This Florida State Park Looks Like North Carolina -- With Waterfalls, Hiking Trails, and One of the World's Rarest Trees
Carrie Honaker
November 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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Key Points
* Known as the "Mountains of Florida" thanks to its ravines and hills, Torreya State Park in northern Florida is a popular place to go hiking.
* The park is considered a must-visit for nature enthusiasts due to its rare flora, like the torreya tree and the Florida yew.
* For accommodations, visitors can choose between camping at the Weeping Ridge campground or staying in a yurt or cabin.
On a recent fall trip, magenta beautyberries dotted the curvy road, sultry summer temperatures had cooled ever so slightly, and amber and gold tinged the towering sweetgums throughout Torreya State Park. One of the original Florida state parks, opened to the public in 1935, the 13,000-acre expanse felt more like Georgia or North Carolina with its high plateaus, steep ravines, waterfalls, and seasonal foliage.
The park, created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression, is named after the rare, endangered torreya tree found only on the high bluffs along the Apalachicola River.
It felt like paradise standing out on the bluff overlooking the rushing river surrounded by dense foliage with Florida state park ranger Brian Brown. "When you come to Torreya State Park, the world shuts off and being in nature is the only thing that matters," he said. "I feel lucky I get to share the rare plants and rich history of this land with visitors every day."
Brown, one of a handful of rangers at the park, knows firsthand what makes Torreya State Park a special place, along with the ins and outs of what first-timers should know.
Planning Your Visit
Open from 8 a.m. until sunset, 365 days a year, Torreya State Park is free for all state park pass holders. If you don't have a park pass, entry is just $3 for vehicles and motorcyclists, and $2 for cyclists and pedestrians. Be sure to purchase your day pass or state park pass online in advance of your visit.
How to Get There
About an hour from Tallahassee and 1.5 hours from my home in Panama City Beach, Torreya State Park offers a glimpse of wild Florida. The one road in -- NW Torreya Park Road -- dead-ends at the Gregory House. From western cities like Tallahassee, take Interstate 10 west for 40 minutes. Use the exit for Bristol to get on SR 12 south to NW Torreya Park Road, and follow it to the end. From eastern cities like Panama City, take Highway 231 to Highway 20 East. Turn on SR 12 in Bristol to NW Torreya Park Road.
Best Time to Visit
If you want to see foliage, plan your visit between late October and November -- the temperatures cool and the leaves put on their show. The busiest time of year, according to Brown, is winter, when it gets cold enough to enjoy a crackling fire and some s'mores over a campfire.
Brown let me in on a special event that happens in the spring: the Candlelight Tour. The Gregory House comes alive with artisans, botanists, and historians demonstrating different crafts, as well as discussing the rare flora and fauna at the park.
Best Things to Do
Go hiking.
Considered the "Mountains of Florida," Torreya has 16 miles of challenging hiking trails. The shortest -- the Weeping Ridge Trail -- is just a mile round-trip, but it dips into a steep, sloping ravine that reveals a lovely 25-foot waterfall. When my family visits, this is our go-to trail. It's challenging enough to keep the kids interested, and the topography makes for beautiful photographs.
Established by the Florida Trail Association in the 1970s, the Torreya Hiking Trail contains two loops. The Rock Creek Loop traverses approximately seven miles of ravines, creeks, subtropical forest, and small footbridges. Evidence of Hurricane Michael's destruction can still be seen in the fledgling sweetgum, magnolia, oak, and hickory trees sprouting with new growth. Brown recommends looking out for the tulip trees with pale green and orange flowers. The seven-mile Torreya Challenge Loop steadily climbs and dips, meandering over creeks, an old forest road, and blackberry brambles, following a ridge where mountain laurels bloom in the spring and visitors can find the steepest incline in the park.
Learn the history.
During the Civil War, 200 Confederate soldiers called the bluffs above the Apalachicola River home for two years. Just off the Gregory House, a trail leads to the Hammock Landing Battery, where Confederate soldiers guarded the river from attack, protecting their manufacturing hub in Columbus, Georgia. It was abandoned in 1865, when the war ended, but the cannon emplacements are still visible today, carved into the landscape.
The 3,000-square-foot Gregory House once sat on the other side of the river. It remained in the family until the 1930s, when it was donated to the CCC and moved to its current location. According to Brown, the house was dismantled brick by brick, brought across the river by barge, carried over the stone bridge, and reconstructed by hand -- it took seven years. Brown and his fellow park rangers have plenty of stories to share as they lead visitors through the tours (offered 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekends and state holidays).
Must-see Wildlife and Natural Features
Most visitors to this state park come for the legendary torreya tree, discovered by botanist Hardy Bryan Croom in 1835. Only around 200 are still standing today -- it's one of the rarest trees in the world. Walking the red brick path to the Gregory House, small torreya saplings can be seen protected by wire mesh. According to Brown, Hurricane Michael damaged 80 percent of the park's namesake trees, but through a project with the Florida Park Service and Atlanta Botanical Garden, seeds obtained from living trees are being grown and planted in the ravine habitat at Torreya State Park.
Though the torreya tree is usually the draw, Brown considers the Florida yew important to the park's landscape as well. This critically endangered evergreen shrub, native to Florida, grows between 10 and 20 feet and can be found on bluffs and ravines in a less than four square mile area of the Florida Panhandle. "If you like to hike, there are plenty of rare flowers like the blazing star along the trails," Brown said.
Torreya is also one of the stops on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. More than 100 bird species draw visitors hoping to catch glimpses of brown-headed nuthatches, yellow-throated vireos, and even bald eagles. There's a good chance of seeing the endangered mourning cloak butterfly in early spring. Another special inhabitant of the park is the rare Barbour's map turtle, only found in this part of the country.
Where to Stay
If you're coming to Torreya State Park, you may be planning to hike some of the 16 miles of trails and camp under the stars at one of the highest campgrounds in Florida. For reservations, visit the Florida State Parks reservations website or call 800-326-3521. Outfitted with restrooms, showers, and picnic areas, the full-facility Weeping Ridge family campground has 30 campsites equipped with electricity and water. There are also several primitive campgrounds spaced out around the park.
For a less roughing-it approach, there's a yurt and a cabin available. The yurt can accommodate up to five people and comes with air-conditioning and heat, a skylight for stargazing, and a deck for sitting out and taking in the view. The cracker cabin, so called for its distinct style, has space for six people, offers air-conditioning and heating, and features a queen-size bed and four bunk beds, plus tables and chairs.
Leashed pets are allowed in the park, but not in the buildings. Remember to bring your own linens, too, as the park does not provide them for the beds in the yurt or cabin.
Where to Eat
There are no restaurants or food stores in or directly adjacent to the park, so come prepared. Brown advises stocking up on groceries and provisions in nearby Bristol, about a 20-minute drive from the park entrance. Picnic tables and charcoal grills are available at the campsites and pavilion.
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