The Apalachicola National Forest covers nearly 1,800 square kilometres of longleaf pine flatwoods, cypress swamps, and river floodplain beginning at the western edge of Tallahassee. It is the largest national forest in Florida, and its proximity to a state capital — the forest starts within a 20-minute drive of downtown — is unusual.
The forest has no entrance fee. Activities include hiking, swimming at Silver Lake and Wright Lake recreation areas, camping, fishing, and wildlife watching. The Leon Sinks Geological Area, about 12 miles southwest of town, is the most distinctive spot — a trail connects a series of sinkholes and karst pools fed by the underground Woodville Karst Plain aquifer. The historic Fort Gadsden site, deeper into the forest, marks where an escaped-slave settlement and Seminole village stood before the US Army destroyed it in 1816.