Visiting All 175 Florida State Parks

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.

This post is meant as a resource and starting point for anybody striving to go to all 175 Florida State Parks, which I believe to be a worthy and honest accomplishment.

But it’s also a call for all of us to take advantage of the treasures that are right in our own backyards. No need to wait for that Paris vacation to reach the New Year’s resolution of “travel more.” It can be done now.

And to help you along on your journey, here are some resources and tips. See you out there!

The Florida State Park Passport

My family and I have been to about 15 state parks at the time of this writing and I didn’t realize for a couple years that there is a really cool field book called The Florida State Park Passport.

It’s a simple and fun way to document all of your trips. The book contains a page for each of the 175 state parks, plus a spot on each page to collect a unique stamp from each park to document your visits.

So don’t do what I did, get the book right away so you don’t have to backtrack to previous parks just to get the stamps!

Get your passport HERE.

A Florida State Park Interactive Map

I could never find a good interactive map of all the Florida State parks, so I made one via Google Maps. You can zoom, scroll, and click on the markers to get links to the state parks. Pretty handy I must say.

I use it all the time when planning my state park trips. Enjoy!

Daytrip To Your Local State Parks

There are likely 10 or so state parks within easy striking distance of the classic American experience of the daytrip by car (assuming you live in FL).

The trick is to actually go and do it! That’s why I always plan my weekend trips by Tuesday because if I don’t I typically don’t go.

Camp At State Parks That Are More Than A Daytrip Away

State parks that are 2 hours or more away is too much (for me, anyways) to make a daytrip out of. Four hours in the car (with a family) for a daytrip is no good! That’s why you need to get a tent, some camping supplies, and camp at the medium-range campsites for the weekend.

There is nothing better in the world than pitching a tent in Florida in October!

Visit Other Nearby State Parks When Camping For The Weekend

Many of Florida’s State Parks are near each other, so if you take the trouble to drive 3 hours to go camping for the weekend, you might as well hit up one or two nearby state parks for maximum enjoyment (and for getting maximum stamps in your stamp book)!

Visit A State Park When Traveling Somewhere Else

This strategy is especially useful if you are driving out-of-state, you might as well take a quick pit stop at a state park that’s just a short drive off of the interstate, right?

Just take a look at the above map next time you are taking a trip unrelated to state parks, you might be surprised by how many state parks you can visit with this method!

Take A Road Trip

Take a long weekend or even take an entire week off of work and road trip through the Florida state park system–go through the panhandle, hit up St. Augustine, Tampa Bay, through the Florida Keys. It will be worth it, especially if you bring your camping gear.

Ready for the road trip…

So we can go to places like this…

Where We’ve Been So Far (67/175)

Alafia River State Park
Amelia Island State Park
Anastasia State Park
Bahia Honda State Park
Big Talbot Island State Park
Blue Spring State Park
Caladesi Island State Park
Colt Creek State Park
Crystal River Archaeological State Park
Crystal River Preserve State Park
Curry Hammock State Park
Dade Battlefield Historic State Park
Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park
Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs State Park
Falling Waters State Park
Fernandina Plaza Historic State Park
Florida Caverns State Park
Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail
Fort Clinch State Park
Fort Cooper State Park
Fort George Island Cultural State Park
Fort Mose Historic State Park
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
General James A. Van Fleet State Trail
George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park
Hillsborough River State Park
Highlands Hammock State Park
Honeymoon Island State Park
Hontoon Island State Park
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial At Gamble Plantation Historic State Park
Koreshan State Park
Lake Griffin State Park
Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park
Lake Louisa State Park
Little Manatee River State Park
Little Talbot Island State Park
Long Key State Park
Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site
Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park
Myakka River State Park
O’Leno State Park
Oscar Scherer State Park
Palatka-to-Lake Butler State Trail
Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail
Paynes Creek Historic State Park
Pumpkin Hill Creek Preserve State Park
Rainbow Springs State Park
Ravine Gardens State Park
River Rise Preserve State Park
Terra Ceia Preserve State Park
Three Rivers State Park
Torreya State Park
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park
Silver Springs State Park
Skyway Fishing Pier State Park
South Fork State Park
Weeki Wachee Springs State Park
Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park
Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park
Wingate Creek State Park
Withlacoochee State Trail
Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park
Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park
Ybor City Museum State Park