Gulf Coast Drive - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 1089

Star Route
APALACHEE SAVANNAHS SCENIC BYWAY
BeginningonRte.65atthesouthernborderofApalachicolaNationalForest,thedrive
pauses at Fort Gadsden Historic Site, where an outdoor museum highlights the fort's
role in the Civil War. Swinging northwest on Rte. 379 at Sumatra, the byway passes
cypressbogs,longleafpineflats,andthegrassysavannahsthatgivetherouteitsname.
Paralleling the Apalachicola River north to Rte. 12, the byway is garnished with a
spectacular array of wildflowers.
4. St. George Island State Park
Continue east over the Gorrie Bridge from Apalachicola to Eastpoint, then angles south
ontoabridgeleadingtoSt.GeorgeIsland.Theeasternmost2,000acresofthisspitofdunes
andmarshesthatseparatesApalachicolaBayfromtheGulfofMexicohasbeensetasideas
apark—aboonnotonlytohikers,campers,anglers,andbeachlovers,buttotheshorebirds
that depend on the undeveloped coastline as a resting place for their migration stopovers.
Willets, snowy plovers, least terns, and black skimmers are among the many kinds of
birds that gather along the St. George beaches in spring and fall. The migration routes of
some species extend all the way from Argentina and Brazil to the Arctic tundra of North
America. The shorebirds that you see feeding on minute crustaceans and other tiny sea
creatures can survive only if development-free way stations such as St. George Island sur-
vive as well.
5. Carrabelle
From its southernmost thrust into the Gulf at Apalachicola, the northwest Florida coastline
arcs to the northeast. At easygoing Carrabelle, a celebrated local attraction is a telephone
booth billed as the world's smallest police station.