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 accomodate anything bigger than a small tt or popup. 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 Bad Rating, Is That The Park Recieved 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 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! 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.