Walt Oberst Way, Panama City Beach Conservation Park

With more than 24 miles of trails and forest roads crisscrossing the vast expanse of Panama City Beach Conservation Park, only the Walt Oberst Way is fully accessible.

It’s a short connector, a linear 0.3 mile relatively close to the park entrance road, starting at the trailhead. But it provides two options for those on foot.

A long boardwalk through a cypress swamp makes for an interesting walk

A 0.6-mile round-trip to the front gate and back provides perspectives on two very different habitats, and connectivity to the paved Gayle’s Trails network.

Or step off the pavement onto pea gravel to make a 0.6 mile loop back to the trailhead, enjoying two different boardwalks along the route.

The Cypress Pond Trail makes up part of the loop

Resources

Resources for exploring the area

North Florida Panhandle Explorers Guide book cover

Hikers Guide to the Sunshine State book cover

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Overview

Location: Panama City Beach
Length: 0.6 to 0.8 mile round-trip or 0.6 mile loop
Trailhead: 30.259358, -85.897008
Address: 100 Conservation Park, Panama City Beach
Fees: Free
Restrooms: At trailhead
Land manager: Panama City Beach
Phone: 850-233-5045

Open dawn to dusk. Dogs are allowed on a leash.

Directions

From the intersection of US 98 and SR 79, drive northwest on US 98 for 1.2 miles before turning right onto Griffin Blvd. At the end of the road, turn left into the entrance at Conservation Drive. In 0.3 mile, the parking area is on the left in front of the office and next to the trailhead.

Hike

All trails start at a single point across the parking area from the restrooms. Follow the broad path to the signpost at the junction of Walt Oberst Way and Cypress Pond.

Turn left. Slipping between spindly-looking titi trees (Cyrilla racemiflora), which has cloying white blossoms in spring, the boardwalk enters a strand swamp.

John walking among titi trees

It is a typical cypress strand for Northwest Florida, characteristically found in drainage areas of low-lying pine flatwoods.

The green coating on the water is water spangles, a type of aquatic fern. Shrubs cling to the higher ground mounded around tree trunks.

The green coating is not slime, but ferns

The trees with bark that peels are pond cypress trees, which prefer stagnant water. The tall smoother-barked trees are primarily tupelo.

Along the boardwalk are interpretive signs pointing out specific plants and quirks of this habitat, such as the cypress knees jutting out of the swamp water.

Interpretive sign detailing the uses of wax myrtle

The deeper into the cypress strand the boardwalk continues, the taller the trees are around you. It makes several jogs along its route.

Pause to scan the scenery below and you might spot an alligator poking its nose out of the water, or a snake curled up at the base of a cypress knee.

A towering canopy of trees shades the boardwalk

After a quarter mile, the boardwalk ends at a trail junction facing a pine forest with a long stretch of paved trail.

Walt Oberst Way continues straight ahead through the pines, ending after another tenth of a mile within view of the park entrance.

In the pine flatwoods

The pavement doesn’t end, however, but continues as part of Gayle’s Trails past the park boundary, a network that extends two miles east past Frank Brown Park.

Return the way you came for a 0.6 mile accessible trip. Or take the option provided at the signpost by making a left, leaving Walt Oberst Way.

Use the Conservation Connector for the loop

In less than 0.2 mile, the connector trail arcs around the edge of the strand swamp through the pine forest.

Where it meet the Cypress Pond Trail at a sign, turn right. This portion of the trail is shared with all the loops inside Conservation Park.

Gravel path through the pines

The Cypress Pond Trail leads to a second boardwalk across the strand, but it is very different.

There are far fewer tall trees and the underbrush is largely titi, obscuring the water below.

Thicket of titi along the boardwalk

Continue into the pine forest after the boardwalk ends, passing the outdoor classroom. Picnic tables are tucked into the shade beyond it.

Walking past the junction sign for Walt Oberst Way and Cypress Pond, continue to the trailhead to complete the 0.6 mile loop (or up to 0.8 mile round trip)

Small building and parking area in pines

Trailhead parking area at Conservation Park

Trail Map

Explore More!

Learn more about Panama City Beach Conservation Park and its trails

Sand and gravel path through open pine forest to boardwalk

Panama City Beach Conservation Park

String together a set of well-maintained trails to hike loops of up to 11 miles through this vast protected area of woodlands and wetlands in Panama City Beach.