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A couple of weeks ago we went camping down in Destin, Florida. Now, any of you who have been to Destin in the past 10 years are probably wondering where because Destin is so built up! There are so many places to stay and to eat and endless things to do. Would you be shocked if I told you that we camped less than a half-mile from Walmart and across the street from the Bass Pro Shops?
Yes! It’s true! Nestled off Highway 98 on the eastern side of Destin is Henderson Beach State Park. (see it on the map here) It was our first visit and overall we had a wonderful stay! I hope you enjoy hearing about this trip and seeing our photos!
About Henderson Beach State Park
First of all, you don’t have to camp to enjoy this park. Henderson Beach State Park is open to the public. The cost to enter is $6 per vehicle. Consistently voted one of the best beaches in Destin, it encompasses over 6000 feet of white sand shoreline. It has well-maintained boardwalks that take you over white sand dunes. It’s been open for almost 30 years and this 208-acre park is a habitat for sand pines, scrub oaks, southern magnolias, dune rosemary, and a variety of wildflowers. It’s pet-friendly, RV friendly and hosts numerous activities and events throughout the year.
You can read more about the park here.
But what I really want to talk about is our visit to the campground which is set off from the main public beach access and where we spent the weekend!
Henderson State Park Campground
This was our first trip down here and it won’t be our last. We can make it down to Destin in under 2 hours and while we love it we don’t go as often as we go to Panama City Beach and the eastern half of 30A. It’s mainly because it’s a little more crowded and a little further away. But the campground at Henderson Beach State Park made us feel like we were off the beaten path. With access to all of the amenities. And by tent camping, it was a fraction of the price!
I actually booked this trip several months in advance because of the camping sites down on the Gulf of Mexico book up fast. There are only 52 campsites at this park. Most of them are large and can be used by a tent or an RV. A few are RV only. Two are tent only and we happened to be in one of those. For that reason, our spot was very small and we had to share a driveway with another set of campers. We were on site 28 and only sites 28/29 are small and close together. So, you will see here how tight it was but I knew that coming in so we weren’t surprised.
We were actually pretty close to the bathhouse which was great. They were clean and showers are free too! The laundry facilities are located right there too!
From the bathhouse, you can take a paved path to the boardwalk. You guys, it is so pretty. The canopy of trees made me feel like I was really experiencing somewhere new.
Once you get to the end of the park there is a bike rack, showers, and the accessible boardwalk. Again, it’s so beautiful! As you walk you can watch all kinds of wildlife in the dunes and spot the most lovely wildflowers. We even saw some cacti!
Then you hit the beach! The best part for us was that the beach was not crowded at all. With just over 50 sites, you only have those people using the beach. We had room to spread out and the kids could run around. Looking to the east and to the west, you could see much bigger crowds, especially with it being a holiday weekend!
And the campground offers chair + umbrella service. For $25/half day or $40/full day, they will come and set up two chairs and an umbrella. It was well worth it not to have to haul stuff down there. There is a sign near the bathhouse with the number to call.
After our day at the beach, we even jumped into the car and went to ride gocarts and eat fresh seafood. We could have easily stayed there but we promised the kids we would do the gocarts. Luckily, there were just a few minutes away!
How To Reserve A Campsite
You can use the Florida State Parks site but I prefer going directly to Reserve America. I just like the search/availability functions better over there.
Click here for the Henderson Beach State Park page. I then leave the dates empty, click flexible 4 weeks, tent site (or whatever you need) and then check availability. I then go to CALENDAR and scroll through available dates and sites!
A Few Cons
Next time we would love to stay in a bigger site. This was my fault and I basically booked the only thing available but next time we would like to spread out more. It is very serene and peaceful except that there is a helicopter tour that goes out of a hub across Highway 98 and it goes over the campground semi-often. It’s totally out of their control and obviously goes over a bunch of places but was kind of annoying. And lastly, it was hot. I would love to go back in October or November or even in the Spring. We didn’t get much of a breeze in our site and we were roasting by the end.
Pros/Tips
I wanted to share a few other things to note that we enjoyed. First, the camp store does sell firewood so you can grab it on the way in. Lots of kids were on bikes and scooters so if you can I would bring those! As I mentioned before it was very clean, quiet and overall a great experience. You can’t beat the price to be on the beach in Destin for $30 bucks a night!
Abby and I woke up very early one morning and we went for a long walk as the sun was coming up. It was such a wonderful experience. That is one thing I love about camping. It really gets you to slow down and take it all in.
