Wildlife Viewing Site
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Description: This northern panhandle park is known for its fascinating caves, many with beautiful stalactites, stalagmites, and other cave formations. Miles of trails wind among limestone outcrops and through a beech-magnolia hardwood forest that is similar in many respects to forests found in the Appalachian foothills. The woods are speckled with many northern wildflowers in the spring. Visitors can walk through a large cavern on a guided tour, canoe the portion of the Chipola River that runs through the park, or swim in a cool spring. Watchable wildlife: Bats, including the endangered gray bat, are among the most notable wildlife in the park, but you will most likely see only the eastern pipistrelle bat during the cave tour. Barred owls and red-shouldered hawks are common in the floodplain forest bordering the Chipola River. In the spring and summer, you may see Mississippi kites and swallow-tail kites, as well as flycatchers, vireos, wood thrushes, and hooded and prothonotary warblers. When red, tubular flowers such as columbine and buckeyes are blooming, ruby-throated hummingbirds are commonly seen. Ownership: Department of Environmental Protection (850) 482-9598 Directions: Three miles north of Marianna on Florida Highway 166. Related Sites: Other North West Florida Wildlife Sites Florida State Parks |
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