The Choctawhatchee River is a coastal river flowing from southeast Alabama through Florida's panhandle, eventually emptying into Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. As Florida's third largest river system by water volume, it stretches approximately 96 miles from the Alabama state line to the bay. Beginning in Barbour County, Alabama, the river flows through Henry, Dale, and Geneva counties before entering Florida and continuing through Holmes, Walton, and Washington counties. The Choctawhatchee is a free-flowing river with no major dams, allowing it to maintain its natural channel and healthy ecosystem. While the upper portion features some rapids, most of the river is characteristic of a southern coastal waterway, winding through cypress, oak, and hardwood forests with a riparian zone of floodplain swamps that help maintain channel stability and filter pollutants.