The Tiny Town Where You Can Admire Florida's Largest Waterfall And Watch Wolves Play

Located in Florida's panhandle, Chipley is an hour away from spring-break party destination Panama City but offers a more serene experience. This 3,700-person town is a haven for nature lovers thanks to a state park filled with geologic wonders and a wolf-focused wildlife preserve. Before you explore the great outdoors, make sure to stroll through the community's downtown area, which will charm you with historic buildings and tempt you with delicious, locally produced foods. After that, make a beeline for the giant waterfall at Falling Waters State Park and book a reservation to visit the creatures at Seacrest Wolf Preserve, which are safer to approach than wolves you might run into in the wilderness.

When you head downtown, stop by the Bill Lee Train Depot & Historical Society Museum to learn about Chipley's culture and heritage. This restored railroad depot brims with vintage train cars and illuminates the roles that railways played in the town's early history. It's located near a number of architecturally significant buildings, including more than a dozen beautiful Queen Anne-style homes. You'll also find Main Street Market, which sells fruits and veggies from the region's farms, as well as oysters, crawfish, and other fresh seafood offerings. If you're craving a sit-down meal or a caffeine boost, pop into The Ugly Mug Coffee & Cafe, which serves espresso drinks, sandwiches, and salads featuring organic ingredients. Before departing downtown, peek inside some of the shops, which range from cowboy clothing boutique The Westerner, Inc. to antiques emporium T&B Hidden Treasures.

Falling Waters is a state park that deserves to be a national park. It's filled with glistening springs and bridges built by Mother Nature herself. Many of the sinkholes that line its trails are doorways to subterranean tunnels. One of the biggest sits at the bottom of the park's waterfall, and beneath it lies a collection of caves that draw thrill-seeking spelunkers. Just seeing this majestic waterfall is reason enough to visit Falling Waters. At 74 feet tall, it's Florida's loftiest. It's also dramatic: After plunging into a 100-foot-deep sinkhole, if flows into a mysterious cave. The sinkhole contains ancient limestone formations, which emerged when water covered this area more than 20 million years ago. 

You can access the waterfall from a set of boardwalks equipped with two viewing platforms. Mist from the rushing water blankets one low-lying platform. Another is at a higher elevation, so it's great for photography and not so soggy. The waterfall is especially thrilling when the weather has been wet, as rainfall amplifies its cascades. 

Beyond the waterfall is Turtle Lake, which welcomes visitors with cool water for swimming and a white-sand beach for relaxing. Two dozen campsites are nearby, surrounded by pine forests and vast stretches of wiregrass. One the area's tallest hills is part of Falling Waters, too. It rises more than 320 feet, providing an impressive vantage point for taking in the scenery. There's even a garden where you can commune with native butterflies. Falling Waters also teems with birds that are indigenous to northern Florida, as well as lizards, turtles, and fox squirrels.

Though there are lots of national parks that are beloved by wildlife watchers, Chipley offers something they typically don't: a chance to meet socialized wolves. These creatures reside at the Seacrest Wolf Preserve, a nonprofit effort to protect wolves and help people learn more about them. The preserve has roughly two dozen howling residents, including Arctic-type wolves, British Columbian wolves, and gray wolves. About a dozen of these creatures serve as "wolf ambassadors" that visitors can pet and befriend during most of Seacrest's tours. Tour-goers must be at least 10 years old and follow a dress code to enter the pen where the hands-on learning happens. These educational programs also examine misconceptions about wolves and the vital role these animals play in their ecosystems.

The preserve's Saturday group tours explore wolfpack life and habitats over the course of three hours. In addition to getting acquainted with wolf ambassadors, participants get to hang out with small animal ambassadors. This friendly crew includes foxes, skunks, and a possum named Pickles. Two-hour VIP tours on weekdays give you the most one-on-one time with the wolf ambassadors and include the services of an onsite photographer. You can even get a video of yourself howling with your new wolf buddies by making a donation to the preserve.