St. George Island State Park ~ St. George Island, Florida

Description: This campground on a barrier island is along the “forgotten coast of Florida” and at the east end of the Panhandle. The park is located on the eastern end of the island and has nine miles of undeveloped beaches and dunes with the Gulf on one side and the Apalachicola Bay on the other. 1,962 acres are laid out in a very long narrow strip and much of it you need a permit to drive on the dirt road to get to the end of the spit. Along the paved section there are pullouts with boardwalks to the beach and then you have two developed areas with showers and changing rooms. This is not a busy area and it's almost like having your own private beach

Date of Stay: July 15th, 2011 ~ we stayed here for 2 weeks

Weather During Stay: Some days rainy and other days full of sunshine. Temperatures in the mid to high 80's. During the summer you need to be aware of the weather ~ being that it is Hurricane Season.

Site Description: The campground is in two loops back to back but there are shady sites among the pines and coastal scrub bushes. There are a lot of sites that will accommodate big rigs but you need to check the length out on the Reserve America site. Each site has W/E 50amp and a dump station is located in the front of the campground.

Favorite Sites: We stayed in site 46 and it was level and across from the bathrooms. Which was nice since we didn't have sewer hook-up.

Rate: Cost is $24 per night but with the Florida resident senior discount we paid $12 per night.

Phone/TV/Internet: We were worried about TV, phones and internet but once we got set up we managed to get our TV roof satellite working (Direct TV) with no problems. Both phones had service and even my Verizon Air Card work. The air card was slow at times but it did allow me to post on my blogs and FB.

Elevation/Landscape: Typical Florida tropical landscape with Pine trees, scrub oaks and local vegetation. It is about 10 feet above sea level... since we are on an Island it is pretty much sandy.

Lighting/Noise: No noise at night and the lighting is pretty well dark.

Hiking/Walking/Biking: There are trails and beach to walk on and there are miles of roads all paved for bike riding.

Comments: One can fish, swim, bike, kayak, boating, hiking, bird watching for Bald Eagles & Ospreys and for the fall and spring bird migration. Nice place to camp but make sure you make reservations because it was full pretty much all the nights we were here with waiting lists to get in. The park has such amenities as beaches, birding, boating, canoeing, fishing, hiking, kayaking, picnicking areas, swimming, wildlife viewing. The sunset & Sunrises are breathtaking.

Things to See & Do: The little town of St. George four miles from the ranger station is cute little town with bike trails, shops, restaurants, historic lighthouse and museum and little beach houses to rent and also Apalachicola about 8 miles away for exploring the historic district and several great seafood restaurants.

Rating: (8) This is a lovely place to be if you love the water and outside sports. The mosquitoes can be heavy and you need to bring bug spray. I loved it here!

Have Fun & Travel Safe