Things to Do in Fort Pierce and North Hutchinson Island
A historic river town, Highwaymen art and the beach where Navy frogmen trained.
See top-rated activities »About Fort Pierce
Downtown Fort Pierce sits right on the Indian River Lagoon, and its waterfront is the best place to start. The Fort Pierce Farmers Market sets up every Saturday morning around Marina Square, a few steps from the city marina and the Manatee Observation and Education Center, where an observation deck over Moore’s Creek often gives close views of manatees in the cooler months. The streets behind the water hold the restored 1923 Sunrise Theatre, a brewery, a cidery and a growing list of restaurants.
The A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery, on Indian River Drive, honors the landscape painter who mentored several of the young artists later known as the Highwaymen. It keeps a permanent gallery of Highwaymen paintings, and a heritage marker outside Backus’s old studio site points to the larger trail. In the Lincoln Park neighborhood, the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail uses kiosks and markers to follow the writer’s last years in the city, ending at her grave in the Garden of Heavenly Rest.
Cross the North Causeway and you reach North Hutchinson Island. The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum stands on the beach where thousands of men trained for amphibious landings during World War II and where the Navy’s first combat demolition units took shape; it is the only museum dedicated to the history of the SEALs and their predecessors. Next door, Pepper Park has beach access and picnic shelters, and to the south, Fort Pierce Inlet State Park covers dunes, a beach and a jetty at the inlet mouth.
Nature lovers have more to explore on the mainland. Jack Island Preserve, managed with the inlet park, has a loop trail around a mangrove island in the lagoon. North of town on U.S. 1, the FAU Harbor Branch Ocean Discovery Visitors Center explains the institute’s ocean research, and Heathcote Botanical Gardens, south of downtown, is a quiet garden known for its bonsai and palms.
Don’t Miss
The museum of the Navy frogmen and SEALs, built on the World War II training beach where the first demolition teams trained.
Paintings by A.E. Backus and a permanent gallery of works by the Highwaymen, the Black landscape painters he mentored.
Exhibits and a viewing deck on Moore’s Creek where manatees gather in cooler weather.
A Saturday morning market on the waterfront with local produce, seafood, plants and crafts.
A restored 1923 theater that hosts concerts, comedy and touring shows.
Kiosks and markers at sites linked to the author’s final years in Fort Pierce, including her grave.
Beach, dunes and a jetty at the inlet, plus lagoon trails at nearby Jack Island Preserve.
Exhibits on deep-sea exploration and lagoon research at Florida Atlantic University’s ocean institute.
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Get free trip quotes »Fort Pierce — FAQ
Why is Fort Pierce linked to the Navy SEALs?
In 1943 the Navy opened an amphibious training base on the barrier islands here, and the first naval combat demolition units, the forerunners of the Underwater Demolition Teams and later the SEALs, trained on these beaches. The museum stands on that ground.
When is the best time to see manatees in Fort Pierce?
In the cooler months, roughly November through March, when manatees move into the warmer, protected water of Moore’s Creek and the lagoon near downtown.
Who were the Highwaymen?
A group of about two dozen self-taught Black artists, most from Fort Pierce, who from the 1950s painted Florida landscapes and sold them along the highways. Their work is now widely collected and shown at the Backus Museum.
