Resources
Resources for exploring the area
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Exploring Apalachicola
Apalachicola makes a great base camp for adventures around Apalachicola Bay. It’s a very walkable historic city with a quaint waterfront downtown.
It’s the place where air conditioning was invented, and there’s a museum for that. Oysters dominate restaurant menus, as the bay has traditionally been Florida’s best oyster grounds.
While distant from any other cities in the Florida Panhandle, it’s a short hop over the long bridge and causeway to get to the fishing village of Eastpoint.
Eastpoint in turn provides access to the Apalachicola National Forest and Tates Hell State Forest.
Across the bay bridge from Eastpoint is St. George Island, a popular vacation getaway with a must-visit state park.
Stretching east, west, and upriver, the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve blankets nearly a quarter million miles of marine basin. It is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with headquarters in Eastpoint.
Trails and Parks Near Apalachicola
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve blankets nearly a quarter million miles of marine basin on Florida's Forgotten Coast.
Apalachicola NERR East Hole Unit 4 of Apalachicola NERR conserves over a mile of important habitats for endangered shorebirds on St. George Island at East Hole on Apalachicola Bay.
Apalachicola NERR Nature Center A delightful destination for learning about Apalachicola Bay, the headquarters of Apalachicola NERR boasts a nature center and more than a half mile of gentle interpretive trails
Cat Point Trail Just a short walk from the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center, this half-mile loop meanders coastal habitats in Eastpoint
Gap Point Trail At St. George Island State Park, the 5-mile round trip Gap Point Trail offers an opportunity to backpack or day hike to get up close to the desert-like coastal scrub.
High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail Discover the beauty of the Forgotten Coast by hiking one or both loops of the High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail through scrub and wetlands fronting US 98 in Tate's Hell State Forest.
Little St. George Island Trails If you’re looking for remote along Florida’s coast, Little St. George Island in Apalachicola Bay has over 9 miles of undeveloped beach and several miles of trails, and is only accessible by boat.
Ralph G. Kendrick Dwarf Cypress Boardwalk Leading to a stand of dwarf bald cypress centuries old and less than 15 feet tall, the Kendrick Boardwalk at Tate's Hell State Forest is one of the weirder botanical spots in the Florida Panhandle.
Scipio Creek Boardwalk A sweeping view of the Apalachicola River estuary waits like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on this beautiful nature trail and boardwalk
St. George Island State Park Blessed with brilliant white quartz sand, St. George Island State Park is a sparkling, quiet getaway protecting nearly 2,000 acres of coastal habitats on a barrier island between Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 
Tates Hell State Forest One of Florida's more enormous state forests with over 202,000 acres, Tate's Hell is a vast coastal swamp sliced and diced by timber barons before being preserved by the state.Related Articles
Florida’s Front Line Beaches (6/6/2024) During World War II, two specialized coastal training bases in Florida contributed to the successful D-Day landings at Normandy and at beachheads beyond. 
There are Oysters Down There (8/19/2014) A fourth-generation Apalachicola oysterman teaches us how to tong for oysters while recounting the cultural history and modern issues of Apalachicola Bay.