Florida is the sunshine state and home to 175 state parks and 9 state trails, preserving over 800,000 acres for recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists.
Florida’s State Parks are managed and preserved for everyone’s enjoyment with the tag line “The Real Florida.” And it’s true, these land preserves and natural spaces are a refreshing alternative to amusement parks, busy cities, strip malls and beaches lined with high rises. Florida state parks can be explored in 58 of Florida’s 67 counties, from Atlantic and Gulf shores, to lakes, crystal clear springs and rivers, fertile farmland and fruit groves, teeming with wildlife and nature preserves. These are awesome alternatives to busier, or man-made Universal and Disney in Orlando or Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Some Florida state parks were originally private tourist attractions, later purchased by the state of Florida to preserve their natural environment, including Silver Springs State Park, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Rainbow Springs State Park, and Weeki Wachee Springs.
A Florida park pass is great value, typically $6-12 a day, for your vehicle. An annual Florida State Park pass is $60 per individual, or $120 for a family pass (for up to 8 people entering together as a group for day-use). Park passes can be purchased at any Park Ranger Station upon entry. The Park Pass is not transferable, and Park Pass holders must present ID and be present with any guests.
Park Rangers told us that where you purchase your pass benefits that Park, those funds stay in that Park specifically, but we have not found confirmation of that Florida’s State Park website, which is a cumbersome government site to find any information!
Here our favorite Florida State Parks we have explored and enjoyed, and highly recommend to you for biking, paddling, walking, sightseeing:, and a list of all 175 below!
Anastasia State Park – St Augustine
Amelia Island- Fernandina
Blue Springs – Volusia County
Big Talbot & Little Talbot Parks on Amelia Island – famed for Boneyard Beach of ancient driftwood
Crystal River Archeological Park & Crystal River State Preserve
Cedar Key Scrub State Park
Cape Canaveral Seashore
Faver-Dykes State Park
Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park
Fort De Soto – St Pete
Fort Clinch on Amelia Island
Fort Foster in Thonotosassa
Gainesville Hawthorne State Trail
Homosassa Park near Crystal River
Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway – – once a proposed shipping canal, now a bike trail
Mayaka River State Park – Sarasota, near Venice and Nokomis on the West Coast
Oscar Scherer – in Nokomis on the West Coast – which leads to Florida’s Legacy Trail
Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail
Princess Park Preserve – near St Augustine
San Sebastián Inlet Park in Melbourne – Florida’s Space Coast
Silver Springs for paddling, kayak or SUP
Skyway Fishing Pier – St Pete
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park – on the Panhandle
Maclay Gardens Sate Park – Panhandle near Tallahassee
Ravine Gardens – Palatka
Washington Oaks in Flagler
Withlacoochee Bay Trail
Withlacoochee State Trail
Weeki Watchi Springs – home of the swimming mermaids, north of Tampa, since 1947
Best State Parks for Manatee Sighting
Blue Springs
Crystal River State Park
Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park – Crystal River
Best State Parks for Natural History
Amelia Island & Fort Foster
Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, west of Tallahassee
Best State Park for Beach Horseback Riding
Amelia Island State Park
Best State Park for Lighthouse Climbing
Cape Florida Lighthouse in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
Anastasia State Park near St Augustine Lighthouse
Best State Parks for Paddling
Silver Springs & Blue Springs – paddle historic waters where monkeys hanging from trees, manatees swimming beneath you, turtles resting on tree logs and gators gaze at you too!
Best State Park for Surfing
Sebastian Inlet State Park – south of Melbourne on the Space Coast -one of Florida’s surfing hot spots
Best State Park for Kiting, Kite Surfing and Hydrofoil
Fort De Soto State Park – St Pete
Best State Parks for Beach Lovers
Anastasia State Park – St Augustine
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park – Atlantic Beach
Bahia Honda State Park – Florida Keys near Key West
Big Talbot Island State Park – Boneyard Beach’s unique, stretch of sand & petrified old oaks – Amelia Island
Lovers Key State Park
Grayton Beach State Park – South Walton
Best Florida State Parks for Biking on designated bike paths
Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
Big & Little Talbot Parks & Fort Clinch – Amelia Island
Fort DeSoto – St Pete
Oscar Scherer – Sarasota – the Legacy Trail
Best State Park to Discover African-American history
Fort Mose Historic 1738 State Park – St Augustine
Best State Park for Nature Photographers
Big Talbot Island State Park “Boneyard Beach” – Amelia Island
Washington Oaks – springtime when the Japanese gardens are in bloom
Best State Parks for Camping
Anastasia State Park – St Augustine
Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key – Florida Keys – Key West
Grayton Beach State Park in South Walton
ITs so nice to see land preserved for nature exploration and recreation, when Florida is otherwise so notorious for big developments like Disney, The Villages, and the Space Coast – Kennedy Space Center.
See more Florida Reviews:
Amelia Island- Fernandina l Anna Maria Island l Apalachicola – Florida’s Forgotten Coast l Boynton Beach l Crystal River l Delray Beach l Disney World Orlando l Fort Lauderdale l Key West l Kennedy Space Center l Miami l Mount Dora l Marathon l St Augustine l Sarasota, Siesta Key and Venice l Winter Park
Florida’s 175 State Parks to explore, your bucket list:
Addison Blockhouse Historic State Park
Alafia River State Park
Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park
Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve State Park
Amelia Island State Park
Anastasia State Park – St Augustine
Anclote Key Preserve State Park
Avalon State Park
Bahia Honda State Park
Bald Point State Park
Baseline Road Trailhead
Beker-South Fork
Beker Wingate Creek
Barnacle Historic State Park
Big Lagoon State Park
Big Shoals State Park
Big Talbot Island State Park
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park
Blackwater Heritage State Trail
Blackwater River State Park
Blue Spring State Park
Buckman Lock-St. Johnson Loop North and South
Bulow Creek State Park
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park
Caladesi Island State Park
Camp Helen State Park
Cayo Costa State Park
Cedar Key Scrub State Reserve
Cedar Key Museum State Park
Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park
Cockroach Bay State Park
Collier-Seminole State Park
Colt Creek State Park
Constitution Convention Museum State Park
Crystal River Archaeological State Park
Crystal River Preserve State Park
Curry Hammock State Park
Dade Battlefield Historic State Park
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park
De Leon Springs State Park
DeSoto Site Historic State Park
Deer Lake State Park
Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park
Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park
Don Pedro Island State Park
Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park
Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
Dudley Farm Historic State Park
Dunnelon Trail
Dunns Creek State Park
Econfina River State Park
Eden Gardens State Park
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park
Egmont Key State Park
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
Estero Bay Preserve State Park
Eureaka West Recreation Area
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
Falling Waters State Park
Fanning Springs State Park
Faver-Dykes State Park
Felburn Park
Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park
Florida Caverns State Park
Florida Keys Overseas Trail
Forest Capital Museum State Park
Fort Clinch State Park
Fort Cooper State Park
Fort Foster State Historic Site
Fort George Island Cultural State Park
Fort Mose Historic State Park
Fort Pierce Inlet State Park
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park
Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail
Gamble Plantation Historic State Park
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach
Gasparilla Island State Park
General James A. Van Fleet State Trail
George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier
Grayton Beach State Park
Haw Creek Preserve State Park
Henderson Beach State Park
Highlands Hammock State Park
Hillsborough River State Park
Historic Santos Recreation Area
Honeymoon Island State Park
Hontoon Island State Park
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Ichetucknee Springs State Park
Indian Key Historic State Park
Indian River Lagoon Preserve State Park
Inglis Bypass Recreation Area
Inglis Dam & Island Recreation Area
Inglis Lock Recreation Area
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park
John Gorrie Museum State Park
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park
Koreshan State Historic Site
Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
Lake Griffin State Park
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
Lake June in Winter Scrub State Park
Lake Kissimmee State Park
Lake Louisa State Park
Lake Manatee State Park
Lake Talquin State Park
Landbridge Trailhead
Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park
Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park
Little Manatee River State Park
Little Talbot Island State Park
Long Key State Park
Lovers Key State Park
Lower Wekiva River Preserve State Park
Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site
Madison Blue Spring State Park
Manatee Springs State Park
Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park
Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park
Mound Key Archaeological State Park
Myakka River State Park
Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park
Nature Coast State Trail
North Peninsula State Park
O’Leno State Park
Ochlockonee River State Park
Okeechobee Battlefield State Park
Oleta River State Park
Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park
Orman House Historic State Park
Oscar Scherer State Park
Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail
Palatka-to-Lake Butler State Trail
Paynes Creek Historic State Park
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
Perdido Key State Park
Ponce de Leon Springs State Park
Price’s Scrub State Park
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park
Rainbow Springs State Park
Ravine Gardens State Park
River Rise Preserve State Park
Rock Springs Run State Reserve
Rodman Campground
Rodman Recreation Area
Ross Prairie Trailhead & Campground
Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park
San Pedro Underwater Archaeological Preserve State Park
Santos Trailhead & Campground
Savannas Preserve State Park
Seabranch Preserve State Park
Sebastian Inlet State Park
Shangri-La Trailhead & Campground
Silver Springs State Park
Skyway Fishing Pier State Park
St. Andrews State Park
St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park
St. Marks River Preserve State Park
St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park
Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park
Stump Pass Beach State Park
Suwannee River State Park
Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail
T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail
Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park
Three Rivers State Park
Tomoka State Park
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
Torreya State Park
Troy Spring State Park
Waccasassa Bay Preserve State Park
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Weeki Wachee Springs
Wekiwa Springs State Park
Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park
Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park
Withlacoochee Bay Trail
Withlacoochee State Trail
Ybor City Museum State Park
Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park
Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park
Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park