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Essential Guide to Scenic 30-A
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 Somewhere
between 1497 and 1513, historians tell us, Europeans first beheld the
great natural beauty of Florida. Juan Ponce de Leon named the region
Pascua Florida or flowery Easter. Five-hundred-plus years later,
stewards of Florida's natural beauty are focused on sustainability,
preserving what Mother Nature has provided, for all to enjoy. Perhaps no
one speaks more eloquently about the beauty of Scenic Highway 30-A and
stewardship than Randy Harelson, owner of The
Gourd Garden, garden designer, and landscape consultant to
Seaside...
"Scenic 30-A runs through long-leaf pine flatwoods, along the
white sand
beach and sea oat-covered dunes, past freshwater
coastal lakes and
saltwater inlets, over sand hills and coastal uplands, along wetlands
and marshes, through hardwood hammocks and coastal scrub. Our area is
known for the shimmering brilliance of the Gulf of Mexico and her white
sand beaches. But it is the beauty of our landscape and its native
plants and animals that are second to none...
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Don't miss the
centuries-old live oaks at Eden State Gardens in Pt. Washington State
Park, and the craggy, many-trunked scrub oaks in Old
Grayton Beach.
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Look for the huge, fragrant white blooms of Southern Magnolia in early
summer throughout the woods, at the crest of Old
Seagrove, and next to
the obelisk beach walkover in Seaside.
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Admire the graceful arc of
slash pine reflected in Western Lake.
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Discover the tough little sand
pine that grows all along the Gulf Coast, but nowhere else in the
world! Look closely at the sharp-toothed edge of the stem of a palmetto
frond that gives Saw Palmetto, a palm tree that grows its trunk
underground, its name.
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Wildflowers bloom year-round along 30-A. Watch
for the lavender blossoms of wild rosemary and Gulf Coast lupine in the
spring.
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In the fall, the roadsides turn gold with goldenrod, woody
goldenrod, golden asters and camphorweed. Sea oats, the grasses that
hold the dunes in place, are a federally protected species
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Enjoy the
beauty of the plants, but please, don't walk on the dunes or pick the
seed heads. Please do enjoy and protect the beauty of our beaches,
dunes, scrub and woodlands.
From where it departs and connects with US 98, Highway 30-A is comprised
of 18.5-miles, plus 9.4 miles of connector roads—83 and 283—from the
Gulf of Mexico to US 98, and 395 from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Choctawhatchee Bay. "Taking the scenic route" by car, bicycle, or on
foot, you'll journey past four state parks, 27 miles of greenway trails,
11 rare coastal dune lakes, 11 beach communities. And you'll behold
miles of stunningly beautiful beaches. Route 30-A is a tourist
attraction of major proportions. It is an exciting and eclectic mix of
hot Caribbean colors and soft pastels, with architecture to match each
beach community's aesthetic, whether it be Old Florida's traditional 2-3
story homes, or the cottages of Seaside with white picket fences and
pedestrian pathways to New Urbanism, or its miles of greenway trails
connecting state parks, preserves and residential areas.
Remarkably, all of Highway 30-A's famous beaches are certified as
Blue
Wave Beaches, akin to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval when it
comes to cleanliness and safety. 30-A's shimmering sugar-fine sands
combined with shades of turquoise-blue and emerald-green waters are
breathtakingly beautiful, sun up or sun down. 30-A's beaches are
naturally beautiful—no dredging and filling has replaced the crystalline
grains of sand that squeak when you walk on them. Beach nourishment, the
formation of sand dunes, and other educational programs to Keep Off the
Dunes, are critical to protecting the Gulf Shores and 30-A's reputation
as the tourist destination known for its world-class beaches.
When Gulf breezes blow, a unique combination of sea oat grasses and
coastal scrub vegetation trap the sugar sands, causing dunes to form.
One of the most dazzling dunes—rising 25 feet above sea level— is at
Topsail Hill Preserve. Traveling west along Highway 30-A and just off US
98, you'll come to Topsail, home to the endangered Choctawhatchee Beach
Mouse, herons, egrets, white-tailed deer, fox, coyote, raccoon and
gopher tortoises. Sea turtles come ashore late spring and summer to
nest. Topsail is also home to 14 natural wild plant communities. Trailer
Life magazine rated Topsail Hill RV Resort in the top 1% in the US.
Along 30-A you'll see numerous examples of Old Florida architecture--
shingles, shutters, and shakes— overhangs that provide shade, and
porches that suggest Southern hospitality. There are 12 distinct beach
communities along the route and one just off the route on US98 (from west to east):
Dune Allen
Beach, Santa Rosa Beach,
Blue Mountain Beach,
Grayton Beach, WaterColor,
Seaside, Seagrove Beach,
WaterSound Beach,
Seacrest Beach,
Rosemary Beach, Inlet Beach
and Carillon Beach (just off 30-A, on
US98).
Highway 30-A has 11 coastal dune lakes, known
by kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts for their beauty and tranquility.
Dune lakes are formed by the wind and found almost exclusively along the
Gulf Coast. Classified as "critically imperiled" because of their
extreme rarity, dune lakes are biologically diverse--salt water combined
with fresh water—an important source of fresh water to migrating birds
and other beach organisms—and any alteration to their drainage is a
threat. Conservationists say the dune lake
system's intrinsic value is "incalculable."
Elegant, coastal pine forests and the century-old community of
Grayton
Beach border one of the largest and most scenic of the dune lakes, the
220-acre Western Lake. Army Major Charles T. Gray and his wife Elizabeth
built a home there in 1885. It later burned down. In 1913 Grayton Beach
became a resort community when the Butler family settled in, adding
rental cottages and a General Store that— come Saturday night— became a
dance hall. Even as it grows at a furious pace, with upscale shops,
beach-y kiosks and restaurants that range from the fun 'n' funky
Picolo's/Red Bar to Criolla's award-winning Creole/Caribbean cuisine,
Grayton Beach has maintained it's small-town flavor. Grayton Beach State
Recreation Park's 2,228 acres opened in 1968. Sea turtles nest in the
summer and shorebirds are numerous. Wildflowers include lupine,
gaillardia and golden aster. Tread Softly signs dot the landscape of
rolling, sea oat-covered dunes and glistening-white sandy beaches that
taper into the blue-green Gulf.
Development is taking placing all along 30-A, adding a sense of vitality
and anticipation. The St. Joe Company, Florida's largest private
landowner, with its emphasis on place-making, conservation and
responsible development, is making a statement of excellence with its
planned community of WaterColor. With its eye-pleasing palette of
periwinkle blue and celadon green ceramic tiles in waterfalls, koi fish
ponds, fountains, and numerous recreational opportunities, both
WaterColor the community, and the small, 60-room
WaterColor Inn, are
fine examples of vernacular architecture. WaterColor blends right into
the hustle and bustle of Seaside, which most consider the cultural and
commercial center of 30-A.
Noting its numerous prestigious architectural awards, Time magazine
described Seaside as the most astounding design achievement of its era.
With a postage stamp-sized post office and a Town Center that boasts its
own stage on the green, Seaside also has an artists' colony and a full
calendar of cultural events to put it on the map as a Must See.
Picturesque as a postcard and the film location for The Truman Show,
Seaside is a busy little success story—visitors flock to its shores in
droves. The Seaside Institute sponsors significant intellectual and
philosophical exchanges here and abroad on what makes a community vital.
Journeying on to Old Seagrove and Seagrove Beach, you'll sense a
slightly slower pace, but Seagrove is booming with residential and
commercial development. Turning left at the corner of 30-A and 395,
you'll come to the Eastern Lake Bike/Hike Trail in Pt. Washington State
Forest . Three greenway trails loop through sandhills, cypress ponds,
wet prairies and titi swamps. Look for deer, coyote, alligator, and the
gopher tortoise, a species of special concern. Pt. Washington State Park
is a wonderful example of sandhill ecosystems. Rare species include
flatwoods salamander, white-topped pitcher plant, and the world's
largest stand of Curtiss Sandgrass.
Across 98, follow the signs to Eden State Park
and Eden Gardens-former
Wesley-family mansion, and a splendid example of Panhandle architecture:
two stories, equal number of rooms, each story divided by a centray
hallway--and perched on piers for greater air circulation and flood
protection. Moss-draped oaks, camellias and azaleas in season, this
genteel home filled with lovely antiques offer visitors an historic view
of the "real" Florida.
Backtracking to 30-A, turn left on 395 and follow the road around the
bend to a small gem of a park, Deer Lake
State Park, a 172-acre tract acquired by South Walton County Ecosystem.
You'll find the Chochtawhatchee Beach Mouse, the Red Cockaded
Woodpecker, and other rare plant and animal species. The reflection of
the Gulf of Mexico in Deer Lake is like nothing you'll see anywhere else
on 30-A. A spectacular view combines the huge expanse of the
emerald-green water of the Gulf of Mexico with a sliver of shimmering
sugar sand, and, next to it, the deep blue of Deer Lake. A photo
opportunity if ever there was one!
Continuing on down 30-A, you'll see WaterSound,
Arvida, a St. Joe Company's
exquisite coastal community under development, . Then it's on
to Camp Creek Lake and St. Joe's 18-hole Camp Creek Golf Club.
30-A winds it
way to Rosemary Beach, another planned community reminiscent of the
Southwest—white stucco, bell towers, and upscale restaurants and shops.
30-A re-connects with Us 98 at Inlet Beach, a short distance from the
charming community of Carillon Beach--beautiful homes, great shopping
and brightly colored artist cabaņas--and Panama City Beach, Fun City for
Spring Breaker's and Families.
Want to see Scenic 30A for yourself? Take a
Virtual Bike Tour of Scenic 30A right now.
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