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Places to go in Big Bend.

Tallahassee, the Forgotten Coast, Cedar Key. 5 places worth the drive in this corner of Florida.

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St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Gardens & wildlife

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge

St. Marks, FL · Big Bend

Established in 1931, this 86,000-acre coastal refuge protects roughly 43 miles of north Florida's Gulf shoreline and serves as winter habitat for migratory birds, with more than 250 species recorded throughout the year. At its southern tip stands the historic St. Marks Lighthouse, completed in 1842 and the oldest lighthouse on Florida's Gulf coast. Wildlife drives, hiking and biking trails, and a stretch of the Florida National Scenic Trail make it a premier spot for birding, alligator watching, and butterfly migrations.

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park Springs

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park

Wakulla Springs, FL · Big Bend

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park near Tallahassee guards one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs on Earth, a sapphire pool 185 feet deep that feeds a wild, jungly river. Board a riverboat tour to glide past basking alligators, wading birds, and wintering manatees, or climb the diving platform for a plunge into the cool, clear water. The 1937 lodge, where Hollywood filmed early Tarzan pictures, anchors the visit year round.

Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park Beaches

Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park

St. George Island, FL · Big Bend

Nine miles of undeveloped sand run the length of this Forgotten Coast barrier island, backed by rolling dunes and sea oats with the Gulf rolling in clear. Loggerheads nest on the dark summer beaches and close to three hundred bird species work the flats, while the unraked tideline turns up conchs, olives, and sand dollars. Drive out past the last house to the wild eastern end, where the dunes climb high and the footprints thin to plover tracks.

St. Vincent Island (National Wildlife Refuge) Beaches

St. Vincent Island (National Wildlife Refuge)

Apalachicola, FL · Big Bend

There are no roads, no resorts, and no way here but by boat: St. Vincent is 12,300 acres of wild barrier island where the Gulf rolls onto miles of empty white sand backed by cabbage palms and shifting dunes. Hire a shuttle across the quarter-mile cut from Indian Pass, then walk a shoreline littered with shells and leaning palm trunks, scanning the treeline for the 500-pound sambar deer that an experiment turned loose here a century ago. Nothing out here is staffed or stocked, so come self-sufficient, and the only footprints you are likely to cross will be a shorebird's.

Madison Blue Spring State Park Springs

Madison Blue Spring State Park

Lee, FL · Big Bend

Madison Blue rises in a round limestone bowl on the bank of the Withlacoochee River, about 82 feet across and holding a steady 72 degrees whether you show up in July or January. The water reads deep cobalt over the vent and shades to pale turquoise across the shelf, so a mask and snorkel turn up sunfish, catfish, and the dark mouth of a cave that technical divers have mapped for more than five miles underground. Float the short spring run to where the clear water meets the tea-colored river and you can watch the exact line where the two refuse to mix.