Best state park in Florida panhandle
Planning for spring break next year already. I've heard plenty of good things about Topsail Hill, but wondering about the rest of them. St. Joseph looks pretty interesting.... Oh yeah and it needs to...
Forum Discussion
Florida has excellent state parks! We've stayed in many of them, some of them more than once or twice!
Henderson Beach SP in Destin - nice big sites, 50 amps available, dump station, boardwalks .25 mile to the beach and great area for restaurants, shopping, etc.
Topsail Hill Preserve SP in Santa Rosa Beach - beautiful area with full hookups, tram to the beach or you can ride your bike or walk the 3/4 mile, swimming pool, great laundry room and small fishing lakes. We've stayed here many times but the last couple of times it was in need of a lot of maintenance! Cracked, broken concrete in many sites and on the roads that made setting up and just driving very challenging. It's been a couple of years and I would hope they've made repairs since then.
Grayton Beach SP also in Santa Rose Beach - two sections and the newer one has full hookups but lacks in privacy and landscaping. Close to the beach.
St. Andrews SP in Panama City Beach - older campground so the sites aren't as big and are closer together but beautiful area. Two dump stations. There are two sections to the campground, the Pines and Lagoon. Varied site length and the Pine section is harder to back a longer rig into sites due to tight road. We loved the sites that backed up to the Lagoon. The beach is about a half mile away but accessible within the state park.
Blackwater River SP in Holt - full hookups with huge private sites set in a pine forest! Beautiful! Many boardwalks and hiking trails. On the Blackwater River with white sand beaches. No laundry or nearby shopping.
St. George Island south of Eastpoint, five miles across a bridge -- awesome campground! Dump station, 50 amps, Gulf side sites are large enough for any size. Bay side sites vary in size. Fairly long walk to the beach but plenty of parking to access the NINE miles of private state park beach! Great hiking trails. Close to Apalachicola Estuary Preserve center, which is well worth a visit!
Rainbow Springs SP in Dunellon (about 25 miles west of Ocala) - full hookups, variety of site size and privacy. Right on the Rainbow Springs river with springs headwaters. Kayaking and swimming is awesome!
Silver River SP in Ocala - pretty campground on the Silver Springs River. They're doing upgrades here this summer so reservations are not available and staying here is on a first come, first available plan. There's a lot of construction happening so it might be best to wait until they're done. I suspect they're adding full hookups, at least it looked that way when we drove through in March, 2016.
Manatee Springs in Chiefland - very pretty campground but very sandy. Limited sites for larger rigs and navigating the internal campground roads is challenging for larger rigs though we've done it twice. Great hiking trails and an awesome boardwalk to the Suwannee River. You can swim in the springs year round. Only six miles to Chiefland for shopping, etc.
Stephen Foster Folk Culture SP in White Springs - very nice campground. Dump station with both open and private sites. Museum and lots to see and do in the park. Christmas season here is awesome as they put on an amazing light festival. The town of White Springs is slowly dying so not much there. Plan on driving 15 miles to grocery shop.
St. Joe Peninsula SP in Port St. Joe - two campground loops, one on the beach and one in the woods. The beach is beautiful but the campground sites in both loops are very close and lack privacy for the most part. Most sites are very sandy. Not a lot of sites for larger rigs. Very little or no shopping nearby so plan on driving 30 miles.
Three Rivers SP in Sneads - right on Lake Seminole. Older campground with limited sites for larger rigs and the interior roads are in horrible condition. Although in a pretty area we would not return here due to lack of maintenance, etc.
Ochlockonee River SP in Sopchoppy - my least favorite of all FL state parks! Very small sites and very tightly spaced. Very buggy here even in January!
Suwannee River SP in Live Oak - pretty park with lots of walking trails. Sites are mostly sand and fairly close together with full hookups. Boating on both Suwannee and Withlacochee Rivers.
Lake Louisa in Clermont - lovely area with old orange trees. On a small lake you can fish or kayak. Plenty of roads for bicycling. There is a dump station but a limited number of sites have full hookups. Varied size sites.
Hope this helps!
Henderson Beach SP in Destin - nice big sites, 50 amps available, dump station, boardwalks .25 mile to the beach and great area for restaurants, shopping, etc.
Topsail Hill Preserve SP in Santa Rosa Beach - beautiful area with full hookups, tram to the beach or you can ride your bike or walk the 3/4 mile, swimming pool, great laundry room and small fishing lakes. We've stayed here many times but the last couple of times it was in need of a lot of maintenance! Cracked, broken concrete in many sites and on the roads that made setting up and just driving very challenging. It's been a couple of years and I would hope they've made repairs since then.
Grayton Beach SP also in Santa Rose Beach - two sections and the newer one has full hookups but lacks in privacy and landscaping. Close to the beach.
St. Andrews SP in Panama City Beach - older campground so the sites aren't as big and are closer together but beautiful area. Two dump stations. There are two sections to the campground, the Pines and Lagoon. Varied site length and the Pine section is harder to back a longer rig into sites due to tight road. We loved the sites that backed up to the Lagoon. The beach is about a half mile away but accessible within the state park.
Blackwater River SP in Holt - full hookups with huge private sites set in a pine forest! Beautiful! Many boardwalks and hiking trails. On the Blackwater River with white sand beaches. No laundry or nearby shopping.
St. George Island south of Eastpoint, five miles across a bridge -- awesome campground! Dump station, 50 amps, Gulf side sites are large enough for any size. Bay side sites vary in size. Fairly long walk to the beach but plenty of parking to access the NINE miles of private state park beach! Great hiking trails. Close to Apalachicola Estuary Preserve center, which is well worth a visit!
Rainbow Springs SP in Dunellon (about 25 miles west of Ocala) - full hookups, variety of site size and privacy. Right on the Rainbow Springs river with springs headwaters. Kayaking and swimming is awesome!
Silver River SP in Ocala - pretty campground on the Silver Springs River. They're doing upgrades here this summer so reservations are not available and staying here is on a first come, first available plan. There's a lot of construction happening so it might be best to wait until they're done. I suspect they're adding full hookups, at least it looked that way when we drove through in March, 2016.
Manatee Springs in Chiefland - very pretty campground but very sandy. Limited sites for larger rigs and navigating the internal campground roads is challenging for larger rigs though we've done it twice. Great hiking trails and an awesome boardwalk to the Suwannee River. You can swim in the springs year round. Only six miles to Chiefland for shopping, etc.
Stephen Foster Folk Culture SP in White Springs - very nice campground. Dump station with both open and private sites. Museum and lots to see and do in the park. Christmas season here is awesome as they put on an amazing light festival. The town of White Springs is slowly dying so not much there. Plan on driving 15 miles to grocery shop.
St. Joe Peninsula SP in Port St. Joe - two campground loops, one on the beach and one in the woods. The beach is beautiful but the campground sites in both loops are very close and lack privacy for the most part. Most sites are very sandy. Not a lot of sites for larger rigs. Very little or no shopping nearby so plan on driving 30 miles.
Three Rivers SP in Sneads - right on Lake Seminole. Older campground with limited sites for larger rigs and the interior roads are in horrible condition. Although in a pretty area we would not return here due to lack of maintenance, etc.
Ochlockonee River SP in Sopchoppy - my least favorite of all FL state parks! Very small sites and very tightly spaced. Very buggy here even in January!
Suwannee River SP in Live Oak - pretty park with lots of walking trails. Sites are mostly sand and fairly close together with full hookups. Boating on both Suwannee and Withlacochee Rivers.
Lake Louisa in Clermont - lovely area with old orange trees. On a small lake you can fish or kayak. Plenty of roads for bicycling. There is a dump station but a limited number of sites have full hookups. Varied size sites.
Hope this helps!
