Fort Pickens campsites are available to book up to six months in advance via. Each campground offers water, grill/fire rings, restrooms, and picnic tables. The campground contains 137 family sites with electricity (30 & 50 amp) and water hookups and 40 non-electric tent sites. That’s a good thing, but it does mean if you run out of supplies, it is a long drive to town. Located near the end of an undeveloped barrier island, the campground feels remote and far from civilization. Located on the eastern side of the road, the campgrounds are a short walk from water on the bay side as well as the spectacular beaches on the Gulf side. (Photo: David Blasco) Gulf Islands National Seashore campingīeach and history lovers will find the setting at the Fort Pickens area campgrounds particularly appealing.
I think the freedom to wander the huge spooky fort on your own adds to the thrill, but do hang onto little kids!Īn RV site at the Fort Pickens area in Gulf Islands National Seashore campround.
#GULF ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE FL FREE#
Here, you are free to explore rooms that are dark or dimly lit, tunnels with low ceilings, spaces where water collects and the ground is uneven. It is common to have spaces that are not designed specifically for visitors to be roped off at the slightest danger. Much of it is left in its original condition and one of the curious things is that visitors can just wander this maze of tunnels and arched rooms on their own. It is a massive red brick pentagonal building built before the Civil War. The road ends at the western end of the island at the complex of historic buildings that includes Fort Pickens, which is a remarkable site even for those not interested in military history. Massive Civil War era muzzle-loading cannons atop the fortress wall have a spectacular view at Fort Pickens in Gulf Islands National Seashore. At this point, on the Gulf side of the highway, there is a parking lot and the short Dune Trail. This trail also connects with the Florida Trail, which runs all along Gulf Islands National Seashore, ending at Fort Pickens, 1,300 miles from its start in Big Cypress National wildlife refuge. Military history buffs will want to park and explore.Īt the turn off for the Campground A, there is a half-mile loop Blackbird Marsh Trail with good signage that travels around a pretty wetland. (More on camping below.)Īlong the way, you will pass some portions of the fort, gun batteries once camouflaged with sand and vegetation to hide them from aerial surveillance. On this road, there are three turn-offs for campgrounds, which are attractive lightly wooded compounds across the street from the beach. The Blackbird Marsh Trail near Fort Pickens at Gulf Islands National Seashore was beautiful and had informative signage identifying plants and trees. There are three parking lots where you can stop to spend some time at one of the most beautiful wild beaches in Florida. The road travels through seven miles of undeveloped beach.
We visited two days after a major rain storm and had to drive slowly through water that came up to the bottom of our car doors. Be aware: This is a low-lying road that is easily flooded. The road again passes through spectacular views of sand and dunes. This time, you do have to pay the entrance fee to continue. (Photo: Bonnie Gross) The Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National SeashoreĪ few miles west of Pensacola Beach on Highway 399, you are back in Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Fort Pickens section. Inside Fort Pickens at Gulf Island National Seashore. This area was named Opal Beach after the eye of Hurricane Opal, a Category 4 storm, came ashore here, flattening the sand dunes. It boggles the mind to think how all Florida’s barrier islands might have once looked like this.Ī big chunk of Florida’s section of Gulf Islands National Seashore is located on Santa Rosa Island west of Navarre Beach. With the whitest sand I’ve ever seen, Opal Beach is a sight to behold.
Santa Rosa is a narrow barrier island where sand dunes stretch from the Gulf shore to Santa Rosa Sound. The Opal Beach section of Gulf Islands National Seashore Map of Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Pensacola area. These places are both remarkable, and like most national parks I’ve visited, do not disappoint. Exploring Fort Pickens, a fort built largely by enslaved people in 1834 out of 21 million bricks.
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