Blackwater River State Forest: Bear Lake Loop Trail (Blog Hike #615)

Trail: Bear Lake Loop Trail

Hike Location: Blackwater River State Forest, Bear Lake Recreation Area

Geographic Location: northeast of Milton, FL (30.86214, -86.83311)

Length: 3.7 miles

Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)

Date Hiked: January 2017

Overview: A mostly flat circumnavigation of Bear Lake.

Forest Information: https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Blackwater-River-State-Forest

Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=732128
Photo Highlight:

Directions to the trailhead: From Milton, take SR 87 north 15.8 miles to SR 4.  Turn right on SR 4.  Drive SR 4 east 12.4 miles to Bear Lake Road; there is a sign for Bear Lake Campground at this intersection.  Turn left and drive Bear Lake Road to its end at the campground’s day use parking area, which is located near the boat launch.  There is a nominal fee to enter the day use area.  Alternatively, you can reach Bear Lake Campground from the east by taking SR 4 west out of Crestview, FL.

The hike: I was forced to cut my recent hiking trip to southern Alabama short by one day in order to get home ahead of an ice storm.  Without enough days to do all of the hikes I had intended, I had to choose between making a planned excursion into northwest Florida and focusing exclusively on southern Alabama.  I decided to make the journey into Florida and forego a few Alabama hikes, and my resulting visit to Blackwater River State Forest’s Bear Lake Recreation Area provided probably the best hike of the trip.

            Not to be confused with the much smaller adjacent Blackwater River State Park,  vast Blackwater River State Forest comprises over 210,000 acres in the Florida panhandle’s Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties, Florida’s second and third western-most counties.  When combined with Alabama’s Conecuh National Forest to the north and Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base to the south, the forest forms the world’s largest contiguous area of longleaf pines and wiregrass habitats.  The forest gets its name from the region’s Blackwater River, which is one of the few shifting sand-bottomed streams to remain undeveloped for most of its length.

            Being a state forest as opposed to a state park, Blackwater River State Forest is managed for the dual purposes of timber production and recreation as opposed to a pure recreation focus.  Nevertheless, the forest has several campgrounds and recreation areas, one of the more popular of which is the Bear Lake Recreation Area.  Constructed in the early 1960’s, the Bear Lake Recreation Area features a 40 site lakeside campground, a 6 mile mountain bike trail, a picnic area, access to 107 acre Bear Lake, and a hiking trailhead that accesses a couple of trails.  This entry describes the Bear Lake Loop Trail, which circumnavigates its namesake lake.

            Before you leave the trailhead area, be sure to note the large colorful trail map posted on the back of the information board where you paid your entrance fee.  The forest provides no paper trail maps, so you will want to either download a trail map from the forest’s website or take a picture of the one posted here.  Truth be told, you may not need a trail map: the Bear Lake Loop is surprisingly well-marked, well-maintained, and well-improved with many bridges and boardwalks given that it is a state forest as opposed to a state park trail.

Trailhead area near dam

            Start a clockwise journey around Bear Lake by walking north across the dam that forms the lake.  The Bear Lake Loop is marked with copious white rectangular paint blazes, the first few of which are found near the dam area.  After crossing the dam, you reach a signed trail intersection that contains a digital information kiosk with audio recordings accessible by push-button playback.  The 1.3 mile orange-blazed Sweetwater Trail exits left here and heads to the Krul Lake Recreation Area, another developed site in Blackwater River State Forest.  Although the Sweetwater Trail does not form a loop and is not described in this blog, it is noteworthy for its nice boardwalk that is more than 0.5 miles in length.  Thus, the Sweetwater Trail makes a nice side trip if you have some extra time and energy.  This hike turns right to stay on the Bear Lake Loop.

Longleaf pines

            For the next 0.7 miles the trail heads northeast parallel to the lake’s north shore through this area’s signature longleaf pine forest.  A few wet areas are encountered, but some nice wooden bridges and boardwalks carry you over the worst of the wetness.  The boardwalks on this trail have ADA-style side rails in spite of the fact that it would be nearly impossible to get a wheelchair down the rest of the trail.

View from backwater observation platform

            Just shy of 1 mile, you pass a wooden observation platform that overlooks the backwaters of Bear Lake.  I heard a woodpecker here but saw little activity.  Soon the trail curves right to cross one of Bear Lake’s main sources on another wooden bridge before climbing slightly to resume its course through longleaf pines.  All elevation changes on the Bear Lake Loop are very subtle, and the difference between maximum and minimum trail elevations is only about 15 feet.

            After crossing another bridge over another shrubby inlet, you reach a signed primitive campground along the lake shore at 1.6 miles.  Some picnic tables beckon you to enjoy the longleaf pines and rest near the midpoint of this hike.  The next inlet bridge is the longest on the Bear Lake Loop, and I passed the only other person on this hike while she was sitting here on a shady bench.

Bridge over lake inlet

            At 2.2 miles, you reach a second primitive campsite, where some careless campers had left smoldering undoused wood from a camp fire on my visit.  The red-blazed Bear-Jackson Connector Trail exits left here.  As its name implies, the Bear-Jackson Connector Trail heads east 2 miles to the Jackson Red Ground Trail, a 16.5 mile backpacking trail that is also a spur of the Florida Trail.  This hike follows the white blazes to the right to stay on the Bear Lake Loop.

Primitive campsite

            After a gradual climb away from the lake, you reach a wooden post with faint arrows and engravings.  Another arm of the Bear-Jackson Connector Trail used to exit left here, but that route is no longer maintained.  Thus, the only feasible option is to turn right and continue the Bear Lake Loop.

            The next section of trail is the only part of the hike that goes more than a couple hundred feet away from the lake.  Traffic noise from SR 4 may become audible through the pines to the left.  At 2.8 miles, you get back to the lake shore and walk through a clearing that appears to be an old logging landing.  Watch for the white blazes to ensure you stay on the trail.

Bear Lake view from pier

            3 miles into the hike, you pass a pier that juts out into the lake on the right.  This pier provides the best lake views, and the longleaf pines reflecting in the water make a pretty sight on a sunny winter day.  One final lake inlet is walked around and one final bridge is crossed before you return to the picnic, campground, and trailhead area to complete the hike.