The park beach.
We’d been in Florida for three months, official snow-birds now, when we landed in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. We’d heard about this jewel of a park from other travelers and decided to finish off our winter stay here. It’s on the Florida panhandle, far enough away from any major town to be a quiet hideaway. They park has been named the best state park in Florida, its beach one of the best in the country. For that, it’s become popular, but not as hard to get into as other Florida state parks. It’s small enough and remote enough that it feels like a hidden treasure.
There are two small campgrounds in the park. We were in Pine Grove, the second one, tucked into a tall pine forest right next to the beach. The first one is more open and sandy, just over a small dune to the beach, but unprotected from the steady winds. We were glad to have ended up in the pines.
Campground sunset.
The park beach was just a short walk from the campground, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Miles of soft white sand, dotted with shells at the tideline. Just a few other campers on it. And because it’s the eastern shore on the gulf, it offered lovely water sunsets. On warmer, less windy days, I could imagine hanging out here all day. But it still made for great beachcombing and long walks.
Pet-friendly beach.
Like all Florida state beaches, this one disallows pets. But other campers directed us to a public beach just a few miles out of the park where we could let Bailey and Gypsy romp on leash. There was almost no one on this long white sand beach, and Bailey was thrilled to dig and roll, chase a ball or two. Gypsy was a little spooked by the wind, though. She’s enjoyed beaches before, but she ended up tunneling into the sleeve of Kate’s extra shirt for security.
This was a perfect ending to our winter months in Florida: beautiful, peaceful, and quiet.