A day trip to Blackwater River State Forest from Navarre Beach takes about 45 minutes to an hour by car, heading north toward Milton. As Florida's largest state forest, it gives you room to swim, paddle, hike, and fish across more than 190,000 acres of longleaf pine. Most recreation areas charge a $2 day-use fee and stay open from sunrise to sunset, so you can leave after breakfast and return for a Gulf sunset.
You spend your Navarre mornings on sugar-white sand with the Gulf rolling out in front of you. Drive an hour north, though, and the scene shifts. Salt air gives way to warm pine, and the open beach narrows into a tea-colored river curving under a canopy of longleaf.
White sandbars line every bend, and the water stays cool even in July. Blackwater River State Forest sits quietly up in Santa Rosa County, and it hands you a day trip that resets your whole week.
This is what it feels like to wake up in Navarre Beach and drive to Blackwater River State Forest to enjoy an awesome day trip, and here's all you need to know for a successful day trip.
A Little About Us Before We Continue
At Navarre Beach Properties, we offer a handpicked collection of beautiful vacation rentals and know the area inside out. On our blog, you'll find plenty of helpful tips, including relaxing things to do in Navarre Beach, the best activities for travelers in their 60s, and where to watch the sunset in Navarre Beach.
Contents
1. How to Get There from Navarre Beach
2. Fees, Hours, and What to Know Before You Go
3. Floating the Blackwater River
6. Dropping a Line in the Lakes
7. Geo-Seeking Your Way Through the Forest
8. Wildlife and the Great Pine Woods
9. Picnics, Parking, Restrooms, and Bringing the Dog
10. Want to Turn It into an Overnighter?
11. Make Navarre Beach Your Basecamp
How to Get There from Navarre Beach
The drive north is easy and sets the tone for the day. You cross the bridge back to the mainland, then pick up State Road 87 and climb away from the coast. Your route depends on which corner you want first. For the swimming lake and the Sweetwater Trail, head toward Milton and follow Munson Highway up into the Krul core.
For the river beaches and paddling take-out, stay on SR 87 to US-90, turn east, and reach Deaton Bridge Road near Holt. Top off your tank in Milton first, since the backroads get curvy and cell service thins out once the pines close in.
Fees, Hours, and What to Know Before You Go
Blackwater is cheap to enjoy. Most recreation areas charge about $2 for day use, collected at the honor box, and the forest opens sunrise to sunset. Krul plays by a different rule. Because it holds the swimming lake and draws crowds, the Florida Forest Service now asks day visitors to reserve through ReserveAmerica up to two days out. Sort that out the night before so you aren't turned away.
If you float the river and take out at Blackwater River State Park, budget a separate $4 per vehicle for its cash honor box. One more note: seasonal hunting happens in parts of the forest, so wear orange on remote trails during the main season. The Krul area is a non-hunting zone, so families near the lake need not think about it.
Floating the Blackwater River
This is the part most people drive up for, and it earns the trip. The Blackwater River runs shallow and clear over a pure sand bottom, tinted like iced tea by the pines along its banks.
The water stays cool through summer, alligators are rare this far up, and dozens of white sandbars invite you to beach your tube and stretch out. You don't even need your own gear. Several outfitters near Milton rent tubes, kayaks, and canoes, then drive you and your gear upstream and drop you in the river, so the current carries you back down to your car.
Blackwater Canoe Rental lands you at the state park, while Adventures Unlimited runs Coldwater Creek and offers ziplines and cabin rentals. Bob's Canoes and Blackwater Joe's round out the choices, with tube runs starting around $20. Pick your trip by how much time you have, since a 4-mile tube float takes a few easy hours, while kayakers and canoers can choose longer river routes of 7 or 11 miles for a half-day or full-day paddle.
Whatever distance you choose, plan on stopping at a few of those sandbars along the way. One summer, we pulled onto a sandbar and watched the kids chase minnows through the shallow water, and for a few minutes the whole world felt like it had slowed down to the pace of the current.
Don't forget to bring a cooler, pack a trash bag, and wear sunscreen, because the water throws back a lot of sun.
Cooling Off at Krul Lake
If a river float isn't your speed, Krul Lake offers a calmer way to get wet. This 6.5-acre lake sits at the heart of the Krul Recreation Area, fed by cool springs that keep the water fresh on hot afternoons. A roped swimming area and a wooden dock make it easy to wade in with the kids.
Lifeguards watch the area during the busy summer season, though you'll still want to keep little ones close, since the water gets deep enough to go over your head in spots. Krul is the one lake set aside for swimming, and there's a reason: Hurricane Lake and Bear Lake both have alligators, so enjoy those from shore.
Note too that Krul allows no pets and no fishing, so leave the rods and the dog behind when you come to swim.
Hitting the Trails
Once you've dried off, the forest opens up on foot. More than a dozen trails wind through the pines, and several start where you park. The Sweetwater Trail is the one to know.
It runs 1.3 miles from the Krul lot to Bear Lake, and its first half-mile is an ADA-accessible boardwalk that crosses a suspension bridge over Sweetwater Creek and passes a historic gristmill. That makes it the most accessible slice of the whole forest for wheelchairs and strollers alike.
Want more distance? The Bear Lake Loop circles its lake for about 4 miles, and a separate 6-mile loop welcomes mountain bikers. Serious hikers can tackle the Juniper Creek Trail, which stretches close to 8 miles up to the Red Rock Bluffs and ties into the Florida National Scenic Trail. Bone Creek and Karick Lake each offer shorter hiking loops, and both include boardwalks that carry you over wet bogs where rare pitcher plants grow.
Dropping a Line in the Lakes
Anglers have room to work here. Every lake except Krul stays open for fishing, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stocks and manages them. You'll mostly reel in largemouth bass, bream and other panfish, and catfish. The fish bite best in still water where the current slows, so ease toward the quiet coves rather than the open middle, and fish early or late for your best shot.
Hurricane Lake, Karick Lake, and Bear Lake all have boat ramps and fishing piers, so you can launch a small boat or cast from solid ground. Just remember that anyone 16 and up needs a Florida freshwater fishing license, which you can grab online through the FWC in minutes or at a local bait shop.
Geo-Seeking Your Way Through the Forest
Here's a fun one that keeps kids moving without a complaint. Geocaching turns the forest into a treasure hunt, where you use your phone's GPS to find small hidden containers tucked along the trails and near the lakes.
Blackwater has several caches across the forest and the neighboring state park, and the state park takes part in the Operation Recreation GeoTour that runs through Florida's parks and trails. Check Geocaching.com before you leave the rental, load the ones near your route, and pair the hunt with a hike so you cover ground and chase treasure at once.
Wildlife and the Great Pine Woods
The forest itself is the real headliner. Blackwater protects one of the largest stretches of longleaf pine and wiregrass left on Earth, a habitat that once blanketed the Southeast and grows rarer every year. Regular prescribed burns keep it healthy, which is why the woods feel so open as you drive through. That healthy habitat is what brings the animals out.
Watch for red-cockaded woodpeckers working the pine trunks and gopher tortoises crossing sandy clearings, two species this forest is known for protecting. Birdwatchers have plenty to look for here too, since the area sits on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, so pack binoculars.
You'll get a sense of how big this place really is too, since Blackwater sits next to two other major landholdings, Conecuh National Forest to the north and Eglin Air Force Base to the south. Alligators live in some of the forest's lakes as part of its natural wildlife, so enjoy watching them from your boat or the shore rather than the water.
Picnics, Parking, Restrooms, and Bringing the Dog
A little planning around the basics keeps the day smooth. Pack a picnic before you leave, because Krul and Bear Lake have pavilions with picnic tables and grills, Bone Creek adds a shady day-use pavilion, and the river sandbars make a fine lunch spot too. The forest has no camp store, so bring everything you plan to eat and drink before you head in.
Water matters more than you'd think out here. Krul and the developed areas have potable water, but the remote trails have none, so fill a few bottles and toss a cooler in the car. Use the marked lots at each recreation area, and avoid parking along the roadsides or driving onto the trails.
Restrooms follow the same logic: flush toilets and showers at the developed campgrounds, simple vault toilets at day-use spots like Bone Creek. Leashed dogs are welcome at most areas but not the swimming beaches, and Krul and Bone Creek allow no pets at all, so Bear Lake or the trails suit a day out with the pup.
Want to Turn It into an Overnighter?
Some visitors fall for the quiet and decide one day isn't enough. If that's you, the forest has developed campgrounds at Krul, Bear Lake, Hurricane Lake, and Karick Lake, plus an equestrian campground at Coldwater for horse travelers. You reserve those through ReserveAmerica.
Backcountry campers can set up tents at no-permit, designated campsites and shelters spaced along the Florida Trail's route through the forest.
Most coast visitors, though, would rather wake up to the Gulf and drive up for the day, getting sand in the morning and cool river by afternoon with their own bed waiting back in Navarre.
Make Navarre Beach Your Basecamp
The smartest way to enjoy Blackwater is to treat it as the ideal counterpoint to your beach days. Spend mornings on Navarre's white sand, then swap the Gulf for a tea-colored river and a pine canopy whenever you want a change of pace. The drive back takes under an hour, so you're never far from home base. Having a comfortable Gulf-side base to come back to makes the whole thing work.
Book your stay with us at Navarre Beach Properties and set up a comfortable Gulf-side basecamp for the whole trip. You'll get easy beach access, a quick shot north to the forest, and a relaxing spot to unwind after a day on the water.
Reserve your Navarre Beach rental today, and give yourself room to enjoy the coast and the forest.
