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About the Community
Sopchoppy is the place for you if you want to get away from it all and commune with nature. It is a tiny village located in Wakulla County on the Sopchoppy River. The community derives its name from the Indian term for “red oak” and it is truly an artist and outdoor lover’s paradise. The town of Sopchoppy lies within the Apalachicola National Forest, the largest national forest of Florida. The forest encompasses five hundred and sixty-four thousand acres of wetlands, forests, the Ochlockonee and Sopchoppy Rivers, and part of the State’s Recreational Trail System.
This small community prays at the Sopchoppy United Methodist Church. Two schools are offering nonformal education, the Alternative High School Program and the Second Chance Program. The quaint, small-town offers a grocery store, botanical shop, bait, and tackle shops, a hardware store, gourmet pizza shop, gourmet coffee shop, a tea room, cafe (& recording studio), book store, gift store, and seafood restaurant. Fresh gulf seafood is available plenty.
Vicinity of Sopchoppy
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This remote area of Florida is not without its fun and festivity. Sopchoppy holds a unique annual festival, the Sopchoppy Worm Gruntin’ Festival in the first week of April. The festival runs all day with arts and crafts shows, music and dancing in the street, and even a pageant. It is also home to the Sopchoppy Opry, country, and bluegrass.
Apalachicola National Forest offers plenty of recreational opportunities including hunting in season, swimming and canoeing in the rivers, biking, picnicking, and camping. There are three highly developed campgrounds, three boat landings, the Fort Gadsden Historic Site, and the Leon Sinks Geological Area inside the Forest.
This part of the Florida panhandle is cooler than the rest of the state due to its latitude and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico. It also receives more rain. The rainy season runs between May and September, with August and September being the wettest months. In the summertime, abundant sunshine and rainfall contribute to a hot and humid climate.
A wonderful vacation of peace awaits you when you rent a small cabin on a bluff overlooking the Sopchoppy River. The cabins are adequately furnished and equipped with beds and chairs. Relax on a rocking chair on the screened porch overlooking the river in the cool of the evening, or lie on a hammock between two hickory trees. All you will hear are the crickets in the grass, and all you will see are fireflies dancing and the sky filled with stars. Explore the river on a canoe or kayak. The dark, slow-moving river is designated as a canoe trail. The Gulf is a 10-minute drive or you can paddle there down the winding river in about three hours. Enjoy the secluded environment where the only companions maybe deer, rabbits, raccoons, possums, owls, and hawks.