Day trips from Nashville · Beach
WaterColor and Seagrove Beach
456 miles from downtown Nashville · about 8 hours
Walton County, FL, on 30A immediately east of Seaside
These are two very different places next to each other. WaterColor is a 499 acre St. Joe development wrapped around Western Lake, planned and landscaped and low density. Seagrove is a 1949 subdivision of concrete block cottages under live oaks that grew without a developer or a code. Together they have the best public beach access on 30A.
- Distance
- About 456 miles
- Time zone
- Central, same as Nashville
- New in 2026
- A free public beach access opened in Seagrove on July 28
- Why it matters
- More free parking here than anywhere else on 30A
Permits, fees and access
This pair has the best public access on 30A, and the money-saving detail is which lot you pick. The Van Ness Butler lot at WaterColor’s east edge is the paid one at $15 a day. Two miles east, Santa Clara and the brand new Seagrove Regional Access are both free. WaterColor’s own walkovers are gated for owners and guests. A long list of street-end accesses through here are walk-up with no parking at all, including Beachwood Villas, Campbell Street, Pelayo, Montigo, Dothan, Andalusia, Greenwood and Gardenia, and One Seagrove Place has exactly one space. Both state parks use honor boxes needing exact change, so bring singles. Worth knowing: Seagrove has nineteen parcels and Eastern Lake twelve covered by the October 2024 customary use ruling, which is more legal public standing on private sand than anywhere east of Blue Mountain.
Things to do in WaterColor and Seagrove Beach
Addresses, hours and prices as published by each operator in August 18, 2026. Hours and prices move, so check before you go.
Seagrove Regional Beach Access
3910 East County Highway 30A. Opened July 28, 2026. Twenty three spaces including ADA and bicycle, a restroom building with rinse showers, an ADA dune walkover, and Lifeguard Tower 21 staffed daily 10am to 6pm through October 31. Free.
Santa Clara Regional Beach Access
3468 East County Highway 30A. Thirty spaces plus thirty more on the north side, restrooms, ADA walkover and a lifeguard. The biggest free lot in this stretch and most people do not know it is there.
Eden Gardens State Park
181 Eden Gardens Road. $4 per vehicle, honor box, exact change, 8am to sunset. 163 acres with guided tours of the 1897 Wesley House, ornamental gardens, nature trails, a fishing dock on Tucker Bayou and a canoe launch.
Deer Lake State Park
6350 East CR-30A. $3 per vehicle, $2 walking or cycling, honor box, exact change. A boardwalk over the dunes, pitcher plants and Gulf coast lupine across eleven natural communities.
Fish Out of Water
34 Goldenrod Circle at the WaterColor Inn. Open to the public, not just resort guests. Daily 11am to 10pm with weekend brunch and Gulf views.
Cafe Thirty-A
3899 East Scenic Highway 30A. Open since 1995, dinner daily from 4:30pm, reservations required.
Seagrove Village MarketCafe
2976 South CR-395 at the corner of 30A. Operating since 1949, known for the fried grouper sandwich and the smoked tuna dip. 11am to 7pm, no reservations. Their own site still carries a stale pandemic notice, so call 850-231-5736 to confirm dine-in.
Old Florida Fish House and Surfing Deer
The Fish House at 33 Heron’s Watch Way sits on Eastern Lake, seafood and sushi with live music. Surfing Deer at 2743 East 30A is named for the pet deer the founder of Seagrove kept to greet visitors in 1949.
The Perfect Pig and BoatHouse Paddle Club
Breakfast through dinner at 28 Watercolor Way. Kayak and paddleboard rentals on Western Lake.
One thing to know first
The state parks close when they fill, which is routine in summer. See Miramar Beach for the Walton County transitory zone rules, the flag system and the double red fine. If you are picking between here and Seaside on parking alone, come here.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 18, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
The neighborhoods closest to it
If this is the kind of Saturday you want a short drive from your front door, these are the parts of Middle Tennessee that put you nearest to it.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.