The Florida Panhandle is unique from the rest of the state, as it is more rugged and less populated. Hiking the many trails is a good way to see this area, which is known lovingly to Floridians as L.A., or "lower Alabama." It will always be a source of local humor that a few years back a popular European guidebook left the Panhandle completely off its map, ending Florida at Tallahassee. Just as the musician Prince started calling himself "AFKAP," which stood for "artist formerly known as Prince," residents in West Florida started calling their part of the state "AFKAP," meaning "area formerly known as the Panhandle."
All joking aside, the Florida Panhandle is a lovely region. Visitors can enjoy hiking and seeing some historical sights, such as old Civil War forts and Florida's endangered pineywoods. Also, it is the one place in the world where you can still see bigleaf magnolias.
Gulf Islands National Seashore
At the western end of the Florida Panhandle at the border with Alabama and Mississippi is the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which is located partly in Florida and partly in Mississippi. The 35-mile Florida portion of the trail is called the Naval Live Oak Trail. This is a historic region of Florida, particularly pertaining to the Civil War. You can explore old forts along the trail, Fort Pickens, near Pensacola, which is notable because the great Apache warrior, Geronimo, was held prisoner there in the 1880s, while his wife was imprisoned at Fort Matanzas in St. Augustine.
Two more forts along the Naval Live Oak Trail--Fort Barrancas, which sits on the bluff overlooking the entrance to Pensacola Bay, which has the Advanced Redoubt, built to protect Pensacola Navy Yard, and on the other side, near Perdido Key, what remains of Fort McRee, which was mostly destroyed in a big Civil War battle in 1861.
The trail is multi-use, so you can either walk it or ride your bike along it.
Blackwater River State Forest and Park
Located off U.S. 90 about 15 miles northeast of Milton, this is the largest of Florida's state forests. The Juniper Trail, which is accessible from the park, is a designated Florida Canoe Trail, so it would be easy to combine a hiking trip with a camping and canoeing trip. There are campsites along the trail, from which the Blackwater region could be explored.
This part of Florida falls prey to logging enterprises some years, so the multi-use trail may be crossed by loads of cut timber at times. Still, it is worth a look if you're in the Panhandle, especially if you're fond of trees. You may never get a chance to see longleaf pine in this quantity again.
Florida Caverns State Park
Florida Caverns State Park is an extraordinary area, near Marianna, in which the hiking trails go through the one area of the state where there are caves available for exploration. Cave tours are moderately strenuous, but hikers in reasonable shape shouldn't have any problems. Reserve your space in advance, as the cave tours are so popular they may sell out. The tours are done every day of the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and takes approximately 45 minutes.
In addition to the cave tours, Florida Caverns State Park has two hiking trails, both of which start at the visitor's center. The trails are considered mildly strenuous because they run along the rock bluffs of the river and the terrain is sometimes rough and slippery when wet. It is best not to hike this region alone, as there is always safety in numbers in case of injuries.
Torreya State Park
Torreya State Park, near Tallahassee, is named for a rare and beautiful tree, also known as the bigleaf magnolia. The torreya is an extremely endangered species. This is the only place in the world where it still grows, along with more than 100 other rare hardwoods and plants.
The Florida torreya is the stuff of legend, supposedly called "gopher wood" in Biblical times and used by Noah to build his famous ark. If you go, familiarize yourself with it by visiting the historic Gregory Mansion, on the park grounds, which has two torreya trees along its brick walkway. Once you know what they look like, you'll be able to spot them throughout the park.
Apalachicola National Forest
This national treasure holds 74 miles of the Florida National Scenic Trail, from short interpretive hikes, which you can sample anytime you're in the Panhandle to long-distance hauls, which you do well to save for the winter months, December to March, when the summer mosquitoes and heat are gone, but it's almost never too cold to hike. Keep in mind that you'll need to pay day use fees and that some trails may be multi-use, not just bicycles, so look out for all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and horses in case they don't see you first.
You'll see a wealth of pineywoods here, with a rare opportunity to compare longleaf and slash pine. The Leon Sinks Trail, just south of Tallahassee, will show you a variety of the sinkholes for which Florida is famous. You can't scuba-dive in the sinks, but you can walk down into the ones that aren't filled with water. Keep your eyes peeled for a variety of creatures, including salamanders, gopher tortoises and porcupines.
Wakulla Springs State Park
An old Florida gem, Wakulla Springs' nature trails are frequented in the winter months by bird watchers from all over the world hoping to see the 160 different species of birds. These include the once nearly extinct limpkin, whose diet consists solely of freshwater snails, and the purple gallinule, whose palate is much less sophisticated and has been known to thrive in captivity on little but bread soaked in milk.
Some believe that Wakulla Springs, fed by four rivers, has a the largest population of alligators in all of Florida. Even though snorkeling and swimming are permitted along the trail, please do so only in designated areas.
Explore Other Hiking Trails in the Florida Panhandle
You could spend months hiking the trails already discussed, but there are many more. The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge trail near Tallahassee, which is an extension of the Florida Trail; the St. George Island Trail near Apalachicola; and The St. Joseph Peninsula Trail at Port Saint Joe, down on the Gulf Coast, are three others that you will want to check out in future trips to the Florida Panhandle.
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