A 246,000-acre research reserve protecting the lower Apalachicola River, the bay, and the barrier islands — one of the largest estuarine reserves in the United States. The reserve runs a small but excellent visitor centre at Eastpoint, on the mainland side of the bridge, with displays on the bay's ecology, the oyster industry, and the freshwater wars with Georgia.
The reserve does not have hiking trails in the conventional sense — it is mostly water and protected wetland — but it sponsors guided paddle trips and naturalist-led boat tours, especially in spring and fall. Worth a stop on the way to or from St. George Island, if only for the context it provides.