DuPuis Management Area

Program Manager:  Steve Coughlin
Note:  On certain hunting days the DuPuis property is closed to general use, which means all uses except hunting. Such uses include the auto tour, camping, hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, and fishing. However, the visitors' 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.
Please Note:
Dogs are not allowed in the DuPuis Management Area.

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. Recreational.  DuPuis is far from urban areas, and its dark night sky lends itself to excellent star gazing.

At this site you can explore the visitors' center with interpretive displays, walk the nature trail and butterfly garden; fish from the partially covered pier; take a 15-mile, self-guided auto tour; 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 events or water resource programs are offered. 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 or SFWMD headquarters at (561) 686-8800, ext. 6635

Address:  DuPuis Management Area
23500 SW Kanner Highway
Canal Point, FL  33438

DuPuis Events

The Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will be giving a lecture and setting up telescopes for everyone to view the constellations afterwards. The lecture begins at 6:00 p.m. Feel free to bring your own telescopes. DuPuis is located 2 miles east of Port Mayaca and 7 miles west of the junction of 710 on Kanner Highway (Highway 76). The Visitors' Center is located at Gate 5 (2.5 miles west of the main entrance): 23500 SW Kanner Highway , Canal Point, FL 33438. Contact Kim Kanter at (800) 432-2045, ext. 3339, or kkanter@sfwmd.gov for details.

ARCHERY SEASON: September 10-12, 17-19 and 24-26.

MUZZLELOADING GUN SEASON: October 7-9, 14-16, 21-23.

GENERAL GUN MOBILITY-IMPAIRED SEASON: October 29-30.

GENERAL GUN SEASON: November 4-6,11-13.

Wild HOG-STILL SEASON: November 18-20 December 2-4, 9-11, 16-18.

SMALL GAME SEASON: December 10 through January 29.

SPRING TURKEY SEASON: March 6-8,16-18, 23-25.

PUBLIC ACCESS AND VEHICLES: 1. Open to public access year-round, except during archery, muzzleloading gun, general gun, general gun mobility-impaired, general gun hog and spring turkey seasons when public access is restricted to individuals participating in the hunt.

Red Cockaded Woodpecker News

After years of preparatory work by land managers, on October 13th the federally endangered red cockaded woodpecker was returned to the forest of the District's DuPuis Management Area located in Martin and Palm Beach Counties. In a cooperative venture by the District, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, five pair of juvenile woodpeckers will be released each year for five consecutive years to re-establish this native bird on DuPuis.