Hugging the wild shoreline of Tucker Bayou at Point Washington, Eden Gardens is a delight from many perspectives.
The park centers around the historic Wesley House, an elegant two-story mansion built by timber baron William Henry Wesley in 1897.

Restored in the 1960s by Lois Maxon, a wealthy lady with a taste for French provincial, the home contains the second-largest collection of Louis XVI furniture in the United States.
The mansion is surrounded by formal gardens, including a Hidden Garden with statuary, a Rose Garden with brick pathways, and a large lily pond.

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Overview
Trailhead: 30.365451,-86.120389
Address: 181 Eden Gardens Rd, Santa Rosa Beach
Fees: $4 per vehicle. $4 per person for guided house tour.
Restroom: At both parking areas
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-267-8320
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. The first floor of the Wesley House and the picnic area are accessible.
Guided tours of the home run hourly Thu-Mon except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Directions
From the junction of US 98 and CR 30-A in Destin, drive east towards Panama City for 8.8 miles. Turn left at CR 395. Drive 0.3 miles and turn left into the park’s entrance road. The road to Tucker Bayou is to the left, or continue straight to the Wesley House and gardens.
About the Park
“It’s a perfect day for snakes,” says Ranger Rich, and the two ladies with us look uncomfortable.
“In here?” one asks, hesitantly. The ranger grins.
“No, under the house. They like it when it warms up!”
And so our tour starts at the Wesley House, an elegant two-story home from 1897 dressed up in a French Provincial wrapper.

New York heiress Lois Maxon bought the neglected home in the 1960s, restoring it and filling it with what’s now the second-largest collection of Louis XVI furnishings in America.
Among the treasures on display are a hand-carved 1840 rosewood loveseat and a late-1800s Chippendale bedside table.

Outside, lush, cultivated formal gardens establish the grandeur of the estate, which itself is shaded by grandfather oaks.
The Rose Garden has winding brick pathways and statuary. The Azalea Garden flourishes beneath gnarled old live oaks.

A reflection pond draw attentions to plantings in the midst of the grand lawn, while the Hidden Garden offers an interesting bronze statue amid the camellias.
A Camellia Garden lines the entrance road out to the far parking area. Follow the pathway beyond it out to an observation deck on Tucker Bayou.

Off a side road along the entrance road, the day use area is in a shaded nook along the bayou with its own observation deck.
Picnic pavilions are tucked beneath the trees. Paddlers are welcome to put in and explore the needlerush-lined shores of Tucker Bayou, which connects to Choctawhatchee Bay.

This is the starting point for the Tucker Bayou Trail, a mazy loop of not quite a mile around an arm of the bayou and through uplands above it.

Trail Map

Explore More!
Slideshow
See our photos of Eden Gardens State Park
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.



