Known as Florida’s Canoe Capital thanks to the rivers and creeks of Blackwater River State Forest, Milton is a major destination for outdoor recreation. Santa Rosa County, of which Milton is the county seat, is well known statewide for its hiking, bicycling, and paddling trails.
Bear Lake Trail
At Blackwater River State Forest, each of the recreation areas offers access to hiking, and popular Bear Lake is no exception. A 4-mile trail loops around this impounded reservoir, which flows into Sweetwater Creek. The hike leads you through pine flatwoods and bluff forests, where Southern magnolia and hickory trees provide shade. It’s an excellent [...]
Blackwater River State Park – Chain of Lakes
Many people hike a short distance on this interpretive trail and never do the entire loop. Why? The Chain of Lakes Trail leads to one of the more beautiful sandbar beaches on the entire Blackwater River, and it’s a hot spot on weekends. But a walk on the full loop gives you the big picture [...]
Clear Creek Nature Trail
Imagine a wonderland of bright red blossoms and lacy white-veined trumpets reflected against reflections of the sky, where everywhere you turn, beauty surrounds you. You’ll find it near Milton at the Clear Creek Nature Trail. When I arrived at the peak of pitcher plant blooming season at the Clear Creek Nature Trail (early April) and [...]
Florida Trail, Eglin West
Bordered by the tangled floodplain forests of the Yellow River to the north, this 12-mile segment of the Florida Trail traverses high, dry sandhills topped with longleaf pine forest and planted pine, dropping in elevation as the trail descends towards the East Bay River. For most of its length, it’s never far from SR 87, [...]
Florida Trail, Juniper Creek
The Florida Trail along Juniper Creek (also known as the Juniper Creek Trail, Blackwater River State Forest) is a gorgeous place to explore in springtime, when mountain laurel blooms in both pink and white and the dogwoods put on a show. There are seepage slope bogs where pitcher plants look pretty as well. This is [...]
Garcon Point Trail
On a peninsula separating Blackwater Bay and East Bay, Garcon Point Preserve presents an open landscape of wind-swept prairies punctuated by oak hammocks and tall longleaf pines. The Western Gate Chapter of the Florida Trail Association constructed two trails to provide public access to this prime place to enjoy pitcher plant blooms in the spring, [...]
Jackson Red Ground Trail
Connecting Karick Lake Recreation Area with the Red Rocks area of Blackwater River State Forest, the Jackson Red Ground Trail follows the path taken by General Andrew Jackson and his 1,200 troops in 1818 as they marched towards Pensacola from Apalachicola. Jackson had just received orders to be in charge of the “Indian Removal” from [...]
Wiregrass Trail
An excellent overnight backpacking trip which is also a segment of the Florida Trail, the Wiregrass Trail gets you into the heart of an ecosystem that has vanished across most of the Southeast—the longleaf pine forest. These rolling clayhills are topped with stately longleaf pine and wiregrass, with views that go on and on as [...]
Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park
Resources Immediately north of Garcon Point Preserve, Garcon Point Rd (CR 191) is a delight to drive in early April. Pitcher plants bloom roadside, edging the ditches in astounding quantity as you draw closer to Blackwater Bay and Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park. Overview Location: Bagdad Length: unknown—no marked trails Lat-Long: 30.484300, -87.071500 Type: [...]
