Emerald Coast

Best bet is any of the 3 state parks in the area, my favorite is Topsail with complete hookups and cable, pool and of course beach

We're partial to Emerald Coast RV resort in Panama City Beach. About 3 blocks from the Gulf (walk or drive) and a beautiful resort for RV-ers. We've fallen for the place and stay there about 6 times per year. It is without a doubt the nicest place we've stayed in 30 years of RVing.

To the east, try St George Island State Park. Its a real hidden treasure. To the west, we love Ft Pickens National Seashore. We have also stared in Henderson Beach State Park. Great place right in the middle of town.

Destin is beautiful, but I dont remember too many campgrounds there anymore. Most of the good ones are condos now. From Destin to Panama City is quite commercial now.

No matter where you go in the area, it will be beautiful.

Good Luck

John, welcome to the forum!

It helps if you also post what type of rig you have. A 21' coach will fit in more places than a 45' one and your responses will be much better.

Camp Gulf is a pretty intense park. Do you intend to stay the entire summer.?..June-August? of just a week or so. Gulf has sites right on the beach..a bit pricey and lots of sand tracked into your rig. It's one of the few along the Emerald Coast where you're right on the beach. The sites are not spacious but the location makes up for it. The rest of the park is a pretty typical RV park.

Henderson State Beach is IMHO, the best state park in the area but it does not have sewer hookups. With GKs that might be important. Their restrooms are spotless though. It's a short walk across the dunes, (raised wooden pier) so no camping right on the water due to the dunes being protected. Very nice beach and pretty quiet. Easy swimming. It's close to WalMart and a free alligator farm is across the highway. There's also the Track for waterfun and go carts.

I have pictures of the area, including the gator farm, on my blog...link below.

For a full hookup State Park, Topsail is just east of Camp Gulf. Nice sized lots and they have a swimming pool. They're a bit off the beach but offer a shuttle service to get you there. While we found Henderson to be a cleaner park, the sewer hookup might sway you to stay here instead. Also, with the kids, the pool might be a big deal. It's a bit out of Destin so shopping etc. is a ways.

West of Destin is Fort Walton Beach and Destin West RV Resort. It's a restricted access resort, Class A, C and fivers only. Like Camp Gulf, expect to pay about $100/night. It's on the bay not the Gulf but it has very nice facilities.

Again, welcome to the forum...hope this helps....Dennis

Thanks for the reply. I am new at this and your so right. I drive a 40 foot dutch star dp. We intend to stay only a couple of weeks in July.

We drove thru that area last summer, but can't offer advice as we stayed at some military campgrounds in the area. Just wanted to say "Welcome to the forum", from a former resident of Pangburn.

I have been very pleased with Heritage Resort in Orange Beach, AL. High end in every way with a cabana available on every space. Great food, extensive activities and a huge dock and pier for boating or inshore fishing.

Try Raccoon River in Panama City Beach, right next to water park and directly across street from the beach, water park would be a great hit with grand kids ours really love it they have two pools and a playground for the little ones a real easy walk to the beach and the water park

We have stayed at Camping on the Gulf in Destin several times. We always camp in the second row from the Gulf. The first row does not have sewer. Water and electric only. They will pump you out as needed ($). The second row has water, electic and sewer.

As already stated they are pricy and you will get sand in the camper. The up side is you are just a few feet from the ocean. Just walk a few feet and dip your toes in the Gulf. Several times I have set in the MH and watched dolphins swim by. Where else can you do that?

Thank you all for the great replies. We have decided to spend a week at Henderson then, a week in Topsail. The parks were pretty much full and finding a spot was tough we got the last one at Henderson. My wife and I never thought of the state parks until you wonderful people mentioned them. Thanks again for the advice. I will post how it turned out when we get done in July. :)