They take "reservations" but do not reserve spots. Two families with 5 kids traveled 4 hours to camp together and were assured 3 weeks before when making the reservation, that getting spots together would not be a problem. That did not happen! Oyster shell beaches and shark infested waters. No bike trails. However, the staff were nice and polite. The locals are great. If you like scalloping, this is the place to be in July and August. The Raw Bar is a must stop. The steamed shrimp, stuffed shrimp, and baked oysters were fabulous! Presnell's Bayside Marina is closer to town with most sites on the water. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Great location. Old fish camp with haphazard site arrangement. If you have a big rig, be very careful to walk to your site first and check for potential dangers. We got a good site for our 40' MH, but the 40' that pulled in next to us at night got stuck in deep sand and we spent all night helping them dig out the rig so the commercial tow truck could pull them out (hours of digging in sweltering heat and bugs with every breath.) Beach right at campground is beautiful sight, but loaded with broken glass - do not even think of swimming there or walking without solid shoes - for some reason the bottles tossed overboard by the boats all come to this area. Nice area to walk around, ladies who run office are lots of fun, pool is heated and shaded and generally clean. Bathrooms fall just at OK. Nice place to rest under the trees and away from everything. Gorgeous state beaches for swimming a short drive away. Long ride back to stores. I wouldn't risk it with kids due to dangers and lack of kid things to do. Think redneck fishing camp that lets in RVs. You need good driving skills to stay here. Arrive early in day as you get to pick your spot - not many for bigger size rigs. You might be next to a tent - we met lovely people tenting next to us. We camped here in a Motorhome.

If you are looking for a pristine beach without houses, condos, golf courses, water slides, etc., this is the place. The park is on a peninsula with the bay on one side and the Gulf on the other. We stayed in the first campground you come to, Gulf Breeze. We had plenty of shade, but not all sites have shade. This seemed to be where most of the motorhomes were. The other loop,Shady Pine, is a bit tighter and might be tough to get a larger rig in but has lots of shade. There are 2 shower houses in both loops. Sea Breeze is the one with the newer shower with great pressure and lots of hot water., which during the summer may not be desirable. Verizon MiFi worked OK on anther provider's network. If you took a walk over by the bay side. Verizon MiFi worked great and there was the bonus of being able to feed the no seeums. The roads were paved, but the sites were packed sand/shells. They have a senior rate for Florida residents, and military, and handicapped discount. Our price reflects taxes, actually $26.46/night. You should be well provisioned when you come here because outside of a couple of Jiffy Marts the closest stores are about 25 miles way. This is an outstanding place to go experience the Gulf Coast as it was before it all got developed. We took a 3 mile walk up the beach and there were no other human foot prints. There are a myriad of birds, deer and other wildlife. The bugs can be an issue when the wind stops, but there almost always seems to be a breeze. I can't recommend the park highly enough for the time we were there in January. Downside: sand, dew, and fog most nights. Upside: pristine beaches, great sunrise/sunsets, great birding, boating (motor or self propelled), sea shells, fishing, snorkeling on the bay. I could go on but you get the idea. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Campsites were smaller than I expected and I had difficulty maneuvering my fifth wheel into the site. I did see some larger sites that may have better accommodated us though. The park has two loops – Gulf Breeze and Shady Pines. The two loops are not very close to each other. Gulf Breeze sites appeared to be generally larger and not packed as tightly as the Shady Pines loop but offer less shade. The children’s playground is at the picnic area in-between the two campgrounds and is not so near to either that you could send children off by themselves. Camp sites are level and include poles for a clothesline, picnic table, and fire ring but no BBQ grill. The Gulf Breeze campground has two bath houses – one old and one new. The showers in the old one are more open than the new one and are not cooled in any way. The new bath house is cooled and has more private shower accommodations. The newer bath house also has a clothes washer and dryer available. My only complaint about the showers was that they tended to get a lot of sand deposited in them from folks visiting the beach. The beach on the Gulf side is a short walk over the dunes where you can catch some beautiful sunsets. The park also includes a boat ramp and small marina area for boaters on the bay side of the peninsula. You can either leave your boat in the water or park it in the ample parking area. St Joseph Bay is clear water for swimming, snorkeling, scalloping (in season), or boating. We saw several small sea turtles in the bay. We had excellent AT&T cell phone coverage at the park. Park rangers and camp hosts were friendly and knowledgeable. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

This campground is located in what they call the “Forgotten coast of the Florida Panhandle.” There are two loops Gulf Breeze and Shady Pine. We stayed in the Gulf Breeze loop because it is closer to the Gulf and a little cooler, but Shady Pine is a prettier loop with the tall pines. They both have two bathhouses within walking distance on boardwalks to the beaches on the Gulf. The walk is a little shorter from the Gulf Breeze loop. The beaches have that white quartz sand of the Panhandle, but not the Caribbean blue water, even though they claim that they do. Nice park but bring everything you need because it is a long drive out here. One can swim in the Gulf or in the Bay. Fishing, boating and snorkeling, swimming, hiking, bike riding and bird watching are all available. The park has 2516 acres surrounded on two sides by the ocean and Bay. It is on the Florida Bird Watching trail and 243 species have been seen here, especially in the fall when the park becomes a stopover for the migration of birds on their way south. There are even birding and wildflower tours offered at this time. We saw beautiful sunsets and sun rises from the beach. Make sure you make reservations because it was full when we camped here in May, and it seems to be a place that the “snowbirds” like to stay during the winter. We would return to camp at this state park. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We stayed in the Shady Pines park. The park is nice. We stayed in site 73. The site are small and on top of each other. The bathrooms were not clean. No air movement in them at all. Would have been nice to have some sort of fan in there to move the air. The site did have a lot of shade. The sites by the beach access are seem to be a little bigger and better. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

One of the more remote state parks in Florida. Sunsets are exquisite. Two separate camping areas. Both have two bathhouses equally maintained. Very clean. Sites are sandy. Our only problem (both incoming and outgoing) were vehicles parked in the roadway making our entrance and exit difficult and challenging. Minimal ranger presence. Our pull through site was located very near the boardwalk. Pristine beach. Would stay here again but pick a site closer to the entrance to avoid the vehicles parked in the roadway. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Florida old folks rate shown. Clean level concrete site, fire pit and table on each site, easy check in and set up, great views. Was able to get satellite on site but had to to to entrance to get phone to work. Will make this a must stop again. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

3rd time we have been here but the first time camping in Gulf Breeze in the travel trailer. Park is still as awesome as ever. The only negative I had with the park is they allowed an Evangelical church group to camp in multiple sights (50+ people), complete with buses. They would have an hour long Christian concert at night complete with group singing and musical instruments. Why they allowed that is BEYOND me! Other than that, this park is one of my favorite to visit! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Price reflects FL SR citizen rate. Beautiful, well maintained campground. Work campers and Rangers do a great job. Not much cell phone reception. For larger rigs, Gulf Breeze is better as the Pines has very tight turns. Looking forward to coming here again! We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Clean park, excellent access to beach and bay, remote, 20 miles from town, paved roads to site. We camped here in a Motorhome.

I agree this is a beautiful place. I would just caution that for a "Big Rig" it is very tight and not possible to navigate the Shady Pines Loop without at least brushing branches that may leave scratches, did leave scratches. Some of the turns are such that we were not able to stay on the paved road and it took some maneuvering to get in and out of our site. I would recommend site 98 for large RVs as it is paved and is on a turn so that it would be easy to get in and out of. Also there was no cell service so we had to drive about 30 minutes to make calls. We camped here in a Motorhome.

By far the best park we have visited. BEAUTIFUL. You take a 12 mile drive out and around a thin peninsula 8 miles off the Florida mainland. There is a gas station, stores and a few businesses out there. The Gulf Breeze camp is 59 site just feet from the sand dunes and beach. The white sand beach is about 15 miles long, with 7 miles of it beyond the edge of the park to the tip of the peninsula. They allow primitive camping ($5 per day) and/or hiking into the last seven miles of white sand and dunes. This and/or St George State Park to the east are worth the slight detour. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We stayed in the Gulf Breeze section of the park for a week. It's an excellent park in an excellent location; the beach is beautiful, the water crystal clear, and the park fantastic. We hope to return there in the future. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

I stayed here over Labor Day weekend with my husband and 4 kids age 6 to 16. We live on the coast only 1.5 hours away, and we were still blown away with how beautiful it is. I would recommend this park to anyone. We stayed in the Gulf campground (there are 2). Towards the end of the loop is a new bath house that is very nice. The other bath houses are older, and although I did not go in them, I heard other campers commenting on them that they were not near as nice. We took our bikes, and all the kids kept busy riding around. There is no park store, but there are a few stores 5-7 miles down the road. The sites are on bumpy, narrow roads, and we ended up just pulling in instead of backing in. They have a nice marina, and you dock for free if you are staying in the park. I highly recommend this park for some serious R&R. Enjoy! We camped here in a Motorhome.

We have stayed at this park several times before and it is always a fun and relaxing stay. The campgrounds are rustic. We stayed at site #102 this time. Very nice and close to beach and restrooms. The beach is beautiful. The restrooms are clean. The state employees we come across are very nice and helpful. One drawback is the long drive from the camprgrounds to the front of the park. Drivers needs to be careful with kids riding their bikes around the campgrounds, very limited visibility for drivers. Port St. Joe is a great city, and Joe Mama's pizza was a good place for dinner. Overall it was a great trip during spring break with the kids. We will be back again soon. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We spent three weeknights at this park the last week of February when the weather was unseasonably brisk. Check-in at the park gate was quick and efficient, and we were assigned a spot in the Shady Pines Campground. The big rigs get assigned the Gulf Breeze Campground. We agree with the previous positive comments written about this campground: the long, wide, and beautiful beach, relative remoteness of the park, very quiet after sundown. Only drawbacks for us were the fact that pets are not allowed on the park beach; you have to leave the park and drive a couple of miles to let them romp on the sand. Second drawback, which was a big one given the unseasonable cold, was that the bath houses are not heated. Otherwise, a fine stay and we would certainly return in warmer weather. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The only reason I give this park an 9 is because of the lack of sewer connection. Otherwise, this is a great campground located just seconds away from the ocean. Just minutes away from the Bay. We have stayed here 7 times in the past 15 months and just can't think of any reasons to not come back. We always catch fish right from the beach while surf fishing. Every Saturday night is a fish fry. There is great walking and biking (trails). The Bay is great for snorkeling, boating and kayaking, and even greater fishing. Shelling is good, an occasional sand dollar can be found. Bodyboarding in the surf. We're in our 60s and active, so this outdoor heaven is perfect for us. The beautiful white sandy beaches are never crowded. Other campers are always nice, no loud parties or drinking. Just wonderful. We have reservations for a return visit in September. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This park is our little piece of paradise. The snorkeling in the shallow water bay is excellent. It is very remote and at the end of a peninsula that is a wilderness area. There is abundant wildlife in the park and you should be aware that there are rattle snakes and alligators within the park. If your the type that likes to get away from it all then this is a great place. There aren't any Walmart or Target stores nearby. In fact the nearest grocery other than a couple of convenience stores is about 20 - 25 miles away. So take what you need with you. This is exactly why we love this park, it is secluded. The park has two sections to choose from. The Gulf Breeze and the Piney Woods sections. Gulf Breeze is more big rig friendly and less private than the Piney Woods section. The Piney Woods section is very shady. The only reason this park does not rate a 10 is because it does not have full hook ups. There is very spotty cell service and very little TV reception. Lots of great places to ride bikes. The swimming in the gulf is excellent and the beach is second to none. The beach area at the campground is for campers only so there aren't any crowds at the beach. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This was our first time camping at This campground. We enjoyed our stay and like the site we had. We enjoyed the fact that the campground was secluded but, did not like the fact that there was no camp store in the park. We had to travel to Port Saint Joe to get supplies. Which is about 30 miles from the campground. Just be sure to get all supplies or food before going to the site. The beach was very nice, lots of seashells and even a few sand dollars. Lots of crabs in the wadding pools on the beach. There where a few sand mice but they did not give us a problem mostly saw them jumping into the woods. We stayed in the Shady Pines area of this campground. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

This was our 3rd visit to St Joseph State Park Campground. The beaches are beautiful and we enjoyed our stay the previous 2 times. However, this time the beach mice made our stay very unpleasant. The mice were all around our campsite even under our feet at times. After finding one in our travel trailer we left. I hope they can resolve this problem because I truly enjoyed this campground in 2007 and 2008. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This state park is on one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever visited. Miles and miles of white sand for walking and relaxing. The facilities are fine for a remote park such as this, paved access roads but mostly sand in the campground area. Shaded sites throughout. We stayed in the Gulf Breezes campground and had a site nearly on the beach, just a short walk through the dunes access path. Bath/Shower facilities were very clean. The volunteer camp host were great. Wildlife is abundant including a hugh Bald Eagle. This is a great park for biking, kyaking, fishing and swimming. It is rather isolated so bring major supplies with you. There are a couple of small stores within a few miles of the park, but no camp store of any kind. We had a great and very relaxing time. We camped here in a Motorhome.

A really a nice state park. They have a new, nice shower/restroom that is heated and needed to be as it was quite cool in February. It was very windy, but we expected that at a beach front area. The raised walkways between camp areas getting worn, but are still nice to use. There are nice large sites. We enjoyed walking right onto the beach and looking for lots of sea shells. The fishing was pretty good too, caught some whiting. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Road in to park is paved but has many pot holes. Bay access is not as easy as you may think and most of the park is a reserve that is off limits to public. Pets are allowed but no where except in campground. Pretty area and nice if you want to be on the beach. Watch for sand fleas. Heavy! We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

My new favorite place. Choose the Pine campground for serenity and some shade. Great access to a most beautiful and unpopulated beach. No cell service so make your calls ahead of time, this State Park is at the far end of the island and not near amenities. Just a beautiful spot and gorgeous beach. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Yeah, yeah, beach is #1, beautiful, yada, yada. Now let's discuss the campground. We stayed at Shady Pines, not the Ocean Breeze. Road in is potholed and rough, scrapped bottom on a couple. Campsites were variable in size; if you have a big rig, go to Ocean Breeze. We fit in and had to level a bit, but not bad. Lovely shade and table, fire ring, and spot to hang clothes. Bathhouses were fine and they have showers coming off the beach to rinse. But the BUGS!!! No-seeums and gnats were thick in early May. I could take it (even though legs look like I have the pox) but my wife was allergic and got really sick. We had to leave a day early (though they will refund the day, no penalty.) We were disappointed, to say the least. We went to the beach to swim and discovered that it is fairly steep getting in and not as gentle as beaches in Jacksonville or Daytona. Might be OK for adults, but could be a problem for young children. Added to that was the desire to go snorkeling. Everyone said the Bay was great. What they fail to tell you is that the water is so shallow, you have to wade over 1/2 mile to get to waist deep water. So that bummed us out. Now the bugs and shallow water are not the fault of the park or the state. So give the park a 10 for beauty, remoteness, and "Old Florida" experience. But with bad roads inside park, difficulty getting into some sites, steep ocean beach, and the inability to enjoy what we hoped to do, I have to go with an 8. If we camped here again, it would be in non-bug time and at Ocean Breeze. But think I can get the same experience and still do the snorkeling elsewhere. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The beach is beautiful, but many of the sites are short and narrow and the road bumpy and narrow. You are also far from a grocery or other supplies. Overall, we much prefer Henderson Beach and Grayton Beach State Parks. The no-see-umms and the mosquitoes were terrible in April; our dog ended up needing a visit to the vet because of bug bites around her eyes. We did not have bug problems at Grayton or Henderson Beach campgrounds. Are there different spraying policies at the different beaches? Also, St Joes recently had a "controlled burn" so much of the area was burned off and not very attractive. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The ad for this park in Woodall's Directory stated they open on April 1 with laundry, limited groceries, fire rings, picnic tables; however, none of those items was available. The bathrooms and showers were not open. To use the Internet, you had to take your computer to the office and hook up to their wired service. The office was filthy and congested, not a place I wanted to sit and check my email. After one night, we moved to a brand new RV park in Hatch that was less expensive, clean and very nice. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The location of the campground is unbeatable. The beach is wonderful. We were in a small site on the ocean campground, steps to the beach, although there are dunes between the beach and the sites. The campsites on the beach are very close together. The sites in the other campground have more room and are more shaded but will not accommodate a larger rig. Cell phones do not work well at the sites but local television is very good with antenna. Generally too many trees for satellite. What you give up in site spaciousness is more than made up for by the incredible beach location. Reserve early. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This park is on a beautiful peninsula and all sites are within a five-minute walk of the Gulf Beach. Outdoor showers near the beach boardwalk make it easy to rinse off after swimming or wading for shells.Lots are sixy-feet wide, served by paved roads. Every site has a table and fire ring. The boat launch is on the bay side of the peninsula. Fishing and snorkeling are possible activities. It is a stopover for migrating birds. Guided bird tours are offered several times a week. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Beach camping doesn't get much better than at St Joe's Peninsula State Park. Powder white sand with beautiful dunes and the sites in Gulf breeze almost right on the beach. The Shady Pines camp area it in wooded area. One warning, the base's nearby communication system disallows cell phones from functioning except near the front park registration office. We had a 5 day family get together and rented 10 campsites grouped together. Everybody concurred that they loved the park. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We really enjoyed this campground so much that we are planning a trip back for the summer of 2006. We have been to several campgrounds in North West Florida that has had access to the beach, but none of them were this close. The bugs were bad in the evening time but other than that it was ok during the day. Great Place with the most beautiful beach I've seen in Florida. I�m going to give it a 10 even with the bugs because of the beautiful beach and the proximity of the beach to the campground. We stayed in the Gulf Breeze section. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We stayed 4 nights in a tent in the Shady Pines section. Be sure to bring plenty of long-sleeved shirts and insect repellent. But the beach makes up for the bugs, it is beautiful. We found great seafood restaurants in Mexico Beach and Apalachicola, about 20 miles away. Next time we will come a little earlier in the year and try to avoid the bug problems. We camped here in a Tent.

We stayed in the Gulf Breeze loop of this campground. Site was level and spacious enough. The walk to the beach was less than 1 minute from our site. While the campground was full, the beach never seemed crowded. Shells everywhere if you're into collecting. A comparison of the two loops - Gulf Breeze is more in the open. Less shade and more breeze from the ocean. Shady Pines is much more wooded and shady with less of a breeze. Pick one depending on what you like. I'll say that while we had some problems with no-seeums (flying teeth), they were mostly a problem when the wind was not blowing. So if bugs bug you, Shady Pines might be worse. We also picked Gulf Breeze loop because of the new bath house. It was nice and we saw the cleanup crew there several times each day. Having said that, we visited the bath house at Shady Pines, and while older, it was still clean. As a previous reviewer wrote, this campground is a pretty far drive away from the nearest town, so get what you need before you get into the park. Driving anywhere to buy something you forgot will cost you, not only in a premium price for the item, but in wasted gas. Overall, we were very pleased with this campground and we will go back. $65.00 plus gas for a 3 night/4 day weekend at the beach. Not bad. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

If you want to get away from it all,this is the park for you! If not,this may want to consider another campground .With miles of secluded sandy beaches to walk,my family and I really enjoyed this park. Be advised before you come here that this is a secluded campground, miles from the nearest town. Since most RV'ers consider it roughing it if the microwave dosn't work, they may not be pleased with the total lack of services at this campground (no pool, no store, no sewer hook-ups). But if you want to enjoy an un-spoiled park,1750acres of which is a wildlife preserve, this is the place for you. We camped here in a Tent.

We stayed here for 6 nights and enjoyed this state park immensely. Note that this park is managed with the intention of keeping it as natural as possible, so RV'ers used to luxurious resort type Florida parks may be taken aback by the simplicity at St Joseph Peninsula. We camped in Shady Pines campground -- sites are spaced apart nicely for shade and privacy. The road is blacktop but sites are gravel, and can be difficult to back into. I observed several sites in Shady Pines that I thought would be impossible to back my Fifth Wheel trailer into. The sites in Gulf Breeze campground are less private, but more hospitable for a larger RV, and also closer to the beach. The shower houses are pretty simplistic. We saw that they were cleaned by park staff daily and found them adequate. The beach at this park is outstanding -- by FAR the best beach I've ever seen. From the beach we saw dolphins swimming offshore and observed many other species of wildlife in the park. The volunteers at the visitors center were knowledgeable and helpful. The only real negative I can think of is that the shady areas of the park are buggy -- the gnats and mosquitos will feast so bring insect repellent. I can't give the park less than a 10 because of the phenomenal beauty of the beach and surrounding area. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Went to St. Joseph Peninsula State Park because it was ranked the 3rd best beach in America, including Hawaii. We arrived during a shower and the mosquitos were still vicious. The camp sites are very small and the park is old. Built in 1967 and has had no updates since the early 80's and it shows. Spent one night (reserved 7 night, they were very considerate about us leaving early) and my whole group was very disappointed. So, visit during the day or stay one night, but do not plan a vacation. Bathrooms were horrible. Only received a 3 because the beach is just over a mound. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.