Blackwater River State Forest OHV
Blackwater River State Forest encompasses 190,000 acres of Florida Panhandle longleaf pine country in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties, the largest state forest in Florida and one of the largest remaining intact longleaf pine ecosystems in the southeastern United States. The forest OHV network, centered in the Munson Hills area near the community of Munson approximately 30 miles north of Milton, provides the primary public-land off-highway vehicle riding in the Florida Panhandle region and the closest significant public-land OHV destination to the Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Navarre Beach metro area. The terrain is classic Panhandle sandhills: rolling hills of deep white sand under open longleaf pine forest with wiregrass understory, a landscape that was once continuous across the coastal plain from Virginia to Texas before fire suppression and development fragmented it into isolated refuges. The sandy soil base is the defining feature of Blackwater OHV riding: the hills drain quickly after rain and provide the rolling, loose-sand riding experience that distinguishes Panhandle off-road from the flat swampy terrain that characterizes most of peninsular Florida. ATVs, dirt bikes, and UTVs are permitted on designated OHV routes through the Munson Hills area. Florida Forest Service OHV permits are required for all motorized use ($15 per vehicle per day or $50 annual permit). The Blackwater River Forestry Center in Milton (850-957-4000) manages trail access and seasonal closure information; the forest is adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base and some trail corridors are periodically affected by military operational schedules and range closure requirements. The park also serves as a gateway to Blackwater River State Park, an adjacent FDEP-managed park on the Blackwater River known as one of the purest sand-bottom rivers in the United States.