Things to Do in Blue Mountain Beach

Point Washington State Forest: A Real Trail Network at the Edge of Town

Point Washington State Forest runs alongside Blue Mountain Beach, and its Longleaf Greenway Trail makes that adjacency concrete: a 7.9-mile, primarily singletrack route running from the Eastern Lake trailhead north and west to Satinwood Drive in Blue Mountain, per Florida Hikes' trail guide to the forest. The route is described as passing through pine forests and basin swamps that drain into the area's coastal dune lakes — real habitat, not a groomed park path.

The forest's main network, the Eastern Lake Trail System, stacks three loops of increasing length — a 3.6-mile Yellow Loop, a 5.9-mile Red Loop, and a 10.9-mile Orange Loop — combining forest roads and singletrack open to both hikers and cyclists, per the same source. A newer 1.4-mile round-trip connector, the 30A Trail, opened in 2024 and links Yolo Board + Bike along CR-30A directly to the Eastern Lake Trail. A separate route, the McQuage Bayou Trail, is built primarily for horseback riders but open to all users, with an East Loop (3.9 miles) and West Loop (5.3 miles) crossing titi swamps and bayhead habitats via water crossings.

Two Rare Coastal Dune Lakes on Either Side

Blue Mountain Beach sits between two of Florida's rare coastal dune lakes, Big Redfish Lake and Alligator Lake, per 30a.com's history of the community — a lake type found in only a small number of places on Earth, concentrated along this stretch of the Florida Panhandle. Point Washington State Forest is separately described by Florida Hikes as protecting the upland watersheds that feed the area's coastal dune lakes, tying the forest's trails and the lakes flanking Blue Mountain Beach into the same ecosystem.

This research could not confirm a public kayak or paddleboard launch, boat ramp, or rental outfitter specifically serving Big Redfish Lake or Alligator Lake this session — don't assume drop-in water access the way you'd find at a developed park. If lake access matters for a trip, confirm current public-access points directly with Walton County or a local outfitter before planning around it.

Bike the Timpoochee Trail

The Timpoochee Trail, the paved multi-use path running the length of Scenic Highway 30A, is 18 miles long end to end, from Dune Allen Beach to Inlet Beach, per Visit South Walton's guide to the trail — the same route this site has confirmed for other 30A communities. Florida Hikes separately describes the trail as connecting coastal communities while leading cyclists past Florida's coastal dune lakes, which fits Blue Mountain Beach's position between Big Redfish Lake and Alligator Lake.

Blue Mountain Beach sits directly on Scenic Highway 30A, on the stretch between Dune Allen Beach and Grayton Beach, so the trail runs along this section of the corridor. This research could not confirm an exact mile marker or a named trailhead specific to Blue Mountain Beach this session — bring a bike, rented locally or your own, and expect to reach Dune Allen Beach in one direction and Grayton Beach and points east in the other, without a car.

Justin Gaffrey's Studio-Gallery

Justin Gaffrey's studio-gallery occupies his family's home at 21 Blue Gulf Drive in Blue Mountain Beach, described by 30a.com as a bungalow set among oaks laden with Spanish moss. Gaffrey is known for a distinctive technique — sculpting thick acrylic paint with a palette knife so that big, bold colors in three-dimensional spikes jut off the canvas — applied to florals, landscapes, horses, and nests.

The studio-gallery is open to the public, and visitors can watch Gaffrey work; he’s also known to engage with children and families who stop in. A newer 5,200-square-foot warehouse facility supports rotating exhibits, larger sculptural pieces, and photography work, per the same source.

Blue Mountain Regional Beach Access (Access #36)

Blue Mountain Beach's public beach access point sits at 2365 W County Hwy 30A in Santa Rosa Beach, near Blue Mountain Beach Creamery, per Vacayzen's South Walton beach access guide. It's listed in Walton County's beach access system as Blue Mountain Regional Beach Access, Access #36.

The access point offers public restrooms, lifeguard coverage, and a beach-conditions flag system for water-safety information, and operates under the county's Managed Beach Vendor program with posted service hours of 8 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 5 p.m., per the same source. Specific parking-space counts weren't listed; arrive early in season, since regional accesses along 30A fill their lots on busy days.

Grayton Beach State Park, Nearby

Grayton Beach State Park sits along the same Scenic 30A corridor as Blue Mountain Beach, generally to the east — an adjacency reasonably supported across multiple independent sources, though no exact distance or mile figure could be confirmed this session, so none is stated here. It's a real, well-known Florida state park, but this research could not independently confirm its current trails, camping options, fees, or hours through a direct fetch of the official Florida State Parks page despite repeated attempts — confirm those directly at floridastateparks.org before planning a visit.