FLORIDA SCENIC HIGHWAY 30A
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Florida Scenic Highway 30A is the rural road that hugs the coastline along the Gulf in south Walton County. It travels along some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world.
The highway is south of US-98, which was built in the 1930s, and back in the day each of the little Gulf coast communities were at the end of dead end roads that branched off from US-98.
Eventually, the communities were connected when Florida Scenic Highway 30A was built along the Gulf. The highway connects several different unique communities along its 28.5 mile length.
The communities you will travel through include Inlet Beach, Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, Seacrest, WaterSound, Seagrove, Seaside, WaterColor, Grayton Beach, Blue Mountain, Santa Rosa, and Dune Allen.
State Parks on Florida Scenic Highway 30A
Two of the most fantastic Florida state parks are also along this route: Topsail Hill Preserve and Grayton Beach State Park.
This stretch of coast is between Panama City Beach and Destin, both well known Florida tourist destinations.
Grayton Beach looks more Old Florida than most of its more modern neighbors. It's just about in the middle of the route, and has a lot of weathered old beachy homes and cottages that remind you of a bygone era when it was the only settlement along what was then a lonely coast.
The community is surrounded by Grayton Beach State Park whose white sands were once listed by "Dr. Beach" as the most beautiful beach in America.
The land along this stretch of beach was first homesteaded in 1885 by former Army Major Charles T. Gray. The town of Grayton Beach was founded in 1890 when Army Generals William Miller and William Wilson came to the area. They named the town for Major Gray.
The town remained remote and hard to visit until the 1930s when US Highway 98 was completed as the major route between Pensacola and Panama City.
Grayton Beach has also survived a few hurricanes. Opal in 1995 caused a lot of flooding and damage from Gulf waters which topped over the tall dunes. The only original home in the community is called "Wash-A-Way".
It is was originally built in the 1890s by Captain Gray and is now a thoroughly modernized bed and breakfast inn. It's at the end of County Road 283 right on the gulf and got its name when the unnamed hurricane of 1926 washed away its foundation.
The Red Bar was a historic restaurant and bar that was destroyed by fire on February 13, 2019. The owners are in the process of building a new establishment, and the ground breaking was on October 8, 2019. They hope to be in business again by the summer of 2020.
Read more about Grayton Beach.
Seasonal and short term rentals are available all along Florida Scenic Highway 30A, but most of them are fairly pricey.
More budget minded travelers can look into the camping and cabin accommodations at the two State Parks, but reservations should be made well in advance.
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