Hillsborough River State Park will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Florida State Park that I went camping in. Camping is happy good here. This is a must-visit park if you live in Tampa.

Living in Tampa Bay for 10+ years and going to all of the beaches, these are the best beaches to bring your family to for a day trip.

Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys just might be the most competitive place to book a site in all of Florida. Luckily, I beat the odds and snagged an epic 8 day family camping trip. Now I will show you how to do the same.

I don’t expect this post to be of much interest to too many people outside of my family. Basically, I want to keep an official tally of all the state parks that we have been to and I figured the blog is a good place to do that. And I hope, just maybe, it inspires others!

Years ago we camped at Oscar Scherer because we couldn’t get into the Myakka River campground (which was flooded). I returned here with the kiddos to get our stamp and to get reacquainted with the park, plus 3/4 of my kids never visited here.

I was pleasantly surprised by this little known state park, situated on the Gulf. No white sandy beaches here! Instead it was filled with springs, mangroves and hiking trails.

Everybody needs a quest in their life, mine is to visit all 175 Florida State Parks. This has been a goal of mine since the first time I set foot in Hillsborough River State Park (my first park) and realized that these places still have the old magic.

Myakka River State Park is one of the biggest (37,000 acres), oldest (established February 18, 1941), and best (see article below) Florida State Parks to visit and camp at.

We must have been insane to camp here during the middle of the summer. The campgrounds were flooded, the no-see-ums were horrendous and we slept terrible, but still…

Since I obtained the state park passport book I’ve been revisiting a lot of state parks I’ve been to in the past in order to collect the stamp and to enjoy the park once again.

There is a supply and demand problem for campsites in the Florida Keys. Not a lot of sites and everybody wants to go. Luckily, this article will give you an edge to successfully book your dream camping trip to the Florida Keys.

Visiting all 175 Florida State Parks has been in the back of my mind for a long time. And it wasn’t until recently that I actually started thinking about this being a real possibility.

Possibly my favorite state park. 385 acres of land (with 2,400 acres submerged underwater), 4 miles of beach, a 3 mile hiking trail . It is the most visited state park in Florida with over one million visitors per year.

Simple, not easy–visit every single Florida State Park.

Colt Creek State Park is one of Florida’s newer state parks, being established in 2007 as the state’s 160th state park. It is located in Polk County, in Central Florida and is part of the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve.

I’ve been to Caladesi Island a number of times now and love it each time. Caladesi Island was originally part of a larger barrier island on the Gulf Coast, but after being pummeled by hurricanes enough times, particularly in 1921 when a hurricane pass was created, cutting the barrier islands apart.

Homosassa Springs is another classic Florida day trip–one that should be near the top of your list. It has been popular since the early 1900s when passing trains would stop to let passengers take a look at the blue spring filled with exotic Florida fish and manatees.

Ah yes. Weeki Wachee Springs, the quintessential Florida roadside attraction. This has Florida written all over it; kitschy, tacky, delightfully weird.

So Max did his usual thing and fell asleep the moment we pulled into the parking lot, and since he didn’t sleep that well the night before on the campgrounds, we decided to let him get his nap; which, of course, left us in a little conundrum.