PANAMA CITY BEACH — With 2,900 acres and 24 miles of trail to explore at the Panama City Beach Conservation Park, officials are hoping a new set of wheels will help spark interest in some untouched areas of nature.
“The park is so large we have trouble getting people to the far ends of it,” said parks resource officer Dale Colby. “Now we’ll be able to take people to parts of the park they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.”
This weekend, Colby will be hauling visitors to the deep ends of the park for the first time on the city’s new trailer, reminiscent of a pioneer’s covered wagon.
Parks and recreation employees assembled the wagon Monday afternoon, just in time for a grand opening celebration for the new John Muir Trail at the Conservation Park this Saturday.
Named for one of the nation’s greatest conservationists, the new trail provides access to a rare area of the park left untouched by timber farmers, who harvested native trees and planted non-native slash pine across Northwest Florida at the turn of the century.
The John Muir Trail will showcase a pair of “island” areas with natural longleaf pine ecosystems, providing access with new boardwalks over the park’s wetlands.
The city is now in the process of restoring the park’s overall longleaf ecosystem through harvesting slash pines and planting native longleafs.
“That area is an example of what the future of our park will look like,” Colby said of the trail.
Since the park opened, the city has planted about 90,000 longleafs, 3,000 of which were planted by volunteers from organizations like Girls Inc. of Bay County and local Girl Scouts troops. Plans are in place to plant another 2,000 longleafs with local kids’ groups this spring.
Saturday’s event will kick off with a bird walk with Bay County Audubon at 7:30 a.m., with the trail ribbon cutting and grand opening slated for 10:30 a.m. Other activities include hanging bluebird houses with the Audubon at 10:45 a.m., a guided hike with the Florida Trail Association, also at 10:45 a.m., and a Thanksgiving-themed Pioneer Lunch under the Conservation Park Pavilion at noon.
The event also will feature display tables from several environmental groups in the area, and the new wagon will be up and running. All activities are free and open to the public.
“It will be the first use of our new wagon,” Colby said of the event. “You’ve got 3,000 acres out here; it’s hard to get to other parts of it. We’ll be able to haul people to other parts of the park.”
Want to go?
- What: Grand Opening Celebration of the John Muir Trail
- Where: Panama City Beach Conservation Park
- When: 7:30 a.m. – Audubon Bird Walk; 10 a.m. – Display tables open; 10:30 a.m. – Trail Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening; 10:45 a.m. – Florida Trail Association guided hike; 10:45 a.m. – Hanging bluebird houses with Bay County Audubon; Noon – Pioneer Lunch under the Pavilion
- Details: Call Panama City Beach Parks and Recreation at (850) 233-5045