pine Grove loop sites 67, 68, 81 and 82 all looked fairly roomy and had some greenery. As noted in previous reviews the River campground has much more plant life and many tall trees but unfortunately no pets/fur bearing animals are allowed. Our bathhouse was a bit run down and the shower walls are so low that unless you're very short you can look the person in the next shower right in the eye; water was tepid. Easy to get to with decent roads throughout and the dump station is easy to access. We liked the auto tour and the observation tower and saw a mother alligator with youngsters off the boardwalk near the Eagleview area. The nature trails near the river were also nice with wild flowers starting to crop up. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This CG has been transformed from a lovely wooded area to almost a barren waste lane with the removal of all "non native trees". The trees & wild life are gone as are the level sites. A soft pile of mushy dirt now is where one must back into & we needed four wheel drive to the get the 5th wheel into the site. Florida State Parks have really destroyed what was a super lovely CG & are now allowing people to live/camp there as their home base. We used to stay there Spring & Fall each way going to the Keys. No more for us !! We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

The only reason I rate this State Park a 9 is due to the damage of the hurricanes last year which is WHY there are NO trees in the front CG area. The area was totally destroyed by the hurricanes last year. The back campground near the river is still in perfect condition looks as if hurricanes never touched it. The cabins are in perfect shape also. Still canoeing within the park, great hiking and biking trails. It is unfortunate for the front CG damage, but this will be a beautiful park again when the trees return. A lot of restoration has been done by the planting of new trees. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.