The Hike Life: Florida Caverns State Park & Crooked Creek Trailhead

Florida Caverns State Park & Crooked Creek Trailhead

{March 22, 2014}

On our arrival to Florida Caverns State Park, the Ranger told us that most of the trails were closed due to flooding. Only about .5-1 mile was accessible in the entire park. So instead of being defeated and making a semi-long drive home, we made the best of it. Until we encountered a few water snakes and/or cottonmouths (we did not stick around to find out). Our camera died half way through, so we apologize for the lack of pictures!

Since we got up so early for such a short hike, we decided to drive around until we found a hiking trail. We ended up on Highway 79 in Florida outside of Ebro & Panama City Beach at Pine Log State Forest. Our first State Forest trail hike! The Crooked Creek Trailhead had a restroom, which was pretty gross with a lot of crude writings on the wall. It also looked like it hasn't really been kept up.

The trail itself was quite narrow and allowed for us to hike single-file instead of side-by-side. It was sandy, and hot, and overgrown. Not a terrible hike, but not much to see. We heard the creek at some point, but since everything was so overgrown we decided to stay on the trail. If you are going on this hike, be aware that there are black bears in the area. We would suggest carrying a big can of mace. And be sure to watch where you step. Rattlesnakes are also common in this area. Thankfully, the only wildlife we encountered were a couple of Eastern Fence Lizards.