Eden Gardens State Park is one of our favorite parks we visited on the Florida panhandle. Here’s a recap of our visit in September 2022 to the beautiful and wonderful state park near Destin, Florida.
About Eden Gardens State Park
Eden Gardens is located in Point Washington about 35 minutes down the road from Destin in the Florida panhandle. Their ornamental gardens are the main attraction of the park. But the focal point of the park is the Wesley House built in 1897. This 163 acre park includes what was part of the Wesley homestead until 1953. And ten years later, it was purchased by Lois Maxon converting the house and grounds into what it is today. To read more about this park, see: Eden Gardens State Park | Florida State Parks.
We get to the park about 11:30AM paying our $4 entrance fee at the honor box, so best to have cash. We then stop at a white building on our left, but the office is closed. However, we pick up a map of their gardens outside. And then we park in the small lot just past it in front of the Wesley House. The map we got is of the Living Shoreline Trail to guide us through the gardens. And the gardens start to the left of the parking lot near a gray building.
Living Shoreline Trail and the Gardens
The map highlights 18 stops along a loop trail that ends near the Wesley House. Many of which are native trees including the “Wedding Tree”, a live oak over 600 years old. A perfect place to have an outdoor wedding under its shade. Though very large, the resurrection ferns on live oaks closer to the house are breathtaking.
The trail loops to the waterfront showcasing Tucker Bayou. Here is a seawall and a dock where we see people fishing. This quiet bayou’s calm waters can put a spell on you. We see a couple sitting on a bench here just taking in the views, and we don’t blame them. The reflection of the clouds on the calm waters is very soothing.
Another thing that we find really cool are the statues of children playing along this trail. We counted at least 5 of them in different poses like 2 carrying a canoe. And even though these statues aren’t marked on the map, they are pretty easy to spot.
Unfortunately, the camellias and azaleas are not blooming today. But just past them is a small building which houses some nice restrooms. And just before the trail ends, we find another thing not listed on the garden map.
The rectangular and green Reflection Pond provides nice views of the Wesley House past its fountain. Past it, we finish the trail at the house and check out their guided tours. We’ve enjoyed our leisurely 40 minute walk around the gardens, but the next tour doesn’t start for 40 minutes. So, we decide to walk their nature trail and come back in time for the next tour.
Nature Trail at Eden Gardens State Park
This 1 mile trail starts on the other side of the parking lot. And by the time we get there taking pictures along the way, we have about 25 minutes until the next tour. But we head into the woods crossing a small bridge where we see a tree with orange slime mold on it. Something we don’t see everyday. And then we get to a clearing in the woods with a bench. We wonder why they would put a bench in a sunny spot and notice someone else sunning themselves.
We see a black racer or black rat snake sunning on the sandy ground. They call them black racers because they are fast when they want to go somewhere. But this one is content hanging in the sun. Eventually when we get closer it slowly crawls into the palmettos beyond. And then we cross another bridge spotting a picnic area to our right through the trees.
On our left we see some marshy area and the trail leads to Tucker Bayou. Here is a nice sitting area with views of the water. The trail turns to pavement from here. And we find another spot just past where you can walk down to the water. We spot a cute yellow bird as the trail ends at the picnic area. From here, we walk down the road back to our parking lot and back to Wesley House. We get back with 2 minutes to spare just before the tour.
Tour of the Wesley House
There’s a little gift shop in a back corner of the Wesley House. And we make it in just in time to see a couple paying a park ranger. The tour is $4 each so we pay and she ushers us past the gift shop into another room. With just the 4 of us, she starts the tour here explaining the history of this house. Originally belonging to the Wesley family until 1953, it sat abandoned for 10 years until it was purchased by the heiress Lois Maxon. Miss Maxon who purchased the home and property for $12,500 “found her Eden”. She devoted a million dollars to the renovation of the 5,500 square foot house and added the ornamental gardens.
Renovations went on over the next 5 years reconstructing the house with more modern comforts. The house was also adorned with her family heirlooms and numerous antiques she purchased during her travels in Europe. Though we weren’t allowed to take any photographs in the house due to the furniture, our guide was excellent.
She told us about each room, how it was updated, and where each piece of furniture was from. She explained how Miss Maxon also modernized the house before she unfortunately got ill after 5 years, and moved to Pensacola. But luckily in 1968 she donated the house, land and all her antique furnishings to the state of Florida. Upstairs we get to walk out on the balcony that wraps around most of the house to admire the views. And the tour concluded after about 20 minutes.
Summary of Eden Gardens State Park
Overall, we spent about 2 hours at Eden Gardens State Park. And we started off doing the walking tour of the gardens. Though the flowers weren’t blooming, we enjoyed the large trees around the grounds. And staring out at Tucker Bayou is mesmerizing. After the garden tour, we hiked the short nature trail through the woods. And once back we signed up for the tour of the Wesley House, which we highly recommend . The inside of the house is like taking a step back in time to see the antique furnishings proudly preserved. If you find yourself in the area, you’ve go to check out Eden Gardens State Park!
Make sure to check out more of the places we’ve visited in Florida.