Thursday, 24 February 2022 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika Category/Kategorie: GeneralReading Time: 5minutes
Much like the Emerald Coast, the Big Bend Coast would not necessarily be associated with Florida. In terms of landscape and architecture, one would rather guess neighboring Alabama. This is still the “Deep South“, before investors and adventurers overrun South Florida in particular and turned it into one big glizzy and shiny tourist trap, a lot of people like to fall for. The Big Bend Coast is far less visited by tourists than it is further south on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic. There are many so-called “Main Street Villages and Towns” here, settlements that line up along the main streets. High-rise buildings like in Miami can be rarely found and that is of course the charming factor. Of course, this relative seclusion is not suitable for everyone. For those looking for peace and quiet and retirees, it is a paradise, for party people it is hell on earth that has come true – including the corresponding temperatures.
Private agencies that self-identify as serving the Big Bend region often include Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor and Wakulla counties in their service areas. The principal city in the region is Tallahassee. Big Bend is known for its vast woodlands and marshlands, including portions of the Apalachicola National Forest, and its low population density relative to much of the state, with some of the most sparsely populated counties in Florida being part of the region.
The Big Bend Coast is the marshy coast extending about 350 kilometres (220 mi) from the mouth of the Ocklockonee River around Apalachee Bay and down the west coast of peninsular Florida to Anclote Key. This stretch of coast includes the coasts of Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. The Big Bend Coast is a drowned karst region, covered with salt marsh. It includes freshwater springs, oysterreefs, and the delta of the Suwannee River. There are barrier islands west of the Oklockonee River and south starting with Anclote Key, but there are no barrier islands between those places. The Big Bend Coast has little or no sand or mud. The karst topography has produced an irregular, frequently exposed, bedrock surface. Due to the width of the adjacent continental shelf (over 150 kilometres (93 mi)), low gradient slope of the coast (1:5000), and shelter from the usual wind direction of storms, the Big Bend Coast is generally subject to low wave energy. The coast is subject to storm surges.
