Florida Trail: Western Panhandle Hiking Guide

Official companion app to "The Florida Trail Guide" guidebook by Florida Hikes! Standing in the middle of an ancient magnolia-beech forest, you wonder how it survived the passage of time. Thank Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1909 created Choctawhatchee National Forest. While the national forest evaporated with the onset of World War II, the forests that weren't of commercial use were spared in the conversion to Eglin Air Force Base. The Florida Trail traverses deeply folded terrain as it stays close to the northern edge of this military reservation's borders, providing one of the most challenging and satisfying sections of the trail for backpackers, including the trail's steepest climbs and highest elevations.

On the western side of Crestview, the Yellow River Ravines offer a rugged trek through steepheads and bayheads on the north side of this wild river. One final section inside Eglin Air Force Base meanders through sandhills and steepheads around Weaver Creek to East Bay. Following sidewalks and a causeway to Santa Rosa Island, the Seashore section - the final 30 miles of the Florida Trail, or your starting miles if headed southbound - offer salt breezes, sunshine, and a walk on the beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore, with one designated opportunity to camp in the dunes before trail's end at Fort Pickens, the northern terminus.