When traveling with a dog the chances of you being able to take them on a beach are very slim. It gets frustrating but that is how things go so adjusting to this is your best option. For me it was not really a big deal, most of the time, because I do not go in the water or spend a lot of time sitting on the beach, soaking up the sun. I do, however, like to walk on the beach and that is when not being able to take Casey gets annoying.
When we arrived at Deer Lake State Park we were greeted with a beautiful boardwalk across the sand dunes that took us all the way to the beach. Until my time in the Panhandle, I don’t ever remember seeing sand dunes so tall, they towered over me. Walking on the boardwalk, towards the beach was so amazing. The dunes were like small mountains and as the wind blew they changed form, right before my eyes. I would walk a little and then be forced to stop to watch the sand show. It was magnificent.
Casey and I got to the end of the boardwalk, looked out at the pretty water, and then turned back around to begin our stroll back through the dunes. I could have stayed for days admiring the ever-changing dunes but that was just not practical so the couple of hours we were there would have to hold us over.
Before you visit, make sure you check out the parks website for all of the up-to-date park information: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/deer-lake-state-park
