Decidedly different after the removal of the dam that held back the waters of Puddin’ Head Stream, the Sand Pine Nature Trail once circled a showy pond.
Now, a natural marshy shoreline edges the drainage of this tannic stream from a higher elevation towards the waters of Rocky Bayou.
The former Puddin’ Head LakeAn easy mile loop, it can be hiked in tandem with the adjacent Rocky Bayou Nature Trail or on its own.
Unless you’re camping at the park, all hikes start from the Red Cedar day use area, which adds a pleasant half mile walk each way between the parking area and the start of the trail.
Day use area on the bluffsResources
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Overview
Trailhead: 30.498287, -86.42527
Address: 4281 SR 20, Niceville
Fees: $5 per vehicle
Restroom: At the day use area
Land manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-833-9144
Open 8 AM until sunset. Leashed pets welcome.
Directions
The park is along SR 20 east of Niceville, west of SR 293. Follow the entrance road into the park. Unless you’re here to camp, turn left to drive down to the Red Cedar day use area, the primary access point for all of the trails. Park by the kayak launch.
Hike
From the kayak launch at Red Cedar day use area, walk up a broad bark-chipped path beneath a bower of sand live oaks to the campground.
Reaching the paved loop, turn left and walk between the campground and the shoreline of Rocky Bayou, views framed by the boughs of live oaks.
Walk through the shaded campgroundPass the campsites and the bathhouse. As the road swings away from the water, follow it to the small trailhead within the campground.
Continue straight across the bridge over Puddin’ Head Stream to reach a pair of trailheads at a large kiosk a half mile into the walk. Turn right for the Sand Pine Nature Trail.
Starting point for the Sand Pine TrailThe trail follows the bluffs above the stream. By removing the dam that held back its waters, a natural community of plants has established itself.
In this part of Florida, streams seeping from steepheads encourage the growth of thick spagnum mosses and the ideal acidity for pitcher plants to thrive.
Lilies blanket the waterway’s sluggish flow. Both alligators and beavers have been seen in this basin. Songbirds warble in the trees overhead.
Walking under pines and oaksMoss grows thickly on the pine duff of the forest floor. Shaded by mature sand pines, the trail provides scenic views at many turns.
Not quite a quarter mile around the loop, a bench is a perch for birding, a place to listen to the chorus of frogs.
Highway sounds increase. Despite being in the middle of a forest where you can’t see the traffic, the trail is edging close to SR 20.
It curves away from the stream around Marker 5, where a large osprey nest on the other side of the expanse is silhouetted in the afternoon sun.
Osprey nest along the creekA half mile into the loop, the trail climbs a tall bluff with a view across this stream-carved basin.
A bench sits beneath an old sand pine at Marker 7. The sand becomes softer underfoot as the elevation increases.
Turning your back on the stream, enter a higher, drier scrub habitat with deer moss carpeting the forest floor.
Just beyond Marker 8 is another bench in the sand pine scrub, with yaupon holly and scrub holly nearby.
Intermingling of habitatsAn interpretive marker calls attention to turkey oak showing off crimson leaves in fall as the trail transitions into sandhills, longleaf pine towering overhead.
Losing elevation, the trail passes a bench on the right. Young yaupon holly edges the footpath.
Past Marker 12, the sand underfoot turns to a duff of leaf litter. Deer moss glows a light turquoise in sharp counterpoint to the deep green sphagnum moss around it.
After jogging left to round a stand of trees, the trail enters a straightaway through the deer moss, a foamy sea dappled by the midday sun.
Among the sand pinesContinue a long, slow descent past another and through the arch of a sand live oak, almost touching the ground.
The footpath wiggles to the left and emerges back into the clearing at the junction with the Rocky Bayou Nature Trail, finishing the mile loop.
Approaching the end of the loopFrom here, you can take the Rocky Bayou Trail to add another half mile to your hike. Or turn left and cross the bridge to the campground.
Return to the kayak launch via the connector trail. That nets a 2 mile hike, 2.4 miles if you also hike the Rocky Bayou Trail.
A third trail at Red Cedar day use area, the Red Cedar Trail, adds another 0.9 mile walk. The trio of trails tallies 3.3 miles.
Rocky Bayou Hiking Trails Explore the uplands of Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park in Niceville on a trio of showy nature trails that can be interconnected into a 3.3 mile day hike. Trail Map
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Learn more about Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park
Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park Hugging the eastern shore of Rocky Bayou, this beautiful state park preserves both shoreline and forested uplands along a estuarine arm of Choctawhatchee Bay. Slideshow
See our photos of Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park
Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Turkey Creek Walk A clear tannic stream draining 67 square miles of forests in the sandhills encompassed by Eglin Air Force Base, Turkey Creek is the centerpiece of a linear boardwalk in Niceville.
Florida Trail, Alaqua 12.8 miles. With significant botanical beauty, rugged climbs, and nice campsites, the Alaqua section of the Florida Trail in Eglin Air Force Base is one of the most scenic parts of the trail statewide.
Florida Trail, Catface 14.2 miles. Climbing to the highest elevations along the Florida Trail, the challenging Catface section traverses hilly terrain along the northern edge of Eglin Air Force Base.
Florida Trail, Titi 14.8 miles. Paralleling the floodplain of Titi Creek and its tributaries, this hike on the Florida Trail across Eglin will surprise you with its mature longleaf pine forests and its steep descents into creek basins.
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