Welcome to the Bog Blog! I’ve made it my mission to explore as many new Florida State Parks this year as I possibly can and share my experience. As a Panama City native, I tend to frequent St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach whenever I’m looking to get outdoors. As much as I love going to St. Andrews, there are so many other state parks just a short drive away ready to be explored. This week, I traveled just 47 miles west to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach.

Since I know I’ll be hitting up a lot of state parks this year, the first thing I did upon arriving at the park was grab my annual state park pass. These passes can be purchased for individual use for $60, or a family pass can be purchased for $120. The family pass covers the entrance fees for up to 8 people, or one full car for one year while the individual pass covers the entrance fee for only the named passholder. Additional guests cost $2 per person. Since I do most of my exploring solo and with only my dog, Oslo, I opted for the individual pass. (Interested in getting your own? Click here.)

Upon entrance, there’s a large parking lot that all day-visitors must park at. From this parking lot you can bike or walk to all 10 trails and a tram station that takes visitors to and from the beach access point. We did not go to the beach today because pets are not allowed on the sandy beaches.

There is one paved trail, the Campbell Lake Bike Path that spans the first 1.61 miles. This bike path is the main trail that most other trails are connected, with the exception of the Morris Lake Trail and the Old Growth Trail. Hikers with dogs, beware of stepping off of this paved path due to prickly pear cactuses lining the trail. This is the only part of the trail system that I noticed any concern of stepping on prickly pear cactuses.

From the Campbell Lake Bike Path, I took the Gopher Tortoise Trail. This is a 1.05 mile unpaved trail that takes you to the northern border of the park. Unfortunately, I was not able to see any gopher tortoises on this hike. However, it was a lovely trail wide enough for hikers and bikers to pass in opposite directions.

After getting back on the Campbell Lake Bike path, we sat for a spell on the trail. Fortunately, kind-hearted passerbys thought Oslo was the one struggling and not me, so that spared me the humiliation of explaining that my feet were killing me from my poor choice of shoes. Chacos require a “breaking in” period that I failed to do this year before jumping into this hike. They did explain that just a little further ahead was a rest area where “poor Oslo” could chill out in the shade, which I was very grateful for.

At the end of the Campbell Lake Bike Path lies a roundabout as well as a restroom and picnic pavilion, and of course, Campbell Lake. Campbell Lake is one of the 15 rare coastal dune lakes that are located along the coast in Walton County. Coastal dune lakes are incredibly rare - occurring in only 5 locations throughout the world including Australia, New Zealand, Oregon and Madagascar.

Paddle boarding and Kayaking are welcome activities, however, you must rent one of the vessels from the state park in order to mitigate the introduction of non-native and invasive plant species into the lakes that personal vessels may do.

After checking out the lake, we utilized the picnic pavilion to take a breather and a water break.

As much as I would have loved to continue exploring, My feet were raw and I was ready to go! Oslo didn’t protest, either.

All in all, we hiked a little over 4 miles. I definitely plan to return and hike the rest of the trails on a day when I’m better prepared.

Other Park Experiences

• This park is part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail and has more than 15 miles of trails in which many of our native and migratory bird species can be spotted.

• These 15 miles of paved and unpaved trails makes this park excellent for biking. Personal bicycles can be brought to the park, or they can be rented.

• Topsail Hill Preserve also offers camping. RV camping is welcome with full power hookups, water, and sewer. There are also laundry facilities and bathhouses. There are nearly two dozen tent camp sites for primitive camping, cabins available for rental, and Fancy Camps Luxury Camping.

• As mentioned before, Topsail Hill Preserve does allow paddle boarding and kayaking, however, you must rent a vessel from the park. Personal vessels are prohibited due to the possible introduction of non-native plant species to the park.

• Swimming is welcome along the 3.2 miles of sandy beaches as well as both fresh and saltwater fishing.

Learn more about Topsail Hill Preserve and what you can experience at this park by going to www.FloridaStateParks.org

*Aleigator Supply Co. is not affiliated with Florida State Parks.

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