From its southern terminus at the intersection of
US 98 in downtown Fort Walton Beach to
Shalimar, Florida, SR 85 is a six-lane highway with turn medians, accessing local beaches and
Eglin Air Force Base. The road, known as Eglin Parkway, runs north through Fort Walton Beach, and the town of
Cinco Bayou before crossing the namesake Cinco Bayou Bridge, and then through the
Ocean City area of Fort Walton Beach. It crosses Garniers Bayou into
Shalimar, and thence north onto the
Eglin reservation where it becomes a four-lane route with grass median. It then skirts the northwest side of
Eglin Air Force Base Main Base, with a grade separated interchange for
State Road 123 and
Northwest Florida Regional Airport, continuing as a four-lane divided highway with a speed limit. A former railroad grade crossing just south of the commercial terminal was removed when the south end of the
Eglin Base Railroad was abandoned in the 1980s. Looping through
Valparaiso as Government Avenue and the John Sims Parkway into
Niceville, SR 85 turns north at the intersection with
State Road 20, passing College Boulevard, another removed Eglin AFB railroad grade crossing, and the intersection with
State Road 293 Mid-Bay Bridge Connector. Continuing north, there is an interchange with the northern terminus of
State Road 123. SR 85 continues north through a grade-separated intersection at 77th Special Forces Way, serving the cantonment for the
7th Special Forces Group and
Duke Field. The road continues north, reaching the
Crestview city limits and becoming a divided highway. At this point, the road encounters a series of restaurants, motels, gas stations, and other travel facilities ahead of the diamond interchange with
I-10 at exit 56. The road continues through
Crestview, the
Okaloosa County seat, intersecting
U.S. Route 90, the
Old Spanish Trail, and continues north towards its terminus at the
Alabama state line, where it continues north as
SR 55 towards
Florala. North of the community of Auburn to the
Alabama line State Road 85 is a two-lane rural highway. Just south of
Laurel Hill, the road crosses on a bridge the abandoned alignment of the former
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Yellow River branch that paralleled 85 between Crestview and
Florala, Alabama. ==History==