Exploring along the emerald coast

The emerald coast is known for it’s beautiful beaches, white sand and emerald colored water. What a lot of visitors to our area miss is the beautiful 26-mile stretch of relatively unspoiled beauty in South Walton county. State parks and state forest provide miles of longleaf pine forestlands that include 15 coastal dune lakes, a geographical feature so rare that it only exists in a handful of places on earth.

Elam Stoltzfus has been working on a documentary and book to tell the story of these amazing coastal dune lakes. Watch a video by Elam Stoltzfus:

I try and get out exploring our coastal dune lakes and surrounding forest every chance I can. Here are a few photos I’ve taken. I invite you to follow me on Instagram if you’d like to see more of my photos.