April 10th, 2026

This video contains the start of Day 7 departing Dupuis Campground – Canal Point, Florida and my ride east to the coast on Florida Highway A1A in Stuart, Florida.  This morning’s ride starts rural, transitions to suburban metropolitan and then into coastal areas.

Florida Loop 2026 Day 7 Summary

Day 7 of Florida Loop 2026 I rode from Dupuis Campground in Canal Point, Florida and rode east to Stuart, Florida riding Florida Highway A1A and US Highway 1 north to Daytona Beach, Florida.  In Daytona Beach, I rode the short but highly scenic Ormond Loop route and then rolled northwest to Palatka, Florida where I stayed in a hotel on my last overnight of this trip.

 Original plan was to camp at Ocean Pond Campground in the Osceola Wildlife Managment Area. However, with the somewhat late start drying out my gear and the slow riding in traffic and slow speed zones throughout the day, I great underestimated the time required to ride my planned route. Not being a huge fan of riding at night in rural -semi wilderness areas (which northern Florida is) I decided to just cut the route short and stay in a hotel for the last overnight of this trip.

Rain – But Not Today

Today was the first no-rain day of this trip (ok, it sprinkled some but not actual rain, I will take it).  I was expecting to run into rain during this trip, I really was not expecting 6 days back-to-back rain.  It is Florida and I should have known better LOL.  Fun fact, it did not rain the two weeks prior on my route or the week and half afterwards, I guess I am just lucky like that.  I can ride in the rain and obviously did so during this trip, I just don’t really enjoy it.  The heavy rain when visibility is greatly reduced is what I really don’t like.  Even though it did rain allot, for the most part, it was only heavy showers for relatively short periods, which made it manageable. 

Total Miles for Day 7 = 274 Miles

Camping at Dupuis Campground

I was absolutely thrilled with Dupuis Campground, such a spacious, well maintained, clean campground with clean bathrooms, showers, running water, and great campsites for tents, campers, and RV’s (and horses too).  Even more amazing, this campground is free, just must register with the county in advance.  If I have camping plans in this region again in the future, this campground is number one on my list.

After the sun set, the rain returned and rained until about 12:30 AM.  I used this time to curl up in my tent and take a power nap until 12:30am and then eat some Mountain House breakfast meals for dinner. 

Later that night as I lay in my tent, I listened to a pack of coyotes that camp through camp excitedly howling at the moon as the rain clouds departed, and other wildlife.  It was so peaceful.

The next morning I made some instant coffee after boiling some water in my Jet Boil and stroll about the campground observing the morning rituals of the local wildlife and a lone coyote that was upset with me as I seemingly blocked his pursuit path to a local rabbit that used my campsite as an escape route. 

After my coffee I broke down camp and laid everything out on the gravel path to dry, then packed up and rolled out towards the cost and ultimately Palatka, Florida.