The river is formed on the state line between Florida and Georgia, near the town of
Chattahoochee, Florida, approximately northeast of
Panama City, by the confluence of the
Flint and
Chattahoochee rivers. The actual confluence is contained within the
Lake Seminole reservoir formed by the
Jim Woodruff Dam. It flows generally south through the forests of the
Florida Panhandle, past
Bristol. In northern
Gulf County, it receives the
Chipola River from the west. It flows into
Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, at
Apalachicola, Florida. The lower of the river is surrounded by extensive
swamps and
wetlands, except at the coast. The watershed contains nationally significant forests, with some of the highest biological diversity east of the
Mississippi River and rivaling that of the
Great Smoky Mountains. It has prominent areas of
temperate deciduous forest as well as
longleaf pine landscapes and
flatwoods. Flooded areas have significant tracts of floodplain forest. All of these southeastern forest types were devastated by logging between 1880 and 1920, and the Apalachicola contains some of the finest remaining examples of old growth forest in the southeast. The endangered tree species
Florida torreya is
endemic to the region; it clings to forested slopes and bluffs in
Torreya State Park along the east bank of the river. The highest point within the watershed is
Blood Mountain at , near the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. Where the river enters the
Gulf of Mexico, it creates a rich array of wetlands varying in salinity. These include
tidal marshes and
seagrass meadows. Over of this diverse delta complex are included within the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve. There are also dunes with coastal grasslands and interdunal swales. , Florida The basin of the Apalachicola River is also noted for its
Tupelo honey, a high-quality
monofloral honey, which is produced wherever the
tupelo trees bloom in the
southeastern United States. In a good harvest year, the value of the tupelo honey crop produced by a group of specialized Florida beekeepers approaches $900,000 each spring. During Florida's British colonial period, the river formed the boundary between
East Florida and
West Florida. Geologically, the river links the coastal plain and
Gulf Coast with the
Appalachian Mountains. Some of the remaining important areas of natural habitat along the river include
Apalachicola National Forest,
Torreya State Park,
The Nature Conservancy Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve,
Tates Hell State Forest, and Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area, as well as the Apalachicola River Water Management Area. It has been suggested that this watershed should be nationally ranked and appreciated as being as significant as the
Everglades or Great Smoky Mountains. broadcast on PBS. The river forms the boundary between the Eastern and Central time zones in Florida, until it reaches the
Jackson River. Thereafter, the Jackson River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico, is the time zone boundary. ==List of crossings==