Walton County is located in the western panhandle of Florida, reaching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. Walton County contains 1,058 square miles of land area and 180 square miles of water surface. The county seat is DeFuniak Springs.

Britton Hill (345'), the highest point in Florida is in Walton County near the Alabama border. Walton County was named in honor of George Walton (Secretary of Florida Territory) when the county was created in 1824.

Years ago, part of the Choctawhatchee National Forest was in Walton County but that forest land was transfered to the War Department around the beginning of World War II and became what is now Eglin Air Force Base.

Walton County is bisected east/west by Interstate 10.