A ribbon of asphalt that connects communities and parks within the historic Apalachicola River town of Blountstown, the Blountstown Greenway is ideal for walking or biking and, in part, serves as a path for the Florida Trail through the center of town. Heavily shaded by deep upland forest for much of the journey, it connects Sam Atkins Park, home of the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement, at the western edge of town with Neal Landing along the Apalachicola River, a 3.9-mile journey.
Resources
Overview
Location: Blountstown
Length: 3.9 miles (7.8 miles round-trip)
Lat-Long: 30.445661, -85.045109 (M&B Railroad Park)
Type: Linear
Fees / Permits: none
Difficulty: easy
Bug factor: low to moderate
Restroom: yes, at the depot and Sam Atkins Park
Directions
You’ll encounter trail crossings along most of the north-south roads in Blountstown, but the best places to access the trail are from the M&B Railroad Park and historic depot downtown along NE Pear Street, Sam Atkins Park at the western end, and Neal Landing at the eastern end. The trail passes under SR 20 just east of downtown.
Hike
For a pleasant short outing along the Blountstown Greenway, start at the M&B Railroad Park. Walk east past the depot and into a lush floodplain forest. The straightaway reaches a boardwalk and jogs left across it to cross a creek and duck under SR 20. Continue up to the next junction in the trail (the side path to the right leads to a convenience store ). Turn around and return for a walk of a mile.
For a longer walk, start at the M&B and walk west along the greenway. Where you reach the intersection of orange and blue blazes at 0.7 mile, continue along the blue blazes to Sam Atkins Park. The stretch between the road crossing before the trail intersection and the park is particularly scenic and deeply shaded, crossing a bridge over the swamp. This is a 2.6-mile round-trip.
The full greenway is best experienced by bike. Choose your trailhead and go for a ride!
My husband enjoys cypress swamps. We saw a photo of the Sutton Creek swamp in a Nat Geo calendar. Is the swamp area marked on a trail map?
In advance, thank you for any replies.
We’re not familiar with Sutton Creek! Will have to ask around. If it’s along the Apalachicola River and/or near Blountstown, it might only be able to be reached by boat. It also would have suffered serious damage during Hurricane Michael.
Disagree. Start at Sam Adkins Park… Visit the Pioneer settlement one path to trail. Stop at the Rail Depot for break and small museum. The landing at the river is a perfect pic nic stop before your return. The short off shoot to 11th street has little scenery but will complete the entire trail and adds about 1.5 miles to the return. ENJOY. Locally Callahan’s (turn off 20 at Pigly Wiggley) looks like dive but has best Seafood in area. Connie’s has beast breakfast (downtown
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That’s a nice way to day hike it, Fred, and thank you for the suggestion. Love both Connie’s and Callahan’s myself. I wrote this up in the other direction since that’s the section that most Florida Trail hikers will follow on the Blountstown Greenway. But the Pioneer Settlement shouldn’t be missed!
The Blountstown Greenway is one of the most beautiful trails in the area! For runners, there is a USATF certified 5K course from the Depot to River Street and back! Also, for seafood you’re thinking of Parramorre’s on Chipola Road. Connie’s Kitchen is now called Connelly’s Kitchen and has recently started offering a full day’s meals. Come to Blountstown and see all we have to offer!