Choctawhatchee Bay
Bay in the Florida Panhandle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the Emerald Coast region of the Florida Panhandle. The bay, located within Okaloosa and Walton counties, is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico and has a surface area of 334 square kilometres (129 sq mi).[2] It connects to Santa Rosa Sound in Fort Walton Beach, Florida to the west and to St. Andrews Bay in Bay County to the east, via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. East Pass (also known as Destin Pass) is the only outlet of the bay flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico, and is crossed by US 98.[3] The Choctawhatchee River flows into the bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams.[2][4] The tolled Mid-Bay Bridge (SR 293) crosses the bay, connecting the city of Destin to Niceville, Florida. The Judge Clyde B. Wells Bridge (US 331) crosses the eastern part of the bay, connecting Freeport to the coast.[5]
| Choctawhatchee Bay | |
|---|---|
 Satellite image of the Choctawhatchee Bay | |
  Choctawhatchee Bay | |
| Coordinates | 30°26′22″N 86°18′40″W |
| Primary inflows | Choctawhatchee River |
| Primary outflows | Gulf of Mexico, Santa Rosa Sound |
| Catchment area | 5,405 square miles (14,000 km2) |
| Max. length | 27 miles (43 km)[1] |
| Max. width | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
| Surface area | 129 square miles (330 km2) |
| Max. depth | 43 feet (13 m) |
| Settlements | Fort Walton Beach, Destin Santa Rosa Beach, Freeport, Niceville, Shalimar, Valparaiso |
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
The bay was charted by Spanish, French, and English expeditions, The bay appears on some charts as "St. Rose's Bay".[6][7]
Following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, small bands of Creeks lived on the shores of Choctawhatchee Bay.[8]
Military use
As noted in a 1993 Eglin AFB report, Test Area D-55 was originally installed in the World War II era by Eglin Air Force Base with "omnidirectional radar corner reflectors" on top to be used as a radar target range.[9] Test Area D-55 is formed by 25 arrays of 2,040 wood pilings placed east of the Clyde B. Wells Bridge. They are located in 8 feet of water and the array extends for 1.2 miles.
Several towns and cities are located around the Choctawhatchee Bay:
Below are a few of the tributary rivers and bayous that feed into the Choctawhatchee Bay.
Rivers
- Choctawhatchee River
- Mitchell River
- Black Creek
Bayous
- LaGrange Bayou
- Alaqua Bayou
- Basin Bayou
- Rocky Bayou
- Boggy Bayou
- Cinco Bayou
Lakes
- Pippin Lake
- Jack Lake
- Lower Memorial Lake
- Bens Lake
- Lake Lorraine
- Lake Vivian
- Lake Clyde
- Lake Earl
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
