Northwest Florida

Beaches in the Big Bend are rare, since this stretch of shoreline is defined by coastal estuaries and there is a lack of barrier islands. Still, in the sweep of the shallows of the Gulf of Mexico between Apalachicola and Cedar Key, you’ll find slim ribbons and tiny patches of beach. Where Ochlockonee Bay meets [...]

Between Pensacola and Perdido Key, Big Lagoon is best known for its (really big) lagoon, high observation tower, and campground, but the trail system is a delight for hardy hikers. It’s easy to make short forays out along the lakes and to the observation tower on the criss-crossing nature trails, but a circuit around the [...]

A ribbon of asphalt that connects communities and parks within the historic Apalachicola River town of Blountstown, the Blountstown Greenway is ideal for walking or biking and, in part, serves as a path for the Florida Trail through the center of town. Heavily shaded by deep upland forest for much of the journey, it connects [...]

Adjoining the historic Orman House in downtown Apalachicola, Chapman Botanical Garden honors the memory of Dr. Alvan Wentworth Chapman, a noted botanist who lived and worked as a medical doctor in Apalachicola. In 1860, Chapman published Flora of the Southern United States, one of the first such studies of southern plant life. Both Chapman oaks [...]

The coast of Walton County is home to rare coastal dune lakes, an ecosystem that only exists in Florida and in Australia and Africa, and you’ll find them at Deer Lake State Park. As the freshwater lakes become too full, they naturally spill over and flow into the Gulf of Mexico. At that time seawater [...]

Best known for its antebellum mansion with one of the most extensive Louis XVI furniture collections in America, Eden Gardens State Park has its wild side, too. The Tucker Bayou Trail, recently relocated, starts and ends at the new Tucker Bayou picnic area down a side road off the new park entrance. This short, mazy [...]

Iconic as the home of Florida’s tallest waterfall, Falling Waters State Park is a showcase for Florida geology. The park sits atop a high ridge, offering steep slopes on its short but delightful trail system and scenic views, when the leaves are few, from the picnic area and campground to lower elevations. The highlight of [...]

You’re guaranteed to get wet on Florida’s roughest, wildest swamp walk on the Florida Trail in Bradwell Bay, a wild place where hiking with friends is a smart idea. Situated south of Tallahassee, the Bradwell Bay Wilderness is one of the most majestic and wild places in Northwest Florida, a roadless area encompassing more than [...]

This segment of the Florida Trail near Destin is on a swath of public land with a long and storied history. Established concurrently with the Ocala National Forest in 1908, the Choctawhatchee National Forest protected a vast swath of old growth longleaf pine forest. In 1940, the Federal Government decided to make the area a [...]

At the westernmost point of Santa Rosa Island, along the shimmering sands of the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Trail comes to an end at one of the most important historic sites in Florida’s Panhandle—Fort Pickens. Construction of Fort Pickens began in 1829 under supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers. President Abraham Lincoln considered [...]

On an early morning in the fog off the river, you can almost feel the ghosts slipping between the trees, sunlight dappling through the moist needles of longleaf pine and the air thick with the fresh scent of river bottom and fungus. Pale lily-like blooms of wiregrass gentian peep from between the grasses carpeting the [...]

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, [...]

Along the South Walton coast, Grayton Beach State Park preserves special treasures—not just a waterfront with emerald waves and sparkling sand, but a rare coastal dune lake with freshwater mere feet from the sea. The trail system introduces you to a coastal dune lake and its surrounding habitats. Start with the Barrier Dunes Nature Trail, [...]

In Tate’s Hell State Forest, the High Bluff Coastal Trail along US 98 near Carrabelle leads you over relict dunes covered with scrub plants like Florida rosemary and scrub mint, partially shaded by a canopy of sand pines. Since this is a scrub habitat, expect some sand in your shoes. You’ll walk a linear trail [...]

The nature trail at Ladell Brothers Outdoor Environmental Center, North Florida Community College in Madison is a place for students and visitors to get away from it all in the midst of the college campus. Starting off on a boardwalk across a cypress swamp, the trail enters the deep shade of a thick hardwood hammock. [...]

Showcasing bluff forests and deep ravines above Lake Talquin – a dammed reservoir in the Ocklochnee River west of Tallahassee – the Fort Braden Trails offer enough hiking for a weekend in the woods. Built and maintained by Florida Trail Association volunteers, the trail system includes the Central, East, and West Loops, all of which [...]

A vast reservoir along the Ochlockonee River behind the Jackson Bluff Dam, which feeds a hydroelectric plant helping to power Tallahassee, Lake Talquin is a rarity in Florida due to its sheer size and character. From the picnic pavilion atop the park’s main ridge, the water shimmers in the distance, and a clamber down to [...]

At Letchworth Mounds you can walk around the base of the tallest and most complex ceremonial mound in Florida. There are four mounds in the complex, with the tallest 46 feet high. The mounds are from the Woodland Period circa A.D. 500. The site was first mentioned in 1939 in the article “Spanish Mission Sites [...]

Hidden on a back street within walking distance of downtown Sopchoppy, Myron B. Hodge City Park offers quiet campsites along the dark placid waters of the Sopchoppy River, and a nature trail where you can linger along the Sopchoppy River amid the sweet spring scent of Florida azalea. With porch swings and picnic tables, the [...]

At the confluence of the Ochlockonee River and the marshes fed by the Sopchoppy River, Ochlockonee River State Park is tucked behind a corner of St. Marks Wildlife Refuge just south of Sopchoppy as you head towards Lanark Village. A popular camping spot thanks to easy access to the water for anglers and paddlers, it’s [...]

What a delight to find a cool pool of bright blue water beneath tall cypresses—and a trailhead at the same time! Just off I-10 in the eponymous town of Ponce De Leon, this first-magnitude spring pumps out 14 million gallons of water a day, creating Spring Creek. Resources Overview Location: Ponce de Leon Length: 0.6 [...]

Significant as the site of the first coastal fortress in Northwest Florida, San Marcos de Apalache protects several generations of battlements at the confluence of the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers. There are faint tracings of the original wooden stockade fort completed by the Spanish in 1679 at the confluence of the St. Marks and [...]

With the roar of the nearby surf in your ears and sand in your shoes, it’s hard to believe that the glimmering body of water at the bottom of this ancient sand dune is called Gator Lake for good reason—you’ll find its namesake alligators there. Although less than a half-mile in length, this interpretive loop [...]

Tall slash pines dominate the windswept remnant of coastal scrub forest that St. George Island State Park protects at the easternmost tip of this barrier island dividing the mouth of the Apalachicola River from the Gulf of Mexico. Starting from the campground area, the 5-mile round trip Gap Point Trail offers an opportunity to backpack [...]

For a sampling of the fragile coastal habitats protected along St. Joseph Bay by St Joseph Peninsula State Park, take a short walk on this spectacularly scenic coastal trail. You’ll meander through a diminutive scrub forest where the delicate Florida rosemary, myrtle oak, and Chapman oak are gnarled and wizened like bonsai thanks to the [...]

Hugging the “Forgotten Coast” of the Big Bend, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge encompasses a broad sweep of salt marshes and tidal flats, brackish impoundments, cabbage palm hammocks, and pinelands. The Mounds Pool Interpretive Trail offers an excellent spot for birding along the man-made impoundments, melding a shady walk along one pool to a breezy [...]

Tarkiln Bayou State Park offers wheelchair accessible trails leading to pitcher plant bogs along a bayou on the Alabama border, west of Pensacola. In 2003, The Nature Conservancy assisted the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) with the purchase of this critical wetland along Tarkiln Bayou, known as the Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie. Adjoining wetlands [...]

A sweep of fragile dunes along a shore that’s vanished, over time, under the rush of development: Topsail Hill State Park is a very special place. Protecting more than 3 miles of oceanfront on the Gulf of Mexico – and the 1,600 acres of delicate scrub and pine flatwoods habitats that lie behind the dune [...]

A broad boardwalk trail that showcases a clear, healthy tannic stream draining the sandhills of Eglin Air Force Base, the Turkey Creek Nature Trail is a community park and gathering place where children are almost always at play, thanks to platforms that enable visitors to jump into the cool water for a swim or a [...]

Created by volunteers from the Friends of Wakulla Springs, the new Wakulla Springs Trail provides up to 10 miles of hiking in a round-trip and loop that showcases the variety of habitats along the river’s floodplain. A new bridge over Sally Ward Spring Run provides access to the uplands along the far side of the [...]

At Wright Lake near Sumatra, a day hiking loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest features an unusual bridge and numerous pitcher plant bogs This well-kept loop along the western edge of the Apalachicola National Forest was a real surprise to me. I expected pine plantations (and there were many), but did [...]