Big lagoon state park

A long time ago, I recall it was hard to find and the roads tight with small sites. But Florida has been upgrading parks and some of that may have changed.

I believe this is where the movie the Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed in the fifties

FordDiesel250 wrote:
I believe this is where the movie the Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed in the fifties

Ahh no, I thought it was filmed at Silver Springs like many other films of the era but no:

"Ben Chapman portrayed the Gill-man for the majority of the scenes shot at Universal City, California. Many of the on-top of the water scenes were filmed at Rice Creek near Palatka, Florida. The costume made it impossible for Chapman to sit for the 14 hours of each day that he wore it, and it overheated easily, so he stayed in the back lot's lake, often requesting to be hosed down. He also could not see very well while wearing the headpiece, which caused him to scrape Julie Adams' head against the wall when carrying her in the grotto scenes. Ricou Browning played the Gill-Man in the underwater shots, which were filmed by the second unit in Wakulla Springs, Florida."

Wiki

Palatka and Waukulla are far from this park.

We were there several years ago and really liked it. We have a small B+ so there was no problem fitting into a space, but it does look to be tight for big rigs, but there again I don't drive one.

We go to this park at least two to three times a year. We really enjoy it privacy between the sites. The naval air station is located right down the road with a very nice museum. We will be back there the weekend of the 28th. Being only 45 miles away makes for good weekend trips. Depending on when your wanting to go reservations vary from full real quick to a lot of openings.

Some sites are kinda crummy, with too much slope, etc, but most are rather decent. The sites on the north most section of the loop road are the highest elevation, the ones on the return (southmost) leg of the loop road, are much lower in elevation. 68,69,70,74,42,43,44,45,47 are dang near in the swamp, but have lots of shade. I had site 48 last fall and it is not level at all.

Check the site lengths, if you cannot find another one long enough, you are allowed to reserve one of the ADA sites (7,8, or 10), as they are long (and concrete) They are not exclusive ADA, "This site is reserved for visitors with disabilities. It can be reserved by visitors without disabilities only if no other site will accommodate the visitor's camping equipment."

Bath houses are nice and the walking trails are very neat, and fun to walk.

Closest beach is leave the park and turn left, take the first left (292) and then cross over onto Perdido Key, then take a left on Johnson Beach road, then pay the day use fee (or use your federal pass) and enter the National Seashore. Its all of about 4 miles driving to get there. Very nice beaches, great fishing.

Charles

We enjoyed our stay there a couple of years ago. Here are some pictures and notes about our stay.

Ted H.

We were there in January for several days. We had a fairly private, concrete paved site near the restroom. However, it was difficult to get in and out with the fifth wheel due to a truck parked too far out into the road due to trying to fit his travel trailer into a too-short site.

Don't miss the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola Naval Air Station! Its collection is huge, informative, and rivals the Smithsonian A&S Museum. You might even get to see the Blue Angels rehearsing since Pensacola is their home.

Do not visit the museum on a day when there is a Blue Angeles practice session. I made that mistake. I had to park way off from the museum and the parking lot guys told me there were usually 10K to 12K people to show up for a practice session, and they all crowd into the museum when it is over. Next trip a couple of weeks later, I visited on a "off" day and the place was quiet and I spent most of the day looking the museum over. I did get to watch the practice session on that second trip while standing on top of the observation platform at Battery Worth, out at Ft Pickens, Great view at above treetop level.

There is a rather tall observation tower at Big Lagoon that might be a good place to view the practice also.

Remainder of the season practice schedule at NAS Pensacola
September 25th*

October 17th*
October 23rd
October 24th*
October 30th
October 31st

November 1st
November 2nd
*Denotes autograph session following the practice inside the National Naval Aviation Museum.

Remaining shows this season.
September 22-23: NAS Oceana Airshow – NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA
September 29-30: MCAS Miramar – San Diego, CA
October 6-7: San Francisco Fleet Week – San Francisco, CA
October 13-14: Aviation Round Up – Minden-Tahoe, NV
October 20-21: Wings Over Houston Air Show – Houston, TX
October 27-28: NAS Jacksonville Airshow – NAS Jacksonville, FL
November 2-3: Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow – NAS Pensacola, FL

Charles

We are looking to go July 4. We often go to St. Andrews but wanted to try a new place. We are trying to decide between big lagoon, and Ft Pickens. I am not looking forward to the crowds, or the heat I but the wife’s new job doesn’t leave many options.
It’s been about 10 years since I’ve been to Pensacola but I’ve been looking at all the artificial reefs that are within kayak distance and I’m ready to give it a shot.