April 7, 2021 by Kurt Lischka
South Walton County in the Florida panhandle is home to rare coastal dune lakes that kiss the Gulf of Mexico. Western Lake meets the Gulf at Grayton Beach State Park. The beloved stand of pines between the lake and the Gulf is one of South Walton's most photographed and painted scenes.
Photos & info -
http://sowal.com/place/western-lake
http://sowal.com/place/grayton-beach-state-park
Visiting Eden Gardens State Park is tuning out the rest of the world and tuning in the “Real Florida”.
Trade in your worries and turn on to the splendor of SoWal's great outdoors, with some Florida history to boot. Just a bit north of the beach, Eden Gardens State Park is nestled in the woods of Point Washington, along the shores of Tucker Bayou and the Choctawhatchee Bay. It's the ideal spot to relax and have family fun.
On the east side of South Walton just east of Inlet Beach, turn off Highway 98 and through the gate of Camp Helen State Park and be amazed how fast you go from freeway frenzy to total tranquility.
Grayton Beach State Park has showcased the best natural environment South Walton has to offer for nearly 50 years.
The park encompasses 2,200 acres of pristine rolling dunes along the Gulf and Western Lake, and a magnificent coastal forest habitat with unusual scrub oaks and magnolias twisted by winds and time. Western Lake is the centerpiece of the park, one of our rare, freshwater coastal dune lakes.
We’re at Deer Lake State Park in Walton County, Florida, tracing this bond through a coastal dune lake watershed.
Water, of course, unifies this system. But for that water to move through the system how it should, it needs fire.
About 50 people attended the opening of Pilcher Park on Friday, April 7th. The crowd was was wowed by the gem of a park underneath the 331 bridge on the south shore of the Choctawhatchee Bay.
Walton County Commissioners joined the celebration along with representatives of the Florida Department of Transportation to dedicate the new Thomas Pilcher Park and the second span of the Clyde B. Wells Bridge.
Most people are astonished to learn that Florida has caves, but the limestone ecosystem of the central Florida panhandle is quite different than anywhere else in the state.
State park personnel were in Walton County on June 7 to hear from the public about a 10-year plan under consideration for Deer Lake State Park in southeastern Walton County. About a dozen members of the public attended the meeting, which was held in the pavilion at Eden Gardens State Park.
South Walton is beautiful in ways that challenge the imagination. Word has gotten out about our sleepy collection of sophisticated-yet-casual communities whose prominent allure is the pristine white-sand beach and its complement – the glistening emerald-hued Gulf. While the shore whets travelers’ appetites, it’s what’s off the beach that may be most deserving of our attention.
Thanks to the hard work of a dedicated group of locals, South Walton has added an entire layer of recreation through artificial reef environments. The South Walton Artificial Reef Association (SWARA) has installed the first set of near shore reefs off our beaches.
