At the park gates of St Joseph Peninsula State Park, the Maritime Forest Nature Trail offers a quick sampling of the habitats that cling to the bluffs along St. Joseph’s Bay.
Interpretive information offers insights into the plant life of the windswept maritime hammock, and the hilly terrain creates superb vistas.
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Overview
Length: 0.5 mile round-trip
Trailhead: 29.745900, -85.394683
Address: 8899 Cape San Blas Rd, Port St. Joe
Fees: $6 per vehicle
Restrooms: Farther into the park
Land Manager: Florida State Parks
Phone: 850-227-1327
Open 8 AM to sunset. Leashed dogs welcome. This trail also serves as bayfront access for fishing from the shoreline.
Directions
From Port St. Joe, follow SR 30A to SR 30E; continue on SR 30E until it ends in the state park. The trailhead is on the right just inside the park gates.
Hike
Creating a loop through a coastal hammock on the shores of St. Joseph’s Bay, this beautiful short trail starts out as a long boardwalk across a freshwater marsh.
It gains elevation quickly after the crossing, rising onto relict dunes beneath the sand pines.
Turn left and follow the trail through a stretch of open scrub before entering the deep shade of a maritime hammock.
Beneath the pines are middens, ancient trash heaps of discarded shells. At 0.2 mile, walk out to the bluffs for a beautiful view of the bay.
The trail makes a loop between the bluffs and a marsh, beneath bay and cedar trees, completing the loop at 0.3 mile.
Return along the linear portion of the trail, retracing your steps to the trailhead.
Explore More!
Learn more about St Joseph Peninsula State Park
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Protecting fragile coastal habitats on the tip of Cape San Blas as it curves around to shelter St. Joseph Bay, T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park provides a sweep of beachfront on both bay and Gulf to enjoy.Nearby Adventures
More worth exploring while you’re in this area.
Salinas Park With a boardwalk over a beautiful coastal scrub to a beach on the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Salinas Park provides a picnic grove in a pine forest.
Constitution Convention Museum State Park Learn about frontier days on the Forgotten Coast at this small museum that commemorates the steps taken to establish Florida statehood.