Possum Long Nature Center

Possum Long Nature Center is a 4.7-acre urban forest preserve in Stuart and the home base of Audubon of Martin County, which was founded in 1955. The grounds are open to the public free of charge every day from dawn to dusk. The preserve sits behind the Audubon office, in one of the most densely developed parts of Martin County.

A nature trail runs through pines, oaks, and palmettos and passes a small wetland. Interpretive signs line the trail, and the property also has a butterfly garden and picnic tables. Birds seen here include red-bellied woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and osprey. Native butterflies include the zebra longwing, Florida’s state butterfly.

The land was assembled between July 1973 and 1983, when the Audubon chapter bought parcels between Palm Beach Road and Hibiscus Avenue. The centerpiece parcel belonged to Clifton “Possum” Long, an agriculture teacher at Martin County High School. Around 1950 he built a house on the foundation of an old barn where local children had stabled their horses. He also ran a plant nursery and gave plants to Stuart newlyweds as wedding gifts. The Long house was removed in June 2021 after it was judged unsalvageable, and the Garden Club of Stuart still maintains the Memorial Garden around the old house site.

The Audubon House, also called the Visitor Center, stands at the corner of Palm Beach Road and 7th Avenue. Much of the building was salvaged from Camp Murphy, the secret World War II Signal Corps training facility that operated from 1942 to 1944 in what is now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The Army sold off the camp’s buildings in 1946. A photo of the house hangs in the Camp Murphy Museum at the state park.

Inside, the center holds a natural history library, a meeting room, bird photography, and bird art. The Native Plant Restoration Project is slowly rehabilitating the forest by replacing invasive species with native plants.

Wildlife uses the small preserve despite the surrounding development. Two pairs of yellow-crowned night herons have nested in the mature slash pines since 2002. A pair of osprey began building a nest in a slash pine snag in March 2009. During the 2010 Stormwater Retrofit Project the dead snag was replaced with a telephone pole. The wetland, dedicated in January 2011, also drains rainwater from one of the oldest neighborhoods in Stuart.

Audubon of Martin County holds free programs here, including the annual Birds and Butterflies event each February. It runs from 2 to 4 pm and includes crafts, face painting, a wildlife wheel, live animal encounters, and a plant giveaway. The center is part of Martin County’s Explore Natural Martin Eco Trail. The entrance and parking lot are wheelchair accessible.

The preserve is close to Downtown Stuart, so a walk on the trail pairs easily with a stop at the shops and restaurants along Osceola Street. For more outdoor options nearby, see the things to do in Stuart.