The Beach Tram Is Coming to Miramar Beach: What Changes at Driftwood Road and Along Scenic Gulf Drive

Walton County's free Beach Tram runs daily, including on the off-season schedule that started Oct. 1. Every address on its schedule is in Santa Rosa Beach. One hub is 393 Beach Park and Ride at 1668 S County Hwy 393. The other is Grayton Beach Park and Ride at 1505 County Hwy 283 S, and the routes from both hubs stop at regional beach accesses from Dune Allen east to Grayton. For anyone in Miramar Beach, the tram has so far been something that runs in the next community over.

That is about to change. On a 1.25-acre parcel at 76 Driftwood Rd., the county is building the first tram hub on the Miramar end of South Walton. The new hub will bring Miramar into a parking-and-tram system it has had no part in until now. Miramar's beach parking has been free and first-come, while parking at the existing tram hubs is paid. The decisions the county hasn't made yet will decide how that difference plays out on Scenic Gulf Drive.

Where the tram runs today

The county expanded the tram's beach-access routes on March 1, 2026, building on a Grayton Beach circulator that SoWal.co dates to July 2025. The off-season schedule began Oct. 1. Under it, the express routes keep their 10-minute frequency, but the local routes now run only once an hour.

Every route connects a parking hub to a regional beach access. The design is simple: drivers leave the car at an inland lot and ride the last stretch to the sand. The county's Beach Tram page sums up the pitch as "Skip the parking hunt."

How Miramar's beach parking works now

Most beach parking in Miramar is right on the water. The largest lot is at Miramar Beach Regional Beach Access, which has East, Central and West accesses at 2375 Scenic Gulf Dr. The county's beach access chart lists 138 spaces in the main lot and 62 in the north lot. The county's Miramar Park facility page describes the park as free, with more than 200 spaces, restrooms, showers, water, fishing, beach flags, and three beach accesses, one of them ADA-accessible.

Scenic Gulf Drive Regional Beach Access at 907 Scenic Gulf Dr. is much smaller. The county chart lists 18 regular spaces and 9 LSV spaces, while the county's live parking map shows a count of 15. The two figures may be measuring different things.

The neighborhood accesses along this stretch have no parking at all:

• Sand Trap, 253 Sand Trap Rd.
• Open Gulf Street, 213 Open Gulf St.
• Norwood, 132 Norwood Dr.
• Geronimo Street, 735 Scenic Gulf Dr.

That leaves a short list of places to park a car for the beach in Miramar. All of them are on Scenic Gulf Drive, and the largest one tops out at roughly 200 spaces. The county's parking map marks both the Miramar Regional and Scenic Gulf Drive Regional lots as not requiring payment.

What Driftwood Road adds

The Oct. 6, 2026 Tourist Development Council packet calls the project the Driftwood Road Beach Park and Ride. It lists these features:

• 82 parking spaces
• Four electric vehicle charging stations
• An 800-square-foot restroom facility
• ADA, LSV and bicycle parking
• Drainage improvements
• A hub for the South Walton Beach Tram

The packet puts the project cost at $2.2 million. The county's projects page also says the transit stop will be air-conditioned.

The plan has changed since the start. A June 2025 county notice reported that the construction bid went to Elite Building Group for $2,210,719.12 at the April 22 commission meeting. At the June 2025 groundbreaking, the county expected construction to take 11 months, and early bid documents described 70 spaces. The current plan has 82 spaces, and the timeline has slipped. The October 2026 TDC update reports the project 35% complete, with completion expected in winter 2026.

The 82 spaces are only part of what the project adds. Once it opens, the county says Driftwood will connect to the tram with a direct route to Miramar Regional Beach Access and to "other RBAs along Scenic Gulf Drive." Final routes haven't been announced. A tram stop at Miramar Regional would give its lot a second role. Today it is the main destination for drivers. With the tram, it also becomes a stop people reach without parking there.

How parking is priced at the hubs that already run

The existing hubs show what the county's tram model looks like in practice. The tram itself is free, but parking at the designated hub lots is paid. WJHG reported in March 2026 that Walton County was starting paid parking at three lots: Van Ness Butler, 393 and Grayton. Under the county's Park Walton payment rules, the rate at those lots from March through October is $5 an hour or $15 a day. From November through February it drops to $5 a day. Payment is required from 5 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., every day of the year. Other municipal lots remain free.

The county's own materials name the Driftwood project the same way as the existing hubs, calling it a "Beach Park and Ride." None of the sources reviewed say whether Driftwood will be a paid lot. Readers should treat parking pricing there as unannounced. What is known is that Miramar Regional and Scenic Gulf Drive Regional are currently marked as not requiring payment.

What the county still has to decide

Three things will shape how the hub changes beach days on Scenic Gulf Drive, and none of them is public as of Oct. 10, 2026:

1. The routes. The county has committed to a direct line to Miramar Regional. Which other Scenic Gulf Drive accesses get stops is listed as "coming soon."
2. The opening date. The latest official estimate is "winter 2026." That is an estimate for a project that was 35% complete in early October, and the original 11-month construction estimate has already been passed.
3. Parking pricing at Driftwood. The other designated hubs follow the Park Walton rate schedule. Driftwood's terms haven't been published.

Updates usually appear in two places: the county's projects page, which says the project is expected "this winter," and the Tourist Development Council's meeting packets.

Legion Park, the other Miramar project in the queue

The same TDC update lists a second Miramar Beach project that hasn't started construction. Legion Park at 119 Crest Dr. is under design and pending final permit approval. The planned scope includes:

• A 20-foot-diameter splash pad
• New playground equipment
• New pavilions, sidewalks and benches
• A resurfaced basketball court
• Relocating the existing pickleball court and adding a second one
• Additional parking

The county's projects page also lists two launch piers and extra parking for cars, trucks and trailers, and gives the status as "Pending permit." There is no construction start date yet.

Both projects are still in progress. Driftwood is under construction, and Legion Park is waiting on a permit. Until the county posts routes and pricing, Miramar Regional at 2375 Scenic Gulf Dr. remains the largest place in Miramar to park a car for the beach.

If you own on or near Scenic Gulf Drive and want to know how a tram stop and a new 82-space lot might affect your property, as a weekend getaway or as a rental guests book for the beach, Emerald Coast Properties will follow the county's route and pricing announcements and talk through what they mean for your address. Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation with Howard.