Local Guide

State and National Parks Near Destin and 30A

The stretch of coast between Destin and Panama City Beach has more protected land on it than almost anywhere else in Florida, which is the real reason 30A looks the way it does. Several of these parks are a bike ride from the house. One or two are worth giving a whole day to.

Before you go

Staffed Florida state parks charge a per-vehicle entrance fee, usually less for a single occupant and less again on foot or by bike. Rates change, so check the park's own page for the current one.
Most parks open at eight in the morning and close at sundown. Sundown is enforced, and it moves through the year.
Dogs are welcome in many Florida state parks on a leash, but usually not on the beach itself. Check the specific park before you bring one.
Bring water and take out everything you carried in. Several of these parks have no facilities at all, which is exactly why they are good.
Leave the dunes and the sea oats alone. Everything you can see standing up on this coast is held together by roots you cannot.

The parks

Grayton Beach State Park

On 30A at Grayton Beach

The one to do first. A wide, dramatically duned beach that regularly appears on national best-beach lists, and Western Lake right behind it, a coastal dune lake you can paddle. There are hiking trails through the scrub and an off-road bike trail system, plus a campground and cabins.

Worth knowing: Reachable on the Timpoochee Trail, so you can ride there from anywhere along 30A. Per-vehicle entrance fee if you drive.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

West end of the 30A area, roughly fifteen minutes from Santa Rosa Beach

The biggest and wildest of the local parks: three coastal dune lakes, dunes tall enough to be called hills honestly, pine flatwoods, and about three miles of undeveloped shoreline. Paved paths run through the interior, and a tram runs out to the beach in season.

Worth knowing: The paved interior paths are good cruiser riding. The beach walk is long, which is an argument for the backpack chairs.

Henderson Beach State Park

In Destin on US 98

Destin's protected beach: thirty-foot natural dunes, boardwalks over them, a wide beach at the bottom, and a short nature trail behind. Restrooms, showers and picnic pavilions make it the easiest full-facility beach day in Destin.

Worth knowing: Per-vehicle entrance fee, and the lot fills on summer weekends by mid-morning.

Deer Lake State Park

On 30A between Seagrove and WaterSound

Small, quiet and almost entirely undeveloped. A boardwalk climbs over some of the highest dunes on 30A and drops you onto a beach with nobody on it, beside another coastal dune lake. There is very little here on purpose.

Worth knowing: Minimal facilities. Bring water, take everything out, and come for the walk rather than the amenities.

Camp Helen State Park

East end, at the Inlet Beach and Panama City Beach line

A peninsula between Lake Powell, the largest coastal dune lake in the state, and the Gulf. There is a historic lodge, short trails, a rocky shoreline unusual for this coast, and excellent birdwatching. A genuinely different landscape from the rest of 30A.

Worth knowing: About ten minutes east of Inlet Beach by car. Small, so an hour or two is plenty.

St. Andrews State Park

Panama City Beach, roughly forty-five minutes east of Inlet Beach

The big day trip. Jetties that make a calm protected lagoon on one side and clear snorkeling water on the other, pine woods behind, a fishing pier, and a shuttle out to undeveloped Shell Island across the pass.

Worth knowing: The lagoon between the jetties is the calmest saltwater swimming within an hour of 30A, which makes this a good rough-surf backup plan.

Point Washington State Forest

Immediately north of 30A around Santa Rosa Beach

Not a beach at all: fifteen thousand acres of longleaf pine, wetland and scrub with a trail system used by hikers and mountain bikers. It is the quickest way to see what this coast looked like before the coast happened.

Worth knowing: The trails are sand and root. Fine on a mountain bike, not the place for a single-speed cruiser.

Gulf Islands National Seashore

West of Destin, roughly an hour from mid-30A

A national park unit spread along the barrier islands, with the nearest section on Okaloosa Island near Fort Walton Beach and much more of it further west toward Pensacola. Undeveloped dune beach, historic forts at the western end, and the sense of a shoreline nobody built on.

Worth knowing: National Park Service entrance fee, and the America the Beautiful pass is accepted. Worth a whole day if you go past Fort Walton.

Picking one

If you only do one

Grayton Beach State Park. Beach, dune lake, trails, and you can ride there on the Timpoochee Trail.

If the surf is rough

St. Andrews State Park. The lagoon between the jetties stays calm when the open Gulf does not.

If you want nobody around

Deer Lake State Park, or the eastern end of Topsail Hill. Both take a walk to reach, which is the filter.

If it rains

Camp Helen's lodge and short trails handle a grey day well, and the birdwatching on Lake Powell is better when the sun is not glaring off it.

Getting there from the house

Grayton Beach and Deer Lake sit directly on the Timpoochee Trail, so the bikes at the house are the best way to reach them from anywhere on 30A. The cart works for those two as well, since 30A itself stays within the 35 mph limit a low-speed vehicle has to respect. Henderson Beach, St. Andrews and the national seashore all require US Highway 98, which means the car. The full rules are in the 30A golf cart guide.

Common questions

What is the best state park on 30A?

Grayton Beach State Park, for the combination: a beach regularly named among the best in the country, Western Lake behind it, hiking and off-road bike trails, and a campground. Topsail Hill Preserve is the close second and has the taller dunes and three coastal dune lakes of its own.

How much does it cost to get into a Florida state park?

There is a per-vehicle entrance fee at the staffed parks, usually lower for a single occupant or for anyone arriving on foot or by bike. Rates change, so check the park's page on the Florida State Parks site before you go rather than trusting a number in a guide.

Can you bike to the state parks from 30A?

To some of them, easily. The Timpoochee Trail runs right past Grayton Beach State Park and Deer Lake State Park, so both are a ride rather than a drive if you are staying anywhere along the corridor. Topsail Hill, Henderson Beach, Camp Helen and St. Andrews are car trips.

What is a coastal dune lake?

A freshwater lake sitting directly behind the dune line that periodically breaks through to the Gulf, mixing salt and fresh water. They exist in only a handful of places on earth, and South Walton has around fifteen of them. Grayton Beach, Deer Lake, Topsail Hill and Camp Helen are all built around one.

Can we take the golf cart to a state park?

Only if the whole route is on roads posted at 35 mph or less, which rules out anything that needs US Highway 98. Grayton Beach and Deer Lake are reachable along 30A. Henderson Beach, St. Andrews and the national seashore are car trips.

Staying at an Amenio partner home?

The bikes, cart, and beach gear are already part of your stay. They are at the house when you walk in, so there is nothing to pick up and nothing to carry home. Amenio works only with partner vacation homes on Florida's Emerald Coast, Suncoast, and First Coast, so if your house is one of ours, the gear is already there.

Want to see what is at the house? See the beach gear, or find your reservation. Questions about equipment at your home? Call or text 850-231-8000.

Already booked a partner home?

Open your stay to see the bikes, cart and beach gear waiting at the house.