Big Lagoon State Park, Florida
Enjoy Big Lagoon State Park, which is one of Florida’s best water parks. This park is part of our recommended Gulf Coast Camping Trip.
Please note: The staff of Big Lagoon State Park have been hard at work to restore the park after the damages caused by Hurricane Sally. While most of the park has been reopened to visitors, a few areas still remain closed. Visitors are requested to follow the posted signage, refrain from entering the closed areas, and cooperate with the park staff to ensure their safety.
On a recent trip to Florida, we visited Big Lagoon State Park. This 678-acre park is located southwest of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle along the Intracoastal Waterway.
The park offers camping, swimming, fishing, boating, canoeing, and hiking.
The park is largely sandy shrubland but includes tidal marsh and flatwoods.
It is the gateway to the Great Florida Birding Trail.
Big Lagoon State Park Campground
The park has a modern campground with 75 campsites. Each site has electricity, water, a fire ring, and a picnic table.
Most of the sites have a clothesline. While the shrubbery is low, the park has done a good job separating the sites.
Four restrooms with showers are scattered throughout the campground.
The facilities at the park are excellent. There is a boat launch, numerous picnic shelters, a grand pavilion, an amphitheater, and an observation tower.
The observation tower is at the end of the Big Lagoon State Park Road at East Beach.
Here is a view of the park from the tower.
It provides a view of the entire state park, the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and Perdido Key.
The Governor’s Pavilion is a fantastic shelter. This receivable pavilion includes a large grill area a stone fireplace electricity in running water along with numerous picnic tables and restrooms. It will accommodate groups of up to 250 people.
Perdido Key Hiking
The park has five miles of hiking and nature trails. A few of the trails have a boardwalk or paved path.
Our visit was short, so we did not do any of the trails.
You can get hiking details in Big Lagoon State Park at Florida Hikes.
The park has many birds and animals, such as foxes, deer, herons, and king rails. We saw many herons and an armadillo.
We recommend Big Lagoon State Park in Perdido Key.
You can get more information on the park at Florida State Parks.
Enjoy Gulf Camping at:
Are used to be a camp host a Big Lagoon state park what an awesome opportunity and the staff is awesome good place to recommend to stay
Are used to be a campus at Big Lagoon state park what a wonderful part to recommend to stay at love the staff and all the amenities
This article is very misleading. Since hurricane Sally, the park has had most of it’s attractions closed. The park is closed beyond the main boat ramp. Right now the only thing open is the campground, boat ramp, and portion of the trails. The amphitheater, kayak launch, back boardwalk, lookout tower, all trails, several bathrooms and parking areas, etc, are still closed. There is no timeline on when these areas may reopen.
Ryan, This post was written before Sally. I will add the information you shared to the post.