Deer Lake State Park [update - not closing]

oh, no. Deer Lake is one of the most special places....

I'll bet Joe would love to see that park close. Get ready for WaterSound In-between Beach.

Looks like a done deal.

http://64.234.218.210/cgi-bin/walton_display.cgi?KEY=20-3S-18-16000-001-0020

Looks like a done deal.

http://64.234.218.210/cgi-bin/walton_display.cgi?KEY=20-3S-18-16000-001-0020

It doesn't look like the Metes and Bounds matches the site map. The area is off by about 99% as well.

http://64.234.218.210/cgi-bin/walton_legal.cgi?parcel_id=20-3S-18-16000-001-0020

This is horrible news to wake up to! What can we do to save this park? It scares us to think what might happen next! Deer Lake has always been and still is one of our most favorite spots along the beach.

...WaterSound West ?

Let's save the park!

...WaterSound West ?

Let's save the park!

We're in!

According to the AP, it would be a temporary budget trimming move, hence the likelihood of a July closure (when FY begins). That would be right before July 4 -- not good for the area.

The parks would have a caretaker, even while not open for business.

So, no need to truly panic, but since Deer Lake is one of the most gorgeous spots in SoWal, and times will likely be tough for families again next year, it might be a bad idea to close it. If we want to bring people to SoWal, we need to have low-cost or free recreational things to offer. Like Deer Lake Park.

Let's hope the TDC is on this. Meanwhile, we should all send our emails!

http://news-press.com/article/20081114/NEWS01/81114011/1075

Deer Lake needs to stay open. How can cost be reduced? How much money will the school district lose if this happens? Doesn't each state park give around 15% of collected fees to county each state park is located?

Sounds an awful lot like a publicity stunt. The house I just sold was 1 foot from the park and overlooking the beach walkover. They just paved an area for handicap access 2 weeks ago.

It's Prominence's beach access. There is more to this story than meets the eye. Don't get suckered into using a bunch of energy opposing this.

I wonder what "closed" means. Obviously, you'd still be able to walk there and plop your towel down for a day at the beach. Maybe walkover closed? Parking off 30A? Could you still hike or bike in?

There is a county park just a little to the west that provides fairly close public access to the beach area of Deer Lake. People need to remember it is a State Park and nesting area so No Pets Are Allowed.

Sounds an awful lot like a publicity stunt. The house I just sold was 1 foot from the park and overlooking the beach walkover. They just paved an area for handicap access 2 weeks ago.

It's Prominence's beach access. There is more to this story than meets the eye. Don't get suckered into using a bunch of energy opposing this.

Can you clarify what you mean?

It is my understanding that this park is on a statewide list of parks/rec. areas that are being closed due to budget cuts...
not sure how much money the state will save if the caretaker is going to continue; there is not much to do at Deer Lake...since it is a minimal facility park.
It is one of the few places the public can see dunes sorta like they used to be...

If the park closes, what does that mean for ownership of the land? Would it still be protected somehow against development? Could it be added to state forest land, or something similar?

Well the State already owns it, maybe instead of the County buying more property ( Natural Bridge) and taking it off the property rolls, they could hire someone to oversee/ run Deer Lake. Maybe when the Florida House Republicans show up next week, we could get some answers from them. Wait, you would be considered lobbiest and you weren't invited. Lord knows we don't want taxes to maintain what we have, unless its something we care about.

I understand this is a small park? I have only been there once and there was very little there a bathrooma nd boardwalk if i remember. Maybe we could talk to the park service and see if the Grayton Beach park people could send some one down there twice a day to open the park and then close it and move the land under the Point Washington forest rangers to manage the maintance of the area. This would save money on the care taker there and still being paid to live there when the park would be closed. Or maybe the TDC could contract the park fromthe state for the use and maintance of it??

We love to ride our bikes to Deer Lake Park, our favorite place on the beach. How much maintenance does it need, considering that the walkover was built in 2002 (if my memory serves me correctly) and the stairway down to the beach was rebuilt after the 2005 hurricanes?

If the group decides to fight its closure, we're in!

My 2nd favorite photo of the beach, taken by hubby at Deer Lake (favorite is one of daughter, hubby, and me):

Sand or snow?

Can you clarify what you mean?

It is my understanding that this park is on a statewide list of parks/rec. areas that are being closed due to budget cuts...
not sure how much money the state will save if the caretaker is going to continue; there is not much to do at Deer Lake...since it is a minimal facility park.
It is one of the few places the public can see dunes sorta like they used to be...

That park has one small bathroom which is run by a solar panel on the roof. It has a gravel screenings entry road. There are no services of anykind there. How does it make sense that the State and Walton County both have speant millions of tax dollars buying land for public beach access only to prohibit the public from using it? A small group of volunteers, maybe Watersound Beach HOA Security or another Developer could open and close the gate. A private Port-a-let company would love to have the oportunity to have a service agreement on that bathroom for $75.00 per month.

I can't find any logic in the announcement. What's more logical is that the Governor wants to create a reaction and induce some grassroots efforts or maybe a big developer pulled some strings to get another developers only beach access closed. How much less do you think the value of Tommy Henry's Prominence Development is worth wholesale with no beach access? What other developer, aside from JOE, would have any interest at all in Prominence with the only hope of beach access closed?

In the words of Santiago "Who cares if AAbsolute thinks it's shady, it's called business"

I understand this is a small park? I have only been there once and there was very little there a bathrooma nd boardwalk if i remember. Maybe we could talk to the park service and see if the Grayton Beach park people could send some one down there twice a day to open the park and then close it and move the land under the Point Washington forest rangers to manage the maintance of the area. This would save money on the care taker there and still being paid to live there when the park would be closed. Or maybe the TDC could contract the park fromthe state for the use and maintance of it??

The boardwalk is beautiful. You can ride your bike all the way to the beach. Unfortunately, daughter wiped out on one of the curves on the walkover. We can still see where she hit the rail. OOPS!

The boardwalk is beautiful. You can ride your bike all the way to the beach. Unfortunately, daughter wiped out on one of the curves on the walkover. We can still see where she it the rail. OOPS!

I also love this park. Be careful publicly advocating riding all the way to the beach. To provide for all sorts of visitors, pedestrians, wheelchairs, etc., there is a rule agaisnt riding one's bike on the boardwalk.

I also love this park. Be careful publicly advocating riding all the way to the beach. To provide for all sorts of visitors, pedestrians, wheelchairs, etc., there is a rule agaisnt riding one's bike on the boardwalk.

Really? I have not noticed a sign. But thanks for the info.

If the state won't maintain the park as such, they should pass it back to Walton County if the county will guarantee it will be kept as a public beach area. They did that when they decided they didn't want to keep rebuilding Navarre Beach SP every time it got whupped by a hurricane and passed responsibility for it back to Santa Rosa County.

The county could enhance this state park, imo, by adding some parking and bathrooms at the public beach just to the west it already owns. It is a fairly wide public beach area with no public restroom facilities anywhere nearby. Then, if the public wanted to walk down the beach and enjoy the open, natural area of Deer Lake beach, they could. Would be a great place for handicap access, parking and boat launch, too. For those too old to walk to the beach anymore, they could enjoy the sunset from their car.

The county could enhance this state park, imo, by adding some parking and bathrooms at the public beach just to the west it already owns. It is a fairly wide public beach area with no public restroom facilities anywhere nearby. Then, if the public wanted to walk down the beach and enjoy the open, natural area of Deer Lake beach, they could. Would be a great place for handicap access, parking and boat launch, too. For those too old to walk to the beach anymore, they could enjoy the sunset from their car.

My photo is taken from before the 2005 hurricane season. They didn't rebuild the handicapped access.