Lake Talquin and Falling Waters state parks

After leaving Wakulla Springs at noon, I had time to check out another state park on my route, Lake Talquin State Park. Google Maps got me on the shortest route, directing me to turn off Hwy 267 to National Forest Rd 342. That turned out to be a harrowing ride as the road was unpaved with ruts, some deep and not quite visible in places. I was very happy to turn to Hwy 20 after a bumpy 1.5 mile drive at about 5-10 mph. That app should include road conditions when presenting driving routes!

There were only two other cars in the visitor parking lot when I arrived at Lake Talquin around noon. The park was very small but scenic. The two short trails from the parking lot offered great views of the freshwater lake. I noticed that two boardwalks leading to the lake were closed off, but the fishing pier was accessible.

After leaving Lake Talquin, I realized that I gained an hour going west. Falling Waters State Park was just off Hwy 10 on the way to Crestview and there was time to check it out. I was scheduled to camp at this park but my reservation was cancelled by the park a few weeks ago because the campground was still closed due to renovation. As it happened, Nadine was already in the park having got there in the morning. We went hiking to the waterfall together. Falling Waters has the tallest waterfall in Florida at 73 ft. but it was unusual in that the water falls into a sink hole. This afternoon, the trickling falls were somewhat underwhelming although a sign noted that they could be a "raging torrent" after a thunderstorm.

We went on a second hike to view some large and deep sink holes before parting company.