Beyond a screen of tangled branches, there’s a little-known watery passage through red, white and black mangroves recently unlocked by supermoon king tides. 

If you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ve followed the late environmental trailblazer and Florida icon Maggy Hurchalla through these brackish waters in St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, a protected piece of Jupiter Island that Maggy helped save from beachfront development (one of her many accomplishments that kept Martin County from being overrun by development like much of South Florida.) 

For many decades, sliding a kayak, canoe or stand-up paddle board into the Indian River Lagoon off the Hurchalla property was a rite of passage for any Florida nature lover who got the opportunity. Maggy was generous with her time, and she delighted in sharing this experience with many. No matter the paddle partner, their age or their ability, chances were she could out-row you. With her eyes closed. 

On these trips, she recited poetry. Sometimes she skinny dipped. And some of her paddle partners turned into close friends, including Stuart local Melissa Burke.

After Maggy’s passing in 2022, Burke was inspired to take up the oar and continue showing folks the magic of the mangroves through her new business, Paddle With Me Kayak Tours and Rentals. Friends of the Everglades staff and a few of our supporters joined Melissa the morning after September’s full moon when water levels were high enough to explore the passages. As we traversed the hidden mangrove tunnels, we reminisced on past adventures with Maggy, who was as much a fearless, funny tour guide as she was a shrewd and thoughtful mentor. This video by Multimedia Producer Leah Voss transports viewers to a watery world synonymous with Maggy’s spirit. 

It’s been two and a half years since the world lost the force that was Maggy Reno Hurchalla. The mangrove estuaries and maritime hammocks she protected remain, though threats can always arise again, as we recently experienced with the sneak attack on Florida’s state parks. This state park was left off the list — for now. If and when greed comes knocking, we’ll channel Maggy by lifting our oars, doing our research, and putting up a fight.

This is why Friends of the Everglades launched the Maggy Hurchalla Opportunity Fund in 2022 — as a way to quickly respond to threats across the Greater Everglades. We recently activated the fund against the “Southland Water Resources Project,” a rock mine proposed by Big Sugar on more than 8,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee that’s designed to enrich a polluting industry, not the River of Grass.

It’s up to all of us to preserve, protect and restore the nature that remains in Florida. Keep these spaces close to your heart by venturing out and exploring them. That’s what Maggy would do.

To explore the 4.2 mile-long kayak trail at St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, launch your vessel at the eastern end of Cove Road in Martin County. Be sure to count the bird species you see along the way on this section of Florida’s Birding Trail and don’t miss the beach access on the south end of the trail to rest on an undeveloped, quiet beach, once affectionately dubbed by Maggy and her husband as “the end of the world.” 

To rent a kayak from or to arrange a tour with guide Melissa Burke, visit her business’ Facebook page.