Overview
Leon Sinks is the most geologically unusual landscape in Apalachicola National Forest: a cluster of interconnected sinkholes and disappearing streams where the surface of the Florida panhandle gives way to the vast Floridan Aquifer below. The 4-mile loop traverses a karst landscape of dry bowl-shaped depressions, flooded sinkholes with water-filled depths visible into the cave system, and streams that run along the surface for a few hundred feet before vanishing underground.
The area is a certified cave diving site; trained technical divers occasionally explore the underwater cave passages that connect the sinkholes. Surface visitors encounter an entirely different kind of Florida: quiet, forested, and geological rather than beachy.
The Route
Miles 0.0 to 1.0: Dry Sinks
From the paved parking area, the trail enters hardwood hammock and immediately encounters the first dry sinkholes: bowl-shaped depressions ranging from 10 to 50 feet in diameter and 5 to 20 feet deep. These formed when the limestone roof above an underground void collapsed. They are dry, overgrown with ferns and small shrubs in their interiors. Interpretive signs at several sinks explain the karst formation process.
Miles 1.0 to 2.5: Flooded Sinks and Disappearing Stream
The trail reaches the wet sinkholes: pools of still water whose visible bottoms give way to the cave passages below. The clearest sink has visible blue-green depth; on calm days the cave entrance is visible as a dark oval 15 to 20 feet below the surface. At mile 1.8, the trail crosses a small stream where it disappears underground: visibly, the stream flows to a point and then is gone.
Miles 2.5 to 4.0: Hammock Return
The return leg passes through more upland hardwood hammock with large magnolia and swamp tupelo before returning to the parking area. The forest here has a richer canopy than the pine flatwoods in the western forest and feels distinctly different from the wider Apalachicola landscape.
When to Hike
October through May: Best conditions for the entire Leon Sinks area. Comfortable temperatures, lower insect activity, and the sinkholes are often most visually dramatic after dry-season water table drops reveal more of the flooded cave systems.
June through September: Hot and buggy. The trail is accessible but insect repellent is essential and the midday heat is oppressive. Morning visits only.
What to Bring
Water from home: no sources on trail. Bug repellent from March onward. Sunscreen for the exposed parking area. Keep children away from the edges of flooded sinkholes: the ground can be slippery near water edges.
Trailhead Access
Leon Sinks Geological Area is on US-319 south of Tallahassee, about 6 miles from the city limits. The parking lot is paved and free. Vault toilets available. No permit required (as of 2026). Dogs welcome on leash.
Nearby
The Florida National Scenic Trail Apalachicola Segment is in the forest interior to the west and provides a longer flat-woods hiking experience. The Sopchoppy River Trail gives a blackwater river experience in a different part of the forest. Review Leave No Trace principles and stay on the marked trail throughout: the vegetation around the sinkhole edges is fragile and the drops are hazardous.