"What people used to do was pull up on the beach, nose in or bow in, and kind of get themselves wedged on the sand, then sit in the back of their boat to fish, play on the sand beside it. That's still available."
Peter DeWitt, the Bureau of Land Management program manager who oversees the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area, said that to Stet News in mid-September. The quote matters more than it seems. This is a $16 million state and federal project built to stop roughly 7 feet of erosion a year, and the most important thing it does for regular users of the site is leave a weekend habit alone.
The grand opening is scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, from 1 to 5 p.m. Most of what changes that day adds to things people already do at the inlet. Boaters keep their beaches. The snorkel spot under Cato's Bridge gets protection. Walkers get a boardwalk along the Loxahatchee River that never existed before.
The First Plan Would Have Ended the Beach Landings
DeWitt took over the project in 2013. The plan he inherited would have built a solid breakwater along the whole shoreline. "That very early plan just basically built a solid breakwater all the way along the shoreline that eliminated all boat access," he told Stet. "Some people appreciated it and some people didn't."
He describes the rewrite in plain terms: "I got out there with a crayon on an aerial photograph and said, 'This is what I want.'" More than 800 individuals, businesses, partners and recreational users sent comments, and the government changed the design. The Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County and the Florida Inland Navigation District helped shape it, and the Navigation District later put money in.
The funding shows who had a stake. BLM lists a $16 million budget: $8.3 million from the Great American Outdoors Act, $7 million from the Florida Inland Navigation District, and $0.7 million from other sources. Close to half of the money came from the agency that manages the waterway boaters use to reach the site.
Seventeen Boats a Day, and Room for Fifteen to Twenty
According to a BLM study, the site used to see an average of 17 boats a day. The finished shoreline will hold 15 to 20, depending on boat size and how close owners want to sit to their neighbors. The capacity was sized to current use. It wasn't sized to shrink it or grow it.
The erosion problem behind the project is just as specific. The natural area covers 120 acres and has lost more than 5 of them over the decades. DeWitt says the real concern is the Native American shell midden that runs under the property. "What we're really protecting here is everything you see all the way back to the roadway as part of this giant shell midden structure," he said. "We were constantly eroding historic artifacts and losing land, losing habitat, and losing the recreational resources here."
One boat-related change is easy to misread. The project includes a dock, but it is for permitted uses only. DeWitt pictures a historic ship tying up for a week to add to the tours, or a wedding party leaving by boat. "General public docking won't be available," he said. BLM still lists the floating dock installation as upcoming work in its September through November schedule.
What Walkers Get That Boaters Already Had
From the water, people could always reach the river side of the natural area. On foot, that shoreline was harder to enjoy. The new boardwalk is 8 feet wide and runs 835 feet along the Loxahatchee River on the south side of the site, according to Stet. Other figures have been published along the way. BLM's early scope said about 700 feet, and DeWitt himself rounds it to 800.
The boardwalk exists because of an older repair that was failing. "At some point one of the branches of government had protected the shoreline by pouring concrete down it," DeWitt said. "That concrete had lasted 40 years, effectively stopping erosion, but it had been carving off and crevassing and slipping down into the waterway. These pilings now hold it in place." Those pilings number 200, with large limestone rocks underneath as the new erosion barrier.
A few features change how an ordinary walk works:
- Wider sections. In some places the boardwalk widens to 16 feet, with interpretive plaques on the inlet's history and ecosystem. Some of the 16-foot sections are set aside for a new fishing program.
- ADA access. Both the boardwalk and the walkway leading to it are ADA-accessible. DeWitt said families from a children's physical therapy practice said they appreciated that the site had areas where kids in wheelchairs could look over the rail.
- A loop back to the tower. Stairs climb from the boardwalk to a native-plant trail that connects back around to the lighthouse. Visitors can walk out and back on the boardwalk or come back by the upper trail.
- Plants that came back. Many of the native plants along the path grew on the site before construction. Crews dug them up with The Nature Conservancy and American Conservation Experience, stored some at Blowing Rocks Preserve, and are now replanting them. "It kind of felt like Noah and the ark," DeWitt said.
On the Indian River side, more than 6,000 mangroves will line the water in front of a new sheet-metal retaining wall. The gopher tortoises that were moved during construction began showing up in their old spots as soon as the fences started coming down.
Cato's Bridge, Made Official
The snorkel trail follows the same idea as the beaches. DeWitt calls the water by Cato's Bridge, at the northeast edge of the project, "locally renowned for being just a great place to hang out, snorkel and see a lot of Caribbean-type fish and corals. So, we're going to lean into that."
The plan calls for a cutout bay behind the rocks on the south side of the bridge, with a snorkel trail that runs up and under the bridge toward Jupiter Island. New pilings will keep boats out of the snorkel area, and a kiosk will post snorkeling information. BLM installed the first experimental Reef Arches structure on the Loxahatchee River side on September 9, the first of several artificial reef pieces planned for the site. One day later, research teams put acoustic monitors in the water to track green sea turtles and other marine species.
The paddling operators are staying too. Get Up and Go Kayaking, which has run glass-bottom kayak tours from the site for years, now works out of a large tiki hut it shares with the Palm Beach Outrigger Canoe Club. A second kayak company will use a smaller tiki hut on the west side, near the rebuilt U.S. 1 bridge.
Between Now and December 3
Construction is still active. BLM's latest schedule puts the final breakwater and boardwalk work in September through November. A six-person crew from the American Conservation Association will mulch the new trails and get the property ready for opening. No current notice spells out which trail sections are open on any given day. Fencing and detours have come and gone since work started in January 2025.
The lighthouse itself keeps regular hours, and its fall calendar runs right up to opening day.
| What | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lighthouse climbs and site access | Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Gift shop open until 5 p.m. |
| Guided tours | Tuesday–Friday, noon and 1 p.m. | Weather and safety limits apply |
| ONA trails | Dawn to dusk | Trailhead at the South Beach Road lot; no dogs or bikes |
The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum's fall dates, in order:
- October 18, noon–4 p.m. Sensory-Friendly Exploration Day, a new all-abilities family program focused on autism and sensory-processing needs.
- November 14, 6–9 p.m. Rendezvous at the Light, the museum benefit, with restaurant food, wine and beer, live entertainment and a silent auction.
- November 21. Saturday Storytime & Crafts for Pre-K through kindergarten. RSVP required; $5 per child with one parent.
- November 25, 5–6 p.m. Moonrise Tour. Advance tickets; climbers must be at least 48 inches tall.
- December 3, 1–5 p.m. Shoreline project ribbon cutting, with public tours, interpretive talks, family activities and an evening celebration.
- December 16, 5–6:15 p.m. Sunset Tour, ticketed separately and weather permitting.
- December 19. Saturday Storytime & Crafts.
- December 23, 4:45–6 p.m. Moonrise Tour, advance tickets required.
BLM says volunteer planting days will continue through the fall, though it hasn't posted dates. Its most recent mangrove plantings with the MANG Foundation were July 4 and August 30. Once the project opens, the agency says visitors will be invited to explore the new beaches, hike additional miles of trail and snorkel routes enhanced by the experimental reefs.
If you're opening a Jupiter home for the season, Blaire Latchford and the Luxe team can handle the arrival logistics, vendor scheduling and property checks before you get here, so you're free to make it to the lighthouse on December 3. Schedule your Luxe consultation.
