Things to Do Along 30A, from State Parks to Coastal Dune Lakes

Grayton Beach State Park: America's Top-Ranked Beach

The Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials acquired the original roughly 356-acre core of Grayton Beach State Park on September 21, 1964, and the park was dedicated and opened in 1968, per Florida State Parks' own history page. Later acquisitions in 1985, 1993, and 1995 expanded it; Florida Rambler's reporting on the park puts its current size at roughly 2,000 acres. The park sits on every side but the Gulf-facing south of the historic town of Grayton Beach, for which it's named.

In 2020, coastal geologist Stephen Leatherman — widely known as "Dr. Beach" — named Grayton Beach State Park the number-one beach in the United States in his 30th annual ranking, which scores beaches on roughly fifty criteria covering water and sand quality, safety, and management. The park has repeatedly placed among Dr. Beach's top beaches in other years as well.

Beyond the beach itself, the park includes Western Lake, one of Walton County's coastal dune lakes, with an official Florida State Parks-marked paddling route ('Paddle Western Lake') for canoes and kayaks; a roughly 4.5-mile hiking and biking trail through pine flatwoods and scrub; a campground with two loops of tent and RV sites; and a separate set of two-bedroom duplex cabins on a beachfront parcel about a mile west of the main park entrance.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park: Dune Allen Beach

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park covers about 1,600 acres along 30A near Dune Allen Beach, at 7525 W. County Highway 30A in Santa Rosa Beach, per Florida State Parks. Its namesake, Topsail Hill, is a dune rising about 25 feet above sea level — one of several large, undeveloped dune formations the park protects along its roughly three miles of beach.

The preserve includes Campbell Lake, a coastal dune lake ringed by ancient dunes and maritime forest, and it's managed habitat for 13 imperiled species, including the Choctawhatchee beach mouse and several carnivorous pitcher plant species found in its wetter flatwoods. Visitor activities include hiking, biking, birding, fishing, paddling, and swimming, and overnight options run from 22 tent sites and 156 RV sites to 16 bungalows and 16 cabins — a broader range of lodging than most Florida state parks offer.

Point Washington State Forest: Trails and Backcountry Dune Lake Access

Point Washington State Forest is a large tract — more than 15,000 acres, established in 1992 and managed by the Florida Forest Service — running between US 98 and CR 30A east of Santa Rosa Beach. It's the inland counterpart to the beachfront state parks, built around a network of multi-use trails rather than a stretch of sand.

The forest's Eastern Lake Trail system offers three loop options (Yellow, 3.6 miles; Red, 5.9 miles; and Orange, 10.9 miles) for hikers and cyclists, plus the Longleaf Pine Greenway, a roughly 7.9-mile linear cycling route. Separate McQuage Bayou loops (a 3.9-mile east loop and a 5.3-mile west loop) are geared toward equestrian use, and the short, roughly 0.9-mile round-trip Cassine Trail leads through marsh and upland terrain toward Eastern Lake, one of Walton County's named coastal dune lakes, where a primitive campsite sits on the north shore. Day use runs $2 per person, and primitive camping is $10 per site by advance reservation.

The Timpoochee Trail: 30A on Two Wheels

The paved, multi-use path that runs alongside County Road 30A for nearly its full length is officially the Timpoochee Trail, built by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sources put its length at roughly 18 to 19 miles, running from Dune Allen Beach in the west to Inlet Beach in the east and passing directly through Grayton Beach, WaterColor, Seaside, and Rosemary Beach along the way — effectively stringing together every named community on this guide's neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown.

Per 30a.com, the trail's name honors Timpoochee Barnard, a Yuchi chief who served on the Creek National Council in the early 1800s. The trail is wide, flat, and separated from car traffic for most of its length, which is why biking (including e-bikes, widely available for rent along the corridor) is one of the most common ways visitors and residents actually get around 30A rather than driving between communities.

Walton County's Coastal Dune Lakes: A Genuinely Rare Feature

Walton County has 15 named coastal dune lakes strung along its roughly 26 miles of coastline, per Walton County's own coastal dune lakes page — a geological feature the county describes as globally rare, occurring in only a handful of places worldwide alongside Walton County, including parts of Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, and Oregon. Each lake maintains an intermittent connection to the Gulf of Mexico through a natural or managed outfall that opens and closes depending on rainfall, tides, and storm surge, mixing fresh water from rain, groundwater, and streams with occasional saltwater intrusion.

Three of the largest and most visited — Western Lake (bordering Grayton Beach State Park and WaterColor), Eastern Lake (in Point Washington State Forest, near Seagrove Beach), and Lake Powell (Walton County's largest, near Inlet Beach) — have public boat ramps and are popular for kayaking, canoeing, and stand-up paddleboarding, along with licensed fishing and birdwatching. The county partners with the nonprofit Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance on regular water quality monitoring and employs a dedicated Coastal Dune Lakes Coordinator, reflecting how seriously local government treats the lakes as an ecological asset worth protecting rather than just a recreational amenity.

Seaside's Central Square and Amphitheater

Seaside's town center includes an open-air amphitheater on Central Square, described by local sources as the hub of the town's public life — a grassy, sloped lawn ringed by the shops and restaurants of Seaside's commercial district, where visitors are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, a blanket, or a picnic rather than expect fixed seating. It's the venue for the long-running Sounds of Seaside concert series, along with periodic outdoor movie nights and community festivals throughout the year.

Because Seaside itself is also the primary filming location for 1998's The Truman Show (covered in more detail in this site's guide to 30A's neighborhoods), Central Square draws day-trip visitors well beyond people staying overnight in the town — it's as much a public gathering space and photo stop as it is an events venue. Confirm the current concert calendar directly with Seaside before planning a trip around a specific show, since schedules and performers change season to season.

The Boathouse at WaterColor: Western Lake, By Paddle

The Boathouse at WaterColor sits at Marina Park on the shore of Western Lake, inside the WaterColor resort community, and is operated by WaterColor Inn & Resort. It's the launch point for YOLO Board stand-up paddleboard rentals on the lake, and the surrounding Marina Park lawn hosts a recurring slate of community programming, including outdoor movies, plays, and concerts, plus the annual MountainFilm on Tour screening series and periodic evening 'Glow Paddle' events lit for nighttime paddling.

Because Western Lake is shared water — bordering both WaterColor and Grayton Beach State Park — the Boathouse functions as the easiest, most amenitized public access point to paddle the lake without hauling in a boat of your own, complementing the state park's more rustic, self-serve Paddle Western Lake canoe and kayak route on the opposite shore.