Parking
Use the Visitor Center/Cannon Beach parking area, then walk to the Grove Trail kiosk beside the picnic pavilion near the mangroves. Park admission covers parking. Weekend and holiday parking can fill by early afternoon.
Overview
About Grove Trail
Why go
- An easy, shaded walk to a preserved Keys fruit grove.
- Coral-rock edging and the farm history give this short trail specific character.
Heads up
- The route doubles back on the same narrow trail; footing is uneven in places.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Overseas Highway map
Full mapElevation2–10 ft
TrailheadGrove Trail kiosk by the picnic pavilion, Visitor Center/Cannon Beach parking area25.12620, -80.40660
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Overseas Highway alerts
- CautionCoastal flooding across the Florida KeysA Coastal Flood Warning remains in effect for the Upper Keys and Coastal Flood Advisories remain in effect for the Middle and Lower Keys until 5 a.m.Official details
- CautionNighttime lane closures on Seven Mile BridgeExpect possible nighttime lane closures on Seven Mile Bridge for FDOT’s rehabilitation project to repair and strengthen the bridge.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Overseas Highway Tour Guide
Your drive to Grove Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Overseas Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Overseas Highway audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
John Pennekamp: Aquarium and Cannon Beach0:00 / 0:38
“You're coming up on John Pennekamp's visitor center, a useful reef introduction without taking a boat offshore.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Overseas Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Republic Born in a Traffic Jam
- The Snail That Waits for Rain
- The Coral Partnership
- The African Queen: A Movie Boat You Can Ride
- 136 audio storiesacross Overseas Highway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Crocodile, Alligator, Manatee, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 26 trails, 88 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Grove Trail
A short walk to an old groveGrove Trail is an easy out-and-back through tropical hardwood hammock to a historic fruit grove.
Grove Trail is an easy out-and-back through tropical hardwood hammock to a historic fruit grove. The park lists 0.6 mile round trip; other route descriptions and the mapped path point closer to 0.5 mile. Plan for about 15 to 25 minutes, including a stop at the grove. The saved map follows the outbound corridor once; you return the same way.
Under the hammockBegin at the kiosk beside the picnic pavilion near the mangroves.
Begin at the kiosk beside the picnic pavilion near the mangroves. The track turns inland, bending through dense canopy to a small grove clearing. Coral-rock pieces mark the edges in places; loose stone and tree roots interrupt the dirt tread, but the sampled profile shows only a slight rise. It is an easy walk, though this is not a smooth paved path or a big-view hike. Turn around at the grove rather than joining the park's other nature trails.
A farm preserved in the woodsA sign for H.J. Shaw's Farm marks the historic grove.
A sign for H.J. Shaw's Farm marks the historic grove. Key limes, oranges and other fruit grew here. The family's clearing of limestone with dynamite is part of the site's story; the grove and surrounding forest passed to Florida in 1979, and the park maintains the grove today. Stop at the sign before heading back.
Keep an eye on the treesThe park notes that butterflies are often seen among the fruit trees.
The park notes that butterflies are often seen among the fruit trees. The hammock also has birds and Liguus tree snails on smooth-barked trees, though a sighting is never guaranteed. Poisonwood grows in this forest; stay on the marked path, and expect mosquitoes.
Access and useful stopsUse the Visitor Center/Cannon Beach parking area and walk to the kiosk by the picnic pavilion.
Use the Visitor Center/Cannon Beach parking area and walk to the kiosk by the picnic pavilion. Admission covers parking. Weekend and holiday lots can fill by early afternoon. Restrooms and a water refill are by the Visitor Center; the Blue Heron Cafe is in the boat-embarkation area, a separate stop. The general pet policy does not say whether this trail is a designated pet area, so check with park staff before bringing a dog.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Overseas Highway
18 sightingsCrocodileMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
255 sightingsAlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
55 sightingsManateeMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
70 sightingsCommon Bottlenose DolphinMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
51 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
1,120 sightingsKey DeerMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Overseas Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
