Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Jonathan Dickinson State Park is home to many significant and endangered species. It has several unique factors that are conducive to the survival of several rare species, amphibians in particular. According to Montreat College professor Joshua Holbrook, the wetlands of JD State Park have more species of amphibians than the Everglades do. JD State Park contains one of the three disjunct populations of the endemic four-petal pawpaw. In 2024, a controversial plan to build three golf courses on the state park was rejected after public outcry. Nonetheless, the park ecosystem remains at risk largely due to human presence. ==History==

The park is named after Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant who was shipwrecked in 1696, with his family and others, on the Florida coast near the present-day park. He wrote a journal describing their encounters with local tribes, and their journey up the coast to St. Augustine. The United States Army established Camp Murphy, a top-secret radar training school, in the area that is now the park, in 1942. The camp included over 1,000 buildings, and housed more than 6,000 officers and soldiers. The camp was deactivated in 1944, after only two years of operation. Most of the camp buildings were torn down, but some of the building foundations remain. The property was transferred to the State of Florida in 1947, and opened as a state park in 1950. A man known as Trapper Nelson homesteaded on the banks of the Loxahatchee River after coming to the area in the 1930s, living off the land trapping and selling furs. He soon became known as the Wildman of the Loxahatchee. After he died in 1968 the state acquired his land, and deeded it to the park. ==Recreational activities==

Park amenities include bicycling, boat tours, boating, cabins, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horse trails, kayaking, picnicking areas, swimming, wildlife viewing and full camping facilities. It also has the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center, with exhibits about the park's natural and cultural history. The park operates a 44-passenger boat for tours of Trapper Nelson's homestead. ==In film==

Jonathan Dickinson State Park was used to film the first segment of the second episode of BBC's Walking with Monsters, set in Late Carboniferous Kansas. Popular Mountain bike channels on YouTube such as BKXC and BCPOV have featured the park's Camp Murphy Mountain Bike trails. ==Gallery==

File:Two Bucks.jpg|Two white-tailed bucks on the Loxahatchee River File:Yellow Crowned Night Heron.jpg|Yellow-crowned night heron on Kitching Creek File:Ibis (Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida, 11 January 2006).jpg|Ibis on the Loxahatchee File:Pileated Woodpecker (1).jpg|Pileated woodpecker on Kitching Creek File:Great Blue Heron (2).jpg|Great blue heron on the Loxahatchee File:Raccoon - Jonathan Dickinson State Park.jpg|A raccoon File:Alligator - Johnathan Dickinson State Park.jpg|An alligator on the Loxahatchee File:Missile Annex.jpg|Jonathan Dickinson Missile Tracking Annex File:Johnathan Dickinson Trail Reddish.JPG|A dirt trail in the park File:Johnathan Dickinson Trail 3.JPG|Trail through scrubby woods File:Johnathan Dickinson Trail 2.JPG|Trail between pine trees File:Johnathan Dickinson Worn Down Trail.JPG|Aftermath of wildfire ==See also==

• Jonathan Dickinson State Park at Florida State Parks • Jonathan Dickinson State Park at State Parks of the United States • Jonathan Dickinson State Park at Absolutely Florida Specific