Sebastian Parks Guide: Beaches, Boat Ramps, Fees and Where Dogs Can Go

The City of Sebastian runs 23 parks and facilities across more than 165 acres of park land, from Riverview Park to the Barber Street Sports Complex (City of Sebastian Parks and Recreation).

The Sebastian Parks and Recreation Department lists its routine work in plain numbers: landscaping at 17 parks, the grounds of 4 city buildings, 2 boat ramps and the Indian River Drive riverfront walkway, plus restroom upkeep in nine parks. The sports complex alone carries four baseball and softball fields and three multi-purpose athletic fields. The department names Barber Street, Hardee Park, Friendship Park, the Bark Park, Riverview Park and the Pickleball Complex among its sites, and gives 772-255-4568 as the number for Star Gaze, Summer Concerts in the Park, Kids Fest and other city events (City of Sebastian).

Four Sebastian guides go deeper on the city side. The Riverview Park guide covers the riverfront event park on U.S. 1, the Barber Street Sports Complex guide covers the ball fields and skate park, the Sebastian neighborhood parks guide walks through Hardee, Schumann Drive, Easy Street and the small pocket parks, and the Sebastian playgrounds guide rates each city playground by age. The Sebastian Stormwater Park guide explains the Englar Drive treatment area and its trails.

Riverview Park is the city's main event park, at 600 U.S. Highway 1 on the corner of C.R. 512 (Sebastian Boulevard) along the Indian River. It hosts the Clam Bake Festival, the 4th of July Freedom Festival, Shrimpfest and Craft Brew Hullabaloo and the seasonal Rhythm on the River Concert Series, and holds the Splash Pad, the Veteran's War Memorial, sand volleyball courts, picnic pavilions and the twin piers; park rental questions go to (772) 228-7054 (City of Sebastian, Riverview Park).

Two guarded ocean beaches near Sebastian are Indian River County's Golden Sands Beach Park and Wabasso Beach Park, where lifeguards are on duty from 9:10am to 4:50pm (Indian River County).

Golden Sands sits at 10350 Highway A1A on 6.23 acres, with 128 parking spaces, 6 pavilions, a playground, restrooms, showers and an ADA crossover; its lifeguard tower number is 772-268-5981 (Indian River County, Golden Sands). Wabasso Beach Park, at 1820 Wabasso Beach Road, is far smaller: 0.46 acres and 34 parking spaces, with 2 pavilions and outdoor showers. Its tower number is 772-268-4732, and the county beach condition hotline for both is 772-226-3384 (Indian River County, Wabasso Beach). At Wabasso Beach, fishing is allowed only outside the guarded area.

Sebastian Inlet State Park has 3 miles of Atlantic beach but no lifeguards; Florida State Parks states plainly that lifeguards are not provided there (Florida State Parks). For calmer water, the same page points to the cove on the north side of Sebastian Inlet, a protected area with a hard bottom and a gentle slope that suits children and weak swimmers when the surf is too rough. Beach flags at the inlet run from green (safe) to double red (no swimming), with purple for marine pests.

The Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach, Treasure Shores and Ambersand guides each cover one of the county beach accesses north of Wabasso, the Archie Carr refuge guide explains the sea turtle rules that shape them, and the Sebastian Inlet tidal pool guide covers the cove.

Sebastian has two city boat ramps on Indian River Drive, the Main Street ramp at 1300 Indian River Drive and the Yacht Club ramp at 820 Indian River Drive, both opening onto the Indian River (City of Sebastian).

The Main Street Boat Ramp sits where Main Street meets Indian River Drive, just east of U.S. 1, with trailer parking and restrooms; the city notes that Sebastian Inlet and the Atlantic are a short run across the Intracoastal from the park (City of Sebastian, Main Street Park and Boat Ramp). The Yacht Club is the second of the two city ramp facilities and also provides the Yacht Club building for meetings and events.

Indian River County adds two more ramps a short drive away. Donald MacDonald Park at 12315 Roseland Road launches onto the St. Sebastian River, has 13 boat trailer spaces, and its boat ramp is closed at sunset (Indian River County). Wabasso Causeway Park at 3105 Wabasso Beach Road (County Road 510) has its ramp on the south-east lobe, 6 feet deep at the end of the ramp (Indian River County).

The ramp closest to the inlet is inside Sebastian Inlet State Park: four ramps on the south side of Sebastian Inlet, open 8 a.m. to sunset, with 31 trailer spaces and a $4 plus tax ramp fee on top of park admission. Kayaks and canoes launch separately at Coconut Point on the same south side (Florida State Parks). The Sebastian boat ramps guide in the recreation section compares every ramp, and the Dale Wimbrow, Donald MacDonald and Wabasso Causeway guides cover the county river parks.

Sebastian Inlet State Park charges $8 per vehicle for two to eight people, $4 for a single-occupant vehicle and $2 for pedestrians and bicyclists, and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (Florida State Parks).

Camping at Sebastian Inlet costs $28 per night plus tax and a nonrefundable $6.70 reservation fee, with a $7 utility fee for RV units; all 51 campsites have water and electrical hook-ups, a fire ring and a picnic table. Florida residents 65 and older, and holders of qualifying disability certificates, get 50% off the base campsite fee. Campers arriving after sunset call 772-589-9659 for the gate combination (Florida State Parks).

The 24 hour rule has an exception that the headline line does not show. Effective Nov. 12, 2025, the South Ranger Station at Sebastian Inlet State Park keeps standard hours of 8 a.m. to sunset, with after-hours entry there only for registered campers or annual pass holders with an after-hours permit; the North Ranger Station stays open around the clock (Florida State Parks). After dark, visitors without that permit enter at the north station.

Museum hours on the same official page conflict. A line dated July 2023 still says the Sebastian Fishing Museum and the McLarty Museum are both open seven days a week, while the line beneath it says the McLarty Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The Sebastian Fishing Museum is listed at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, except major holidays (Florida State Parks). The Sebastian Inlet State Park guide covers the jetties, surf and museums, and the Sebastian Fishing Museum guide sits in the places section.

The City of Sebastian's dog park is the Bark Park at 245 Keen Terrace, where no leash is required inside the fence (City of Sebastian).

The Bark Park has sally-port entries, separate small and large dog sections, water and shade structures. Dogs may also walk the trail around the pond next to it, but must be on a leash there (City of Sebastian, Bark Park).

Indian River County bans pets within any county park under County Ordinance 205.03.22, a rule printed on the Golden Sands, Wabasso Beach and Wabasso Causeway pages (Indian River County). The county campground on Roseland Road is the exception: Donald MacDonald Park allows pets on a 6 foot leash at all times (Indian River County, Donald MacDonald).

At Sebastian Inlet State Park, well-behaved pets are allowed in the campground and designated day-use areas but are prohibited on the beach, on playgrounds and in park buildings (Florida State Parks). Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge allows no pets on its trails, only service animals (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The Sebastian dog park guide in the recreation section covers the Bark Park in detail.

Two campgrounds near Sebastian are Donald MacDonald Park on the Saint Sebastian River and the 51-site campground at Sebastian Inlet State Park, and nature trails can be walked at Pelican Island and the St. Sebastian River Preserve.

Donald MacDonald Park charges $25 a night for primitive sites 1 to 26 and $35 for electric sites 27 to 30, with check-in after 2pm and check-out by noon. Stays are capped at two weeks with a one week break between visits and 6 total weeks a year, and the county suggests RVs over 30 feet use the Indian River County Fairgrounds Campground instead (Indian River County). The same county page describes 5 sites with electricity but prices only sites 27 to 30 as electric, so the site count is worth confirming at 772-226-1875 before booking a hookup.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge's trails are on the Historic Jungle Trail off A1A, 3.3 miles south of Sebastian Inlet, open daily from 7:30 am until sunset. The refuge manages about seven miles of trails, including the three-quarter-mile ADA accessible Centennial Trail, and bicycles are not allowed on them; drinking water is not available, so it must be carried in (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park is open 8 a.m. to sunset with no entrance fees, and its visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday (Florida State Parks). The Pelican Island refuge, Historic Jungle Trail, St. Sebastian River Preserve, Sebastian scrub conservation areas, Environmental Learning Center, Long Point Park and Blue Cypress Lake guides cover the wilder land around Sebastian, and the Fran B. Adams Park guide covers the county ball fields on CR 512.

Each common Sebastian parks question has one guide that answers it in depth, and the table below pairs the question with the key fact and that guide.