Things to Do in St. Lucie County
The middle county: an old inlet town, a big new city and the Highwaymen.
See top-rated activities »St. Lucie County in Brief
St. Lucie County holds both the oldest and the newest of the Treasure Coast’s cities. Fort Pierce grew up around its inlet as a fishing, citrus and cattle town and keeps a compact historic downtown on the Indian River. Port St. Lucie, to the south, was planned as a new community around 1960 and has become the largest city in the region, with suburbs, golf communities and a big spring training ballpark.
Fort Pierce is the birthplace of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of self-taught Black artists who, starting in the 1950s, painted quick, luminous Florida landscapes and sold them from the trunks of their cars. The Highwaymen Heritage Trail links sites connected to the painters around town, and an annual art show and festival honors them. Their paintings are now widely collected.
Heathcote Botanical Gardens, near downtown, is a peaceful few acres of themed gardens, including a well-regarded bonsai collection. On the waterfront, the Fort Pierce City Marina is the hub for charter boats and casual dockside eating, and a good place to watch fishing boats come in through the inlet. South of town, the Savannas Recreation Area, a county park, offers camping, paddling and fishing on a chain of freshwater marshes that once lined much of the coast.
Offshore, the reefs and wrecks off Fort Pierce draw divers, and the Urca de Lima, one of the 1715 Fleet ships, lies just off the beach to the north; see our beaches page. For more on museums, restaurants and events, read our St. Lucie County guide.
Don’t Miss
Themed gardens near downtown, including a bonsai collection, with plant sales and classes.
Sites tied to the Florida Highwaymen painters, with an annual art show and festival.
The downtown marina for charter boats, visiting yachts and a stroll along the docks.
Freshwater marsh with camping, canoeing, fishing and birding, separate from the state preserve of a similar name.
Top-Rated Tours, Tickets & Activities in St. Lucie County
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Who were the Florida Highwaymen?
A group of about two dozen African American painters, most from the Fort Pierce area, who from the 1950s on sold Florida landscape paintings along the roadsides. They are now celebrated as folk artists.
Where can I buy fresh fish in Fort Pierce?
Several fish markets and restaurants around the city marina and the inlet sell the day’s catch; 12A Buoy, in a renovated fish market at the inlet, is a good place to eat it.
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