There are three parking lots where you can stop to spend some time at one of the most beautiful wild beaches in Florida. The road travels through seven miles of undeveloped beach. We visited two days after a major rain storm and had to drive slowly through water that came up to the bottom of our car doors. Be aware: This is a low-lying road that is easily flooded. The road again passes through spectacular views of sand and dunes. This time, you do have to pay the entrance fee to continue. (Photo: Bonnie Gross) The Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National SeashoreĪ few miles west of Pensacola Beach on Highway 399, you are back in Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Fort Pickens section. Inside Fort Pickens at Gulf Island National Seashore. If you want to park, go to the beach or use the restrooms within the national park section, you need to pay the $25 admission (or use your National Park Pass if you have one.) It was awe-inspiring to see, and makes you respect the power of weather and nature here.Įven though this is within the Gulf Islands National Seashore, there is no fee to drive down Highway 399, so I recommend this route just for the spectacular views. Wind-whipped waves churned and crashed on the sand. The white sand was blindingly reflective and the wind and sand particles actually stung my skin. It was a good example of how harsh this environment can be, even on a day that is sunny and 70 degrees. On the day we visited, the winds were blowing so strongly that it was driving sand over the highway that looked like snow drifts.
It boggles the mind to think how all Florida’s barrier islands might have once looked like this. With the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, Opal Beach is a sight to behold. Santa Rosa is a narrow barrier island where sand dunes stretch from the Gulf shore to Santa Rosa Sound. This area was named Opal Beach after the eye of Hurricane Opal, a Category 4 storm, came ashore here, flattening the sand dunes. (Photo Bonnie Gross) The Opal Beach section of Gulf Islands National SeashoreĪ big chunk of Florida’s section of Gulf Islands National Seashore is located on Santa Rosa Island west of Navarre Beach. On a windy October day, Highway 399 through the Opal Beach section of Gulf Islands National Seashore looked like the road was lined with snow drifts.
Complicating matters is that admission is a stiff $25 per car, so vacation planners want to make sure they’re making the most of it. With all that geography to sift through, I found it hard to figure out what to see and do here on a recent Panhandle trip. It has park land in two states – Florida and Mississippi (but skips right over Alabama.) It includes several hard-to-reach islands. Gulf Islands National Seashore, which occupies the barrier island at the far western end of the Florida Panhandle, is an expansive place.
Also see our Tropical Weather Updates roundup for updates and links. Use links provided in this article to determine current status for your destination. Central and Northeast Florida have largely returned to normal with some exceptions. Inland flooding remains a problem in the Peace, Myakka and St John’s River basins. The most affected areas are in Southwest Florida, from below the Venice area south to Everglades City. From the editors: Florida is recovering from Hurricane Ian.
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