Exploring Blackwater River State Forest
Topped with longleaf pine and wiregrass, the undulating landscape seems to stretch on forever. With six campgrounds, seven recreation areas, and more than a dozen trails to choose from, you won’t run out of things to do.
Campers and hikers will want to head for the recreation areas: Bear Lake, Krul, Karick Lake (North and South), and Hurricane Lake (North and South). Campsites must now be reserved through Reserve America.
Backpackers have two or three nights worth of hiking the Florida Trail, equestrians have their own dedicated trail system – the Coldwater Horse Trails – and paddlers can arrange shuttle services with several Milton-area outfitters for trips down Coldwater Creek, Juniper Creek, and the Blackwater River.
Land Manager: Florida Forestry Service
Address: 11650 Munson Highway, Milton 32570
Phone: 850-957-5701
The ranger station is in Munson on CR 191 just a little south of SR 4. Camping fees are charged at the recreation areas. Some recreation areas charge a day use fee, but access to the forest is otherwise free.
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Botanical Highlights
Blackwater River State Forest is a haven for botanical beauty, thanks to its healthy longleaf pine and wiregrass ecosystem. Here’s a peek.
Looking for pitcher plants? Stop in at the visitor center in Milton and ask for a map of the pitcher plant bogs. A patchwork of hundreds of small bogs on seepage slopes and along the edges of creeks makes it possible to find pitcher plants throughout the forest. These carnivorous beauties bloom in April.
For a full immersion into the forest’s botanical wonders, hike the Juniper Creek Trail, a 7.5-mile segment of the Florida Trail paralleling this sand-bottomed creek from Red Rocks to Deaton Bridge. In early spring, you’ll be surrounded by mountain laurel blooms in white and pink. Atlantic white cedars, distinctive with their whorled bark, rise to incredible heights, and there are longleaf pines too broad to wrap your arms around.
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NEARBY: Blackwater River State Park, Crestview, Milton, Navarre, Pensacola | PART OF: Northwest Florida
Hal Scott Preserve
Hello. I was wondering if nude hikers in Blackwater River forest will be ticketed when hiking naked in the Blackwater River forest on June 21, which is celebrated as national Hike Naked Day? Is there a particular trail the forest service will allow us to use to hike naked and not be told to put clothes on? Do the Rangers view nude hiking, so long as no lewdness is occurring, as a prohibited activity?
Hike Naked Day does not confer any special status anywhere to people who choose to do so. If a law enforcement officer (ranger) sees you doing so, it’s entirely within their discretion to arrest you based on any state, county, or local laws that prohibit public nudity, whether of lewd intent or not. If a fellow hiker sees you and takes a photo / reports you / files a complaint / files charges, especially if you are naked in front of minors outdoors, a judge could label you a sex offender in Florida, no matter your intent. Worth the risk? Up to you.