2800 Albatross Road
Delray Beach

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The Leon M. Weekes Environmental Preserve is 14 acres of tough, tough land. It is a remnant of coastal scrub once common in South Florida now largely gone except for a few scattered tracts that somehow avoided development.

Saw palmetto, staggerbush and scrub oaks domnate the landscape, with a thick tangle of muscadine grape vines, love vine, virginia creeper and greenbriar overgrowing everything, and giving the impression of a place impenetrable. Perhaps too impenetrable for its own good and the good of things that call this place home. A few gumbo limbo, scheflera and other trees break up an otherwise flat terrain. Other plants spotted include painted leaf, hog plum, gopher apple, prickly pear, partridge pea, silk grass and milk pea.

It’s a city preserve named after a former mayor and leading citizens, and has accessible and unimproved hiking trails. It has an educational kiosk, gazebo and playground outside the actual preserve, but it lacks the trail guide pamphlets and trail markings that Palm Beach County’s natural areas provide. Note: Weekes sits just west of Dixie Highway and the FEC railroad, and south of Miller Park in Delray Beach. The easiest way to find this place is to take Dixie Highway to Lindell Boulevard. Cross the railroad tracks, andAlbatross Road is the first right, and the preserve is at the end of the road. Also, the hours are 8 a.m. to sunset.

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