Malabar Recreation Guide: Trails, Riding, Birding and Community Events

Malabar counts about 5 miles of paved trail and about 25 miles of unpaved trail, according to the town's Florida Trail Town presentation (Trail Town presentation, page 56).

The same Malabar presentation, hosted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, splits the network in two. The main loop of the Malabar Trail System North has about 12 miles of trails, and Jordan Scrub in the Malabar Trail System South adds about 8 more (page 30). It also says about 33% of the town's area is set aside in preserved or government property (page 56).

Malabar is a state recognized Florida Trail Town, chosen by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the town's vigorous efforts to build walking, bicycling and paddling trails through its conservation areas (Town of Malabar).

FDEP defines a Trail Town as a place where trail users step off a hiking, biking, equestrian or paddling trail to use the town's amenities and heritage, benefiting the town economically and socially (FDEP Trail Town Program). The state quote the Town of Malabar posts also credits its Trails and Greenways Committee for working to connect the trail system to neighboring towns and for building a trail shelter, and it notes that neighboring communities use the trails too, since Malabar borders a large population concentration and the Harris Corporation Engineer Center in Palm Bay.

That shelter is the Cameron Trail Shelter, a roofed, elevated deck that overlooks a seasonal wetland and gives trail users a central point of shelter from sun and rain and an observation point for wildlife (Trail Town presentation, page 13). The same Malabar page lists a hotline, limited to trail navigation help, that routes a lost trail user to a committee member's cell phone. The Florida Trail Town in Malabar guide covers the designation, the application and the trails it names.

The Florida Trail Town title is not automatic. A community that wants it starts by contacting its Office of Greenways and Trails Regional Coordinator and filling out the state Trail Town self assessment (FDEP Trail Town Program). At the Sand Hill Trailhead, 1400 Marie Street, the town's presentation lists the amenities now in place: kiosks with aerial trail maps and QR codes, signs that show seasonal alternate routes for summer flooding, ADA restrooms and parking on the trail, a covered pavilion and parking with space for horse trailers (page 13).

Horseback riders in Malabar have six miles of equestrian trails in Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, and mountain bikers share the sanctuary's 8.3 miles of sandy scrub trails with hikers (Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail).

Brevard County lists biking, equestrian use, geocaching, hiking and wildlife viewing among the activities at Malabar Scrub Sanctuary (Brevard County EEL Program), and biking, equestrian use, geocaching and wildlife viewing at Jordan Scrub Sanctuary, which has a 2025 trail map on the county page (Jordan Scrub Sanctuary). Both Malabar sanctuaries offer free parking, and both ban pets, alcohol and motorized vehicles, so motorized trail bikes are not allowed.

At Jordan Scrub, the county describes lakes, seasonal marshes and scrubby flatwoods, and says recreational planning there has only recently begun, with more trails planned.

On the Cameron Preserve trails in Malabar, the town asks hikers and mountain bikers to follow the arrows on the marked one way route and asks riders on horseback to go the opposite direction, so that people on foot or on a bike never come up on a horse from behind (Swallow-Tailed Kite Trailhead). A rider who plans to trailer in can start at the Sandhill Crane Trailhead at 1400 Marie Street, which the town lists with horse stables (Sandhill Crane Trailhead).

Birders in Malabar do best in the morning at Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, where the state birding trail lists Wood Storks, Glossy Ibises, Green Herons, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Eastern Towhees alongside the Florida scrub-jay (Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail).

The same Malabar listing says the paved road through the site is accessible to visitors with limited mobility, while the sandy scrub trails give better views of scrub-jays, and it adds that Gopher Tortoise, Bobcat, River Otter and Eastern Indigo Snake also live there. Morning is recommended to avoid heat and full sun.

For a different kind of afternoon in Malabar, the Malabar Disc Golf Sanctuary on Malabar Road plays 18 holes through a nature preserve, with concrete tee boxes, chainstar baskets, some elevated tees, tight fairways and plenty of shade (Malabar Disc Golf Sanctuary).

The biggest Malabar community event this fall is Malabar Fallfest on Saturday, October 24, 2026, with a vendor fair, trunk or treat and a hayride, as posted on the town News Flash (Town of Malabar News Flash).

Residents can sign up to decorate a vehicle and host a trunk at the Malabar Fallfest, and vendors can sign up for the vendor fair through the town event page. The town calendar also shows the Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 (Town of Malabar calendar).

Malabar trail projects start at the Trails and Greenways Committee, whose regular session falls on the 2nd Monday at 6 in the evening at Town Hall, 2725 Malabar Road (Trails and Greenways Committee). The public may make suggestions during the public part of each meeting, and two alternate seats on the committee are open to applicants. The next two meetings on the town calendar are November 9 and December 14, 2026. One stale detail: the committee roster still shows two member terms that expired in 2025, so the town is the place to confirm current members.

The next big change for Malabar recreation is connection: the town's Trail Town presentation sets out a plan to finish the Al Tuttle Trail south to Grant-Valkaria and to link the off-road system west to the Grapefruit Trail (Trail Town presentation, page 55).

The Al Tuttle Trail is a 10 foot wide paved multi-use trail reached from the Sand Hill Trail Head on Marie Street in Malabar and follows the edge of Malabar Scrub Sanctuary; it officially opened in 2013 (Space Coast TPO). The Space Coast TPO counts it as part of the proposed 22-mile South Brevard Linear Trail, which would tie together preserve lands in Malabar, Palm Bay, Grant-Valkaria and Micco.

Malabar sits on the Indian River Lagoon (Trail Town presentation, page 7), but the town plan states that there is no publicly owned waterfront or designated public water access in the Town (Coastal Management Element, page 2). The launch the town's presentation points to is the kayak launch parking at Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Palm Bay, a short distance from a connecting trail of the Malabar Trail System (Trail Town presentation, page 40).

The Florida Trail Town in Malabar guide is the one deep guide in this section today, and the table shows which Malabar recreation question it answers and where the rest are covered.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Town of Malabar, Brevard County, FDEP and Space Coast TPO websites.