Tate's Hell State Forest OHV
Tate's Hell State Forest encompasses 202,000 acres of Florida Panhandle coastal lowland in Franklin and Liberty counties, stretching from the town of Carrabelle on the Gulf of Mexico inland through the Apalachicola River floodplain country to the edge of the Apalachicola National Forest. The forest is managed by the Florida Forest Service and includes an OHV trail and forest road network open to ATVs, UTVs, and off-highway motorcycles on designated routes, one of the more remote and least-known public-land OHV riding areas in the Florida Panhandle. The forest is named for the legend of Cebe Tate, a farmer from the Carrabelle area who reputedly became hopelessly lost in the swamp wilderness for days in the 19th century, emerging from the swamp with the words 'I've been to hell', the name signals that this is genuine lowland Florida wilderness, not a manicured recreation area. The terrain is coastal Panhandle flatwoods character: flatwood longleaf and slash pine forest on the sandy upland ridges; titi swamp, cypress-gum ponds, and pitcher plant bogs on the lowland drains; wet prairies and coastal salt marshes as the forest approaches the Gulf Coast near Carrabelle; and the bay swamps and stream corridors of the New River and Carrabelle River watersheds that drain the southern forest. The riding character reflects the landscape, much of the trail network follows elevated forest roads and fire lanes traversing the pine flatwoods and avoiding the deepest swamp terrain. Seasonal closures apply to low-lying corridors during wet-season flooding when access becomes impassable. The Florida Forest Service Apalachicola Ranger District manages Tate's Hell OHV access (850-643-2282) with current route status and closure information. The forest is immediately adjacent to the Apalachicola National Forest to the north, allowing riders to combine both forest systems on extended trips.