St. Lucie Corps of Engineers Park, St. Lucie, Florida

We decided to visit the Keys, but before we headed that way we wanted to stop and visit other parts of Florida. Rather than take the short route from Orlando, we figured we'd stop at St. Lucie on the 'east coast' then cross over to the 'west coast' and work our way down back to the 'east coast' in Key Largo. Presented on this page are pictures of the St. Lucie Lock and Dam, COE park.

The St. Lucie Lock and Dam controls a portion of the St. Lucie canal, which is part of the Lake Okeechobee waterway in eastern Florida.

The relatively small campground consists of three waterfront sites, three waterfront tent sites and  six off water campsites. There is a bath house with showers, a butterfly garden and an information center located on site. We secured a waterfront site for a week.

There are also four boat docks with hookups for overnight guests. Being right on the water has the advantage of being able to fish right from your front porch. While not shown in this picture, we put up our screen room off the shelter and could enjoy the outdoors without the skeeters and 'no see ums'.

The lock operates seven days a week. Boaters call ahead and enter the lock up or down stream. The lock then fills or empties allowing the vessel to continue it's journey up or down stream. It's close proximity to the campground allows you to sit on your front porch and watch the action. You also can walk over to the locks and get an up close and personal view of it's operation.

Once the vessel is inside the lock, the gates open slightly allowing the 'high' water to enter the lock, floating the boat to the desired water level so it can continue.  Any size vessel is able to use the lock at no charge.

The water was pretty ugly, but we've found that to be pretty much the norm east of the Mississippi. West Coaster's are spoiled.

This photo and the one below were taken at sunset from our front door. This is an example of why we appreciate and use COE parks when available..