Courtesy of Walton Outdoors …
Western Lake at Grayton Beach State Park. Lori Ceier/Walton Outdoors
Mother Nature shows off her best fetures at this gem of a park.
Those who live in the Florida Panhandle are blessed with the diversity and natural beauty of our local Florida State parks. One of several great parks located in the Walton County area is Grayton Beach State Park.
Nestled on both the south and north of Scenic 30A, we took a journey to explore the entire park filled with a diversity of sand dunes, scrub oaks, Western Lake’s salt marsh, multiple ecosystems and remarkable trails. This area is the perfect habitat for wildlife and an eco adventure.
Grayton Beach State Park offers a wide variety of activities for the visitor. Along with the beautiful beaches, there are two unique trails to enjoy, along with camping and cabin rentals.
Take a walk along the trail nicknamed the “Hobbit Hole,” through the dunes where you find yourself enveloped in the scrub oaks and as you become one with nature. Flowering spiderworts and blue lupine provide colorful highlights along the trail in the springtime. Walk a bit further and you will be taken aback by a panoramic view once you reach the vista at the top of the dunes. This incredible view is quite famous, as it has been painted many times by local artists, and become the quintessential signature view of Scenic 30A.
Thanks to a local volunteer group, Friends of Grayton Beach interpretive signs are provided along the trail to enhance and educate the hiker’s journey.
On the north side of 30A, you will find a 4.2-mile hike/bike trail through the pine flatwoods. Along the trail you may discover endangered pitcher plants, snakes and lizards along with quiet places you can stop, sit and ponder the forest. Click here for map: graytontrailmap