The Blackwater Heritage State Trail is part of Florida State’s Greenway and Trail System. It is a paved trail, which makes it perfect for walking, biking, jogging, and roller skating. Sections of the trail allow horseback riding, and there are even sections where you can picnic and birdwatch. There are four separate parking areas where you can leave your vehicle and access the walking trail.
It’s not a park where you would bring the family and picnic but more of a place to get out and walk, jog, or bicycle ride for exercise. It is listed as a Florida State Park. but there are places to sit and picnic along the way and it’s a fun way to get some steps in.
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Hot Hot Hot
At this point, we were staying at the KOA in Milton Florida. Since summers in Florida are so hot we decided to walk the trail early in the morning. The first time out we found a small parking area just off of US-90 behind Cosse’s Corner Shack, a kind of take-out fast food/ice cream eatery. Since this was our first time here we made a rookie mistake.
Rookie Mistake
We wanted to do the first part of the trail which runs from US-90 to Old Tar Plant Rd. I guess you can say this was the beginning of the trail or the end depending on which side you started on. We crossed over a very busy US-90 and started walking the trail south toward the railroad tracks. It was a paved trail with a building that housed restrooms about halfway down the walkway. The reason I say rookie mistake is that down near the end of the trail as you cross over Old Rt. 90 which is a much less traveled road there are parking spaces on a nearby road that you can park on to access the trail. The road/parking area I am talking about is shown in the picture below.
Did Not Have To Cross
If we had parked here we would have been able to walk to US-90 (crazy busy) but instead of crossing over it we could have turned around and walked back to the train tracks. Walking from the train track end to US-90 and back gives you about 2 miles which is a perfect way to start the day.
On the next visit to this trail we parked at the same parking lot but this time walked away from US-90 towards the Santa Rosa County Public Library. Adjacent to the public library was the Blackwater Heritage State Trail Visitor Center. The visitor center has limited hours but on one of our trips, we were able to go in and look around. To walk from the parking lot at US-90 to the visitor center and back was about 2.4 miles.
While staying in the Milton, Florida area we mixed up campground walks, Heritage trail walks, and Russel Harber Park walks. We try and make walking as interesting as possible. I have a post on that called “walking doesn’t have to be boring” that you can check out. Anyway back to the Heritage trail.
Another Parking Area
Noting there was a parking lot at the visitor center we decided to start from there on our next visit. The nice part about parking here is that you can either walk back towards US-90 and get in your 2.4 miles that way or head the other way towards the next trail parking lot at Munson Hwy/US-191. This section is ambitious as it’s about 2 miles each way. So from the visitor center to the trailhead and back is 4 miles.
Munson Highway Trailhead
If you start at the Munson Hwy/US-191 Trailhead you again have two options. You can either walk to the visitor center and back which would give you 4 miles total or head the other way toward the final trailhead which is at Whiting Field, 87A /E. Gate Rd. If you choose to go this way you will be getting in about 9 miles out and back.
The last section of the trail (which we did not do) goes onto the military base. I believe you can still walk it if you want and it is a little over 4 miles out and back.
Final Thoughts
Now, of course with any start and endpoint if the amount of miles is too far you don’t have to do the whole section. You could walk/run jog or bike as far as you want and turn back. Each section has its unique vegetation and scenic views. One thing you might want to bring is bug spray. After all, it is Florida.
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