Blowing Rocks Preserve

Map & Directions

Blowing Rocks Preserve is located on Jupiter Island.  The outcrops extend for a mile south from the boardwalk.  This preserve is the best place to find intact fossils in the Anastasia Formation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties.  The outcrop is highly bioturbated.  Large and small burrows crater the surface.  Laminated calcium carbonate crusts contain both botryoidal growths and root impressions.  Solution pipes are common.  Some form “blow holes”, shooting water up to 50 feet into the air at high tide.  Others have been filled in by cement and become lithified infillings.  Wave erosion features include coves and promontories, notches, caves, abrasion platforms, and collapsed rock masses.

Note:  Blowing Rocks Preserve is part of The Nature Conservancy.  Their official web page is located at Blowing Rocks Preserve.

Solution pipe “blow hole” at high tide

Extensive bioturbation on the side of the outcrop

Botryoidal growths on laminated calcium carbonate crust

Cliffs, notches, caves, and a rock mass

Burrows and laminated crusts on the surface of the outcrop

Large burrows on the side of the outcrop