Would you like to see how “The Wild Man of the Loxahatchee” lived? Called “Trapper Nelson” (his actual name was Victor Nostokovich), he was a big man with even bigger strength and a legendary ability to track and capture animals of all kinds. He bought 800 acres and lived completely off the land.
Trapper Nelson’s cabin — and the area where he displayed alligators, opossums, wildcats, and such to tourists — is a must-see. Ranger-guided tours of the 1930s pioneer homestead are available year-round.
The park is named for a Quaker merchant whose party was shipwrecked nearby in 1696. Rare environments such as coastal sandhills, upland lakes, and scrub forests as well as the pristine Loxahatchee River make Jonathan Dickinson State Park a unique spot to explore by foot or water.
Other activities in this 11,500-acre park include hiking, biking, horseback riding, boating, canoeing, kayaking, camping, fishing, and simply communing with nature. The Loxahatchee Queen provides boat tours.
The Loxahatchee River which runs through Jonathan Dickinson’s is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River. The park’s 13 natural ecosystem communities include sand-pine scrub, mangroves and river swamps. Family campgrounds, a youth/group primitive campground, and furnished and air-conditioned cabins give park-goers plenty to choose from.
