Pine Log State Forest hiking, biking, camping

Established in 1936, Pine Log State Forest was Florida’s very first state forest, spanning two counties 11 miles north of US 98 in Panama City Beach.

With more than 7,000 acres across southern Washington County in Ebro and northern Bay County, it’s an immense piece of public land in the midst of private timber holdings.

Sign stating Florida's first state forest

Environmental Road entrance

Centered on a popular campground at Sand Pond Recreation Area, it has three distinct trailheads accessing loops optimized for hiking, off-road biking, and equestrian use.

Ebro, just a couple of miles north of the forest entrance, is a small rural town at the junction of SR 79 and SR 20 with a motel and convenience store.

Camping at Sand Pond Recreation Area (Chris Stevens)

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

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: Ebro
Primary trailhead: 30.429083, -85.881850
Address: 5583-A Longleaf Rd, Ebro
Fees: $2 per person at Sand Pond trailhead
Restroom: At all trailheads
Land Manager: Florida Forest Service
Phone: 850-535-2888

Day use except for registered campers and backpackers on the Florida Trail. Leashed dogs welcome.

There are multiple entrances to the forest off SR 79, Environmental Rd, and Strickland Rd in Ebro. Sand Pond Recreation Area is the primary day use area.

Spring and fall hunting seasons may impact recreational users who go farther than the Campground Trail around Sand Pond.

Directions

From Panama City Beach follow SR 79 north, passing the turnoff to the airport before you enter the state forest after 11 miles. The first two trailheads are on the right with prominent signage. Environmental Rd is on the left north of the highway bridge over Pine Log Creek. From points east or west, use SR 20 to reach Ebro and drive south on SR 79 to Environmental Road on the right. Follow it to the recreation area entrance on the right. Drive Longleaf Rd to Sand Pond Recreation Area. Pay the entrance fee and park at Sand Pond Recreation Area.

About the Forest

Sand Pond Recreation Area

One of our favorite locations for a beautifully situated campground setting, Sand Pond is a pleasant place to wake up in the morning.

Mist rising off the pond is a must-see. It’s even better on the opposite side of the recreation area from the campground, making cypress-lined Sand Pond ever so ghostly.

pond with cypresses foreground and background

Sand Pond

Wake early and loop the pond on the Campground Trail for some of the best birding in the forest.

While the trail’s major feature, the cypress boardwalk, has been closed since Hurricane Michael awaiting rehabilitation, the swamp it traverses is haunting.

Cypress swamp along boardwalk

Sand Pond Recreation Area is where three of the five trail systems within Pine Log State Forest come together.

This makes it an ideal jumping-off point for day hikes and off-road bicycle excursions, with restrooms nearby.

Trailhead at the picnic area

Dogwoods bloom riotously in spring around the picnic area and the massive octagonal picnic pavilion

Both are pleasant places to while away hours outdoors with friends, even if you’re not camping at Sand Pond Campground.

Picnic pavilion

Camping

For a site at Sand Pond Campground, reserve in advance through Reserve America. Two sites – #19 and #20 – are held for walk-in visitors. Nightly rates vary from $14 to $23. A cancellation fee of $9 is charged by Reserve America.

The bathhouse is located near the Sand Pond Trailhead. It’s an older one, but was in pretty good repair last time we visited.

Campsite at Sand Pond Campground

Its location also makes it accessible to campers utilizing the very nice group campsite located along the Campground Trail.

Another primitive group campsite, Baptism Hole, is east of SR 79 along Pine Log Creek. Access requires a gate code. Reserve both via ReserveAmerica.

Group campsite at Pine Log

Similarly, you must reserve the three primitive campsites along Pine Log Creek online. All are along the Faye and Dutch Trail and cost $9+ per night.

You can access them by car via Hagar Landing. You’ll need to contact the forest by phone about a gate code to drive in to them.

Picnic benches and grill next to a creek

Campsite along the Faye and Dutch Trail (Chris Stevens)

Backpackers can use two designated primitive camping areas east along the Florida Trail, simple flat spots in the forest with no facilities.

Old Military Rd has more flat space, while Ditch Branch sits on a rise above the waterway.

Old Military Rd camping area

Hiking

Three different hiking trails at Sand Pond Recreation Area explore the diversity of this forest.

if Sand Pond has overflowed into the recreation area, all of the trails may have sections that you would have to wade. If the water is too deep for your comfort level, turn around.

If you can’t reach the trailhead because it’s underwater, the trails will be too.

To start your hike, walk downhill from the picnic area to the kiosk next to the pond to access the trail system. All three converge here.

The Campground Trail has red blazes, the Faye and Dutch Trail is blue blazed, and the Florida Trail has orange blazes.

The trails share routes in a few places

Campground Trail

The shortest of the trio, the 2 mile Campground Trail is the most popular with visitors because of its shorter length and greater beauty for its distance.

It goes due west and due north from the Sand Pond trailhead. To the north, it quickly enters an uplands area with tall pines.

Pine forest on the Campground Trail

To the west, it curves around the edge of Sand Pond with the two other trails. They leave the pond’s edge and the Campground Trail keeps looping around the pond.

A boardwalk through a dense cypress strand along the south shore of Sand Pond was a primary highlight of the trail but is not presently open.

Cypress boardwalk

Faye and Dutch Trail

Formerly called the Tiemann Trail, this 6 mile loop is open to both hiking and off-road biking. The portion nearest the campground is through planted pines.

The remainder of the hike offers a broad range of habitat diversity to explore, including along Pine Log Creek, where primitive campsites are available.

Faye and Dutch Trail

Looping six miles through Florida’s oldest state forest, the Faye and Dutch Trail can be tackled as a day hike or a short backpacking trip.

Florida Trail

Extending 5.7 miles across Pine Log State Forest, the orange-blazed Florida Trail is part of the statewide National Scenic Trail.

There are no trailheads at either end, just gates, making a linear hike across Pine Log 7.5 miles between access points.

Hiking through the pines

While the trail is well blazed, conditions can be rugged depending on water levels.

Titi thickets on the eastern side tend to be swampy underfoot, and the ponds from Sand Pond west sometimes flood the footpath deeply.

Still Pond frequently swamps the trail

Most of the trail otherwise traverses pine flatwoods and sandhills, with bridges and boardwalks provided in low areas.

Hiking out and back from Sand Pond Trailhead, the only parking area along the Florida Trail route, is necessary unless you’re dropped off at a gate at either end of the forest.

Power line over mowed path with orange blaze post

The trail follows a power line easement from SR 20 at the county line for a couple miles to reach a back gate

From the trailhead, it’s an easy 1.4 mile round-trip west along the orange blazes to the forest boundary and back.

The Florida Trail skims the edge of Sand Pond, sharing the route with the other two trails. After crossing Crews Lake Rd, it continues along the edge of Still Pond.

Sandhills beyond the cypress ponds

Beyond this beautiful cypress-lined pond is a cypress swamp which the trail dips through. Climb into the sandhills to reach the boundary gate.

Hiking the Florida Trail east from the Sand Pond Trailhead will get you deep into the complex of ecosystems hidden within Pine Log State Forest. It’s a 10 mile round trip to the boundary.

Longleaf restoration along the eastern boundary of the forest

There are two good intermediate turn-around points. The first is the Old Military Road, 1.6 miles east.

To reach it, the trail leads south out of the parking area, crossing Environmental Rd. It goes under SR 79 and ascends a ramp to highway level.

Looking back at the ascent from under the highway

Use the pedestrian bridge to cross Pine Log Creek. The descent back into the forest from the highway is steep.

A pitcher plant bog and views of Pine Log Creek await at the bottom, followed by a walk through the pine forest and sandhills.

A showy pitcher plant bloom in March

Reach the signage for the historic location of the Old Military Road, constructed between 1823 and 1824.

Enabling platoons to march from Pensacola to St. Augustine, it was the first overland route across North Florida. Turn around here for a 3.2 mile hike.

Signpost with information on Old Military Rd

A short stretch of the old road is signposted

Another good turnaround point is 3.3 miles from Sand Pond at Ditch Branch. Continue past Old Military Rd, following orange blazes through pine flatwoods and titi swamps.

There are several bridges to cross along the way. If any are out, you will want to turn back at that point.

Handrail on a hill next to an orange blaze on a tree

Downhill to Ditch Branch

Most of the streams are much deeper than they appear. Stick with the orange blazes along the route.

Ditch Branch is in a small ravine and the trail goes downhill sharply to the bridge. It’s an unmistakable spot.

Side trail around Ditch Branch

The blue blaze just before the downhill is a side trail to a forest road. It provides an alternative route around the bridge in case of high water.

Use the side trail to make a loop and come back via the bridge for a 6.6 mile round-trip hike.

Ditch Branch from the footbridge

Crooked Creek Trail

Designated Trailwalker trails for Pine Log State Forest, the Crooked Creek Trail was built for off-road cyclists but can be hiked as well.

Traversing sometimes rugged terrain around Little Crooked Creek and its tributaries, the full loop is 9 miles.

Cut that distance in half by using a blue-blazed shortcut directly across from the first equestrian trail crossing on a clockwise hike around the loop.

Singletrack on the Crooked Creek Trail

Old Sawmill Trail

The longest trail in the forest at 12.5 miles, the Old Sawmill Trail was established for equestrian use. It has a large parking area for horse trailers.

Follow the linear forest road out of the trailhead to start the loop. It crisscrosses the Crooked Creek Trail quite a few times.