LIBERTY COUNTY, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Portions of Torreya State Park in Liberty County reopened Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Michael swept through Northwest Florida.
The Department of Environmental Protection's Florida Parks Service announced the park is open for day use after sustaining heavy damage in the Oct. 10 storm, which Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Director of Law Enforcement Curtis Brown said Wednesday resembled a 30-mile wide tornado from the Gulf Coast to the Georgia border.
Named for the rare species of torreya tree that grows only on the bluffs along the Apalachicola River, the park continues to undergo clean-up, which requires limited access to certain areas, including campground and trails.
Liberty County is a rural area west of Tallahassee.
Of the 31 state parks impacted by the storm, five remain closed: Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park in Franklin County; Florida Caverns State Park in Jackson County; San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park in Wakulla County; T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Gulf County; and Three Rivers State Park in Jackson County.
