• Source: Choctawhatchee Bay

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). 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. The Choctawhatchee River flows into the bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams. 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.




History



The bay was charted by Spanish, French, and English expeditions, The bay appears on some charts as "St. Rose's Bay".
Following the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, small bands of Creeks lived on the shores of Choctawhatchee Bay.




= 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. 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.




Municipalities


Several towns and cities are located around the Choctawhatchee Bay:

Fort Walton Beach
Destin
Santa Rosa Beach
Freeport
Niceville
Shalimar
Valparaiso




Tributaries


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




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Choctawhatchee Bay
• Choctawhatchee River
• Destin, Florida
• Mid-Bay Bridge
• List of bays of Florida
• Lake Lorraine, Florida
• Niceville, Florida
• Grayton Beach, Florida
• U.S. Route 331
• Geneva, Alabama