WATER & COAST

Deer Lake State Park Beach

Walton County · Panhandle & Emerald Coast

Sugar white sand reached by a boardwalk that crosses the dunes and gives a long view over them on the way. The park is built around a coastal dune lake, a kind of lake found almost nowhere else in the world, and holds eleven separate natural communities with two hiking trails through them. Pitcher plants, Gulf coast lupine and one of the largest stands of Curtiss' sandgrass in Florida grow here, and deer, butterflies and a long list of birds use it. Parking, restrooms and picnic pavilions. Open 8 a.m. to sunset, $3 a vehicle carrying two to eight people and $2 on foot or by bicycle, paid into an honor box that needs exact change. It fills and closes for a few hours at a time in season.