florida panhandle campground ideas

[theresa p]

Hi---We are heading to Daytona for 3 months but are going to spend our last month to 6 weeks up into the panhandle area of Florida...

....any suggestions for great campgrounds? There are numerous state parks---a personal recommendation from someone here sure would make the selection easier.

Thanks in advance!

[War Eagle]

It's little further west, but we would highly recommend Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. ( Gulf State Park | Alapark ) There are several great seafood restaurants in Gulf Shores (and nearby Orange Beach, AL, and Perdido Key, FL) if that's to your gastric liking.

[theresa p]

Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, Alf S. stayed there last winter and recommended it as well. We've stayed at St. George's Island before and briefly visited St. Joseph's....didn't camp there. Both are nice but it's always nice to check out new places. It doesn't have to be a state park----we're open to anything. Just want clean bathrooms....not having our own facilities, that is a must.

[War Eagle]

Gulf State Park is our "go to" campground when we head to the gulf coast for a little R&R. Been there three times this year and may squeeze another trip in over the Christmas holiday. And yes, very clean and well-maintained restroom/show facilities located conveniently throughout the campground. Nice wildlife/nature center and walking/biking trails, too.

[mary and bob]

Henderson Beach SP is nice. It's in a busy area but the park is quiet and nice. Boardwalk out to the beach. Topsail is more upscale, and higher price. Haven't checked it out yet ourselves but it's on our list. I know there is a good you tube video of it.

[wwig]

Hey Theresa,
I would also suggest Ft Pickins COE campground. It's located on Santa Rosa island off the coast of Pensacola. The Naval Air Museum is certainly worth a visit as well as Fort Pickins itself. I stayed at St George island 2 weeks last year and loved it. Hope that helps. Peace

[Tammie]

Topsail is beautiful- the camping areas have good vegetation, and the streets are paved. It's located at the western end of Walton County Scenic Hwy 30A, which runs along the beach. There's a great bike/walking path that runs the length ot 30A, and you can enjoy Gulf views, and stop by a restaurant or some shops. Also, you'll see several rare coastal dune lakes along the way.
8 miles east on 30A is Grayton Beach SP. Nicely vegetated campsites, some along the shore of Western Lake (one of the dune lakes, bring your kayak) Grayton feels a little more rustic with sandy roads, still easy biking out to 30A.
Both places have access to the beach, which is the most beautiful, unspoiled, spectacular beach in the world. IMO

[jon carpenter]

Another nice campground is Shepard State Park in Gautier MS. It is not officially a state park any more but is run by the city of Gautier. It is on the water and has lots of hiking and biking trails.

[eagle of flight]

Beautiful campgrounds in Carabelle Florida. Great clean facilities and across from the beach. If you are in to boondocking a couple of nights you can find many sites in the Appalachicola National Forest and adjoining Tates Hell. Not far from East Point Florida and St. George Island.

[Timber Wolf]

We live here, and have camped pretty much everything close. My top two, besides St. Joseph you mentioned already, would be Falling Waters and Torreya. FL Caverns in Marianna is good, and we also like Kolomoki Mounds just up in GA.

[Paul O.]

I second the Fort Pickens Campground recommendation. We'll be there mid-march for about a week. Yes, the Naval Aviation Museum is a must-see. The Blue Angels practice there once a week and you can watch them at the airfield, or even from the beaches if you don't want to drive to town for that. Also, great fish markets that sell everything, including scamp. And the beaches have squeaking sand!

[theresa p]

Thanks, everyone, for all of the great recommendations! I knew I'd get lots of help to pick a place to go.

The panhandle area is grossly undervisited, in my opinion, by snowbirds. Everyone wants to go south to the VERY busy areas of the south of Florida......


.....off to try to get a reservation now. Wish me luck! The forecast is for 15-20 cms of snow overnight and that just makes me want to pack up and get outta town even quicker.

[ripple]

We stayed at St Joseph State park in October, and it is very nice - quiet, boardwalk to the beach - a bit of a drive to restaurants, etc.

[CaptRichie]

Saw your post and noticed you are from New Brunswick, we plan to visit there in the spring. Can you help with places to camp in our Casita in New Brunswick? We are on a trip to find relitaves from my wife's Belyea side of the family. We are new to camping and do not have any input where to camp in the Florida panhandle.
Regards
Richard & Marianne Schneider

[theresa p]

Hi Richard----I sent you a private message.

[Al and Cindy K]

We spent a week at Grayton Beach, site 007, after the 2015 Scamp Camp in Sebring. This was a good site with great privacy and easy access to the restrooms with showers and laundry facilities from the rear of the site. Even numbered sites between 002 and 022 are somewhat waterfront to the lake and would be better. I found the sites in the upper loop to be too open for our liking.

Easy access to several good restaurants - sorry, don't recall any names. Good biking opportunities and beautiful white sand beaches within walking/riding distance. Would definitely go back.


Al

[Alf S.]

Originally Posted by theresa p

Hi Richard----I sent you a private message.

Hi: theresa p... If you stay at Gulf State Pk. in Alabama, drive back into Florida to buy groceries. Alabama taxes your entire grocery bill. Rouses is a nice grocery store but you get dinged at the checkout.
Maybe "The Donald" will fix that rigging!!!
Dining at The Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores... First rate Gumbo & plate of Shrimp& Fries!!!
Our friends from Essex On. went to Ft. Pickens after...we headed north!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[theresa p]

Thanks, everyone, for the continued great suggestions. And thanks, Cindy and Al, because knowing which sites are "good" and which are a little less appealing really helps with our decision-making.

When checking alot of the panhandle state parks, we noticed a fair bit of availability remains for this winter. This is SO different from those anywhere south of there. Things book up 11 months in advance by snowbirds and make it extremely hard to get a reservation for more than an odd night here and there.....

.....I know alot of folk feel confident to "fly by the seat of their pants" regarding reservations. In all honesty, I hate not knowing where we're going to be. Yet I hate having to make reservations, too, because it's very confining. How do I know if I want to be in that area for 1 or 2 weeks...and if I do go there, there's no escape without losing your $ if the area isn't worth spending an extended time in.
But there isn't really a good solution, is there?

So, to allow me to sleep at night, we'll make reservations. But I'd love to be able to see a park/area in person and decide then if we'll stay---but then we're left taking our chances and come spring, those chances are few and far between.

[Glenn Baglo]

I like to use Google Earth to check out campgrounds. Gives you an indication of what's around the place, like a wrecking yard, a rail car shunting yard, or twelve lane highway. Just because they called it Riverside Campground, doesn't mean there is a river within a hundred miles.

[theresa p]

Glenn---you are so right about that! We've had a couple of "near-misses" over the years---hadn't reserved but had a list of places....drove by one and couldn't believe how junky it looked. And another was right next to a huge scrapyard. Looked...and kept driving.