Hiking Bald Point State Park

Along Florida’s Forgotten Coast, the beaches of Bald Point State Park arc out into Apalachee Bay where the Ochlockonee River flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s a slender peninsula reaching off aptly named Alligator Point, fringed with extensive salt marshes and the slimmest of coastal hammocks along a quiet shore.

Coastal estuary at Bald Point

Resources

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

Disclosure: As authors and affiliates, we receive earnings when you buy these through our links. This helps us provide public information on this website.

Overview

Location: Alligator Point
Trailhead: 29.937608,-84.337377
Address: 146 Box Cut Rd, Alligator Point
Fees: $4 per vehicle, $2 pedestrian or cyclist
Restroom: at the parking area
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-349-9146

Open sunrise to sunset daily. Dogs are not permitted on the beach. Picnic tables, restrooms, and the boardwalk are accessible.

Sunscreen and a hat are suggested, as shade is limited along the shoreline.

Carry insect repellent, as you may need it in the estuary for the mosquitoes. Yellowflies can be a major problem here in early summer. Unfortunately, repellant doesn’t work on them.

Directions

From Tallahassee, follow US 319 to US 98 at Medart. Drive west on US 98 through Panacea to Ochlockonee Bay, crossing the bay on a long bridge. Continue one mile to SR 370, the road to Alligator Point. Follow this road for 3 miles to the turnoff for Bald Point Road. Follow Bald Point Road into the park entrance.

About the Park

Surrendering yourself to the coast of the Big Bend means tuning into both tiny details and panoramic landscapes.

You’ll want to sweep your view across the vast horizons, where waves dance in the foreground.

Looking out across the water

But don’t forget to look down. At Bald Point State Park, wildflowers put on a perpetual show.

Summer means splashes of purple and white, coming from runners of morning-glory with a parade of blossoms, and members of the pea family blazing in the sun.

Morning glory on the dunes

In fall, the park is in the migration path for both monarch butterflies and raptors, including bald eagles.

Even in winter, the beach walk is fascinating, with shorebirds dashing along the sand.

Picnic pavilion at the beach

Individual accessible picnic table pavilions front the beach at each of the parking areas.

Near the end of the park road, a boardwalk leads out to an observation platform overlooking the estuary. An accessible fishing pier is at the end of the road.

The sweep of sand to where bay meets Gulf

Hiking

The Sand Pine Trail off Alligator Drive is a 1.3 mile loop through the coastal sand pine scrub.

While it’s open to cyclists, the soft sand is challenging enough for hiking. Two spurs lead out towards Alligator Sound, each less than a mile round-trip.

Gate into the Sand Pine Trail

The Sundew Loop is a 1.6 mile loop off the Tucker Lake Trail, which is more popular with cyclists because it’s 6 miles around the larger loop.

The shorter loop will get you up close to carnivorous plants in the wetlands.

Expect birds along the beach

Hikers will appreciate the beach walk, which can be connected with the estuary boardwalk for a 1.3-mile loop.

Since we initially hiked it, a return trail has been blazed to parallel the park road and is now known as the Maritime Hammock Loop.

Maritime Hammock Loop

Discover the beauty of a lightly-walked beach paired with the intimate details of a maritime forest and the immense panorama of a coastal estuary on this 1.3 mile loop at Bald Point State Park

Biking

Off-road enthusiasts can join hikers on a network of sandy trails through the coastal pine forests.

These follow a network of old roads where a subdivision was prevented by the purchase of this land for conservation, as well as forest roads for park management.

Exit from the Sand Pine Trail, which can be biked

Double Pond

The 1.4 mile Double Pond Loop can be accessed off the entrance road to the beach. Look for the gates on the left.

From it, the Sunday Reel Trail extends another 2.1 miles out to Ochlockokee Bay, for a 5.6 mile round-trip and loop ride.

Access to these trails is by biking Bald Point Rd from one of the trailheads north or south of the entrance point to the trails.

Wildflowers in bloom near the trailhead

Tucker Lake

The longest loop in the park is 6.9 miles around Tucker Lake.

Access it from the very first trailhead you see heading north on Bald Point Rd on the right after you turn off Alligator Dr.

Maritime hammock at Bald Point

Paddling

Chaires Creek and Tucker Lake, both tidal waterways in the estuary, can be reached by paddlers who put in off Range Rd just west of the Chaires Creek Bridge.

One paddle-in campsite is along Chaires Creek for the benefit of the Florida Saltwater Circumnavigational Trail. If you’d like to use it, just call the park in advance.