Camp Helen

On the west side of Panama City Beach is a beautiful park called Camp Helen http://www.floridastateparks.org/camphelen/default.cfm . The lodge there was once a private "corporate retreat" in the 1940's. These days it is best known for it's ghost tours in October held to benefit the care and maintenance of the park. Camp Helen is bordered on one side by beautiful Lake Powell, the largest coastal dune lake on our northwest Florida coast. For more info on coastal dune lakes, may I recommend: http://www.basinalliance.org//CDL/CDL.htm . On the south side of the park, a very wide beach spreads out like fine linen, to the turquoise edge of the Gulf of Mexico. The path that leads down the dune is edged with salt bush, oak and sea oats. Even if you don't spend the day, there are vistas of the lake and beach and sky that are worth a walk down the dune. A perfect day trip on a cool winter day.