DuPuis WMA

This place is Florida, or at least the Florida I grew up knowing. During my late teenage years, I visited this place weekly. There are lots of turkeys, eagles, deer, snakes, gators, and wild boar living in the area. It's very popular with hunters.

Mosquitoes!!

On Hwy 76, towards Indiantown, there is a mass burial graveyard of over 1,600 unidentified people who lost their lives in western Palm Beach County as the result of an unnamed Category 5 hurricane in September, 1928.

Camping is free by Special Use License (starting July 1st, 2016) at the Family campground, the Equestrian campground and the Group campsite (for groups of 20 or more only). All SULs at DuPuis are on a first come, first served basis. You may obtain an SUL online at the South Florida Water Management District website: http://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/pg_grp_sul/pg_sul_main). You cannot camp if you do not have an SUL.

The DuPuis Management Area is closed for access during quota hunts specific times of the year. Please see the FWC hunting brochure for specific hunt closures: http://www.myfwc.com/hunting/wma-brochures/s/dupuis/ (the property is not closed during Small Game or Wild Hog-Still seasons). All other times we are open to the public for recreational activities.

Equestrian Campground
The equestrian campground is located at Gate 3 location. Camping with a tent or a recreational vehicle permitted. There are 40 Special Use Licenses available for the Equestrian campground. Primitive camping facilities include a shower, restrooms, 30 stalls and 15 paddocks. No water or electrical hook-up provided. There are no designated sites at the Equestrian campground. An RV sanitation dump station is also provided visit RVDumpSites.net for details.

Family Campground
Tent camping and popup campers only. You are not allowed to sleep in an vehicle or trailer. 14 Special Uses Licenses are available for the Family campground. They are issued on a first come, first served basis. Your SUL, secures a camping spot for you.

You can get to the family campground by entering DuPuis through Gate 1; this road is Jim Lake Grade. Tents and popup campers only. The sign for the Family Campground is approximately 1 mile down on the left side of the road. There are 16 campsites. At each campsite there is a picnic table and a fire ring. There is no potable water available and there are two composting toilets located at the campground.

There is a camphost on site year round

The DuPuis Management Area is a 21,875 acre multi-use natural area located in northwestern Palm Beach and southwestern Martin Counties. The property is interspersed with numerous ponds, wet prairies, cypress domes, pine flatwoods, and remnant Everglades marsh. The area provides miles of hiking and horseback trails, an equestrian center, graded vehicle roads, backpack and group campsites, and seasonal hunting (There are scheduled hunt closures – These can be found on the SFWMD recreation page for the DuPuis property. There is a calendar with the hunt closure dates found here). DuPuis is far from urban areas, and its dark night sky lends itself to excellent star gazing.

At this site you can explore the Nature Center with interpretive displays, walk the nature trail and butterfly garden; fish from the partially covered pier; take a 15-mile, picnic or enjoy primitive group and family camping. There are 22 miles of hiking trails, including a segment of the Ocean to Lake Trail (part of the Florida National Scenic Trail), and an equestrian campground with 40 miles of horseback riding trails. Special Saturday programs are offered and will be listed on the DuPuis calendar. Learn about these by calling (561) 924-5310.

Prior to District acquisition in 1986, the property was a ranch for Dutch white-belted cattle, sheep and goats. By 2001, more than 6,500 acres of wetlands on DuPuis were restored through a three-step program. Land managers plugged old drainage ditches, repaired a levee at the southern boundary to restore former Everglades marsh and reconnected a portion of the flow from the adjacent J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area.

Archeological sites of early American Indians date to 500 B.C. Much later, the Seminole Indians used the DuPuis region as a refuge during the Seminole Indian War of 1835, but living on the land proved difficult. Hundreds of starving Indians were captured and sent to Oklahoma. The area became known as "The Hungryland."

For More Information: Call DuPuis at (561) 924-5310

Notes
On certain hunting days the DuPuis property is closed to general use, which means all uses except hunting. Such uses include the camping, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, and fishing. However, the Nature Center is open for scheduled lectures and visiting hours even when the property is closed for general use. Please check the DuPuis calendar link below for scheduled hunting dates.

Dogs are allowed in the DuPuis Management Area and must be on a leash and under control of the owner at all times, strictly enforced. Please pick up pet waste and dispose of properly.

Dupuis.pdf