Think of Big Lagoon State Park as a gateway. It not only offers swimming, boating, fishing, camping, hiking and paddling, but adventurers also can begin or end a 1,515-mile sea kayaking journey on the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail around the entire state. The top half of a kayak embedded in sand marks the launch site along with a box containing a weathered log book.

The park is also a gateway for the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. The park is a stopover for more than 23 species of wood-warbler and a variety of ducks, sandpipers and black-bellied plovers. Bring binoculars or borrow a pair from the ranger station and roam the shore and extensive coastal forest, or climb the three-story observation tower for a bird’s-eye view.

Begin your outdoor adventure at Big Lagoon State Park! 

Camping is available in designated areas. Surrounded by beautiful pine flats, the campground has 75 sites, each equipped with 30/50 amp electric, water, a picnic table and a fire ring/ground grill. Three full-service restrooms and a dump station are available.

Pets are welcome in the campground.
Maximum RV length = 40 feet.

Big Lagoon State Park Campground

Check out the **photo of the site map** to see how narrow this campground is. Fortunately, it really doesn't feel that way when you're at your site. I thought it was a cozy feeling, and it didn't feel like lots of sites were crowded in a small area. Despite the small footprint of the campground, it was very quiet.

If you look at the site map, it looks like all the sites are back in sites that aren't very wide. That's not really what they look like...at all. We had site 68 and many campers on that side of the loop had parked a vehicle parallel to the road because some sites are actually longer along the road than deep. This is not a complaint...it works. We did pull our vehicle in beside our teardrop but could have parked parallel to the road. **I've included photos of several sites to show how people set up.**

**Good Separation Between Sites**: I liked the amount of separation with heavy brush between most sites. I preferred the sites on the outside of the loop.

**Lots of Restrooms**: This campground only has about 75 sites, and there are 3 restrooms (not counting the one in the group camp area). Two are handicapped accessible with concrete pads for sites 7, 8, 10, 56 and 57.  There are showers in each restroom.

**Boats?** Many people were able to fit a boat on their site, but there were also boats parked near the end of the loop in the area before the group camping area. I don't know if this area is open to everyone or just for hosts/volunteers.

**Great Area for Easy Hiking:** Sand Pine and Estuary Trails are 3.5 and 2 miles, respectively, but you can easily do a combination and cover it all. There's a tower out by Big Lagoon that's worth the view on a sunny day. We saw turtles, snakes and a heron while hiking, but no alligators.

Narrowest campground ever, but it works!

Had a field biologist friend recommend this as a central camping spot for birding in the panhandle. It is amazing the variety of species you will see/hear if you come in the spring or autumn (I opted for spring). Loons, cuckoos and more types of gull than you can shake a stick at.

The campground itself is quite modern, with hook ups and full bathrooms. It is central to many trails near the wetlands. After you break camp be prepared to spend an hour getting sand out of your gear, especially if it is windy.

As with just about all campgrounds I have been to in Florida, be alert for gators. There are frequent signs warning you not to go into the water. 


Wonderful spot for birding

We had to leave early to avoid a possible tropical storm.  But we encountered lots of deer flies and rogue, bold raccoons. The park is beautiful and there's lots to do.  Just be prepared for some drawbacks. 

Very nice state park facility. Sites are quite close but very private due to the thick hedges between them.  Very clean and numerous bath houses. Playground for kids, beaches, kayak rentals, fishing, birding, hiking, etc..  I love that this is the real florida experience.  Bring a fan to help with deer flies. Sites are not very level or large and most are sand and oyster shell. Be prepared to wear shoes at all times. 

Right down the road from Air Force installation but right on the coast of beautiful white sands. Had to back the motorhome into it's small but level concrete site, power and water, fire it and picnic tables, surrounded by native trees, plants, birds. Hot showers and bathrooms are Free, dump station on the way out. Just steps from the coast, boardwalks abound due to alligator Alley😱😱.

Sand and surf

Grest for a day of exploring or just getting away. Has a huge pavilion with a stage that can be rented for functions. Quiet and peaceful. Pets allowed but NOT on the beach! Steep fine for pets on the beach. Has trails and geocaching.

Day trip or Weekend getaway 

This is a fantastic find for us.  So close to Perdido key beach but very nice quiet and fairly private feeling sites.  Our site #7 had a large clean concrete pad and fun sandy area in back with place to stretch a clothesline or hammock.  Bathrooms were clean.  Price was very reasonable at $21 per night.  

Love it 

Location is close to many local tourist spots.  Great areas to fish or launch a boat at the park. The sites are small and ours was very sandy making leveling a little difficult. 

Great location 

Great kayaking 

Had a wonderful time with the kids and the dogs, even while fighting the biting flys, only downfall was one extremely ride park ranger. Overall a great time and we are planning a return trip! 

Excellent time

Lots of great camping, fishing, kayak rentals, and boat ramps. Beautiful pavilion for weddings and other gatherings. Lots of trails and awesome animal sightings! Took the dogs and kids here often and loved it! 

Beautiful and updated! 

I loved this campsite. Bathrooms were super clean. Water ran both hot and cold. The trail on site was beautiful. The only reason why I didn’t rate 5 stars is the restrictions on dogs at the beaches. It was super hot the weekend we went and my poor pooch was dying to go swimming. 

Amazing Wooded Beach Getaway

Every good facility, rangers also very helpful during after hours checkin plenty of bathrooms and showers all clean.  Spaces are very close together yet have decent privacy.

Big lagoon

We came to watch Blue Angels. Covid and Hurricane Sally messed up our plans but we were so thankful our reservation wasn’t cancelled.  We were able to fish and enjoy nearby Johnson Beach and had a wonderful time.  

Close to home

Typical Florida state park. Beautiful, spacious and clean. Close to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, home of the Blue Angles and a great aviation museum. Check out Joe Patties for the freshest seafood on the gulf coast.

Wonderful 

Nice secluded campground with easy access to the beach and surrounding forms of entertainment. Awesome area to walk, hike, and ride bikes. Nice clean bathrooms/shower houses (3). All site pads are not level. Some trails and parts of the campground were closed due to damage from hurricane Sally. 

Awesome and friendly campground. Highly recommend 

This campground reminds me of the Florida I knew when I was younger. Smaller, uneven sights. Nice that they've updated the bathhouses and electrical hookups. These sites are friendly to smaller campers and tents. Be sure to bring a boat or kayak, there's a great launch into the bay!

Old Florida

Located only a short 10 minute drive from
Pensacola, Florida this is a great state park! Despite damage left from hurricane sally, the trails around the campground are gorgeous and covered in white sand. There is one main dump station and the sites have electric and water. All sites are private and spacious, tucked in the woods. There are plenty of bathrooms scattered throughout the park and they’re clean. The price is always right for state parks! I believe it cost $20 per night and half off for seniors. 

Big Lagoon State Park, FL

We stayed at Big Lagoon for two nights in late January - site 55. The campsites are not as nice as other FL State Parks we have stayed in. The site was sand and was not level - we needed leveling blocks for our 21’ RV. Some of the sites looked more level than others - as long as you have blocks, you should be fine. The site was not as private as we’ve had in other parks - separation on only one side. We could clearly see our neighbors in the other side, as well as the folks across the road from us. Again, some sites are more private than others. What this park does have, however, are beautiful boardwalks. Most of them are closed right now due to hurricane damage, but there are a couple you can walk on a little. And they have a great sand hiking path - again, one section is closed due to a bridge being out, but it was a nice hike nonetheless. When the repairs are complete of the boardwalks and trails, this would be an amazing state park with a pretty good campground. 

Nice park, OK campground

We stayed in three sites in April 2021: 27, 6, and 64.  This campground is in a nice location and has many good features: many beautiful trees and plants, spacing between sites, clean bathhouses, etc.  Unfortunately , many of the trails are closed long-term, probably since Hurricane Sally.  Moreover, it’s an older campground and many of the sites aren’t level and are sandy.  That made big trouble for us in site 64:  our sprinter van got stuck in the sand and he had to call AAA to get a tow truck to get us out.   We aren’t the only ones: I saw another family’s vehicle stuck with spinning tires the night before and there were other sites with tread marks from possibly similar situations.   The park has recognized the problem  and has cement pads or better hard surface leveling in some sites, but not all.  Bummer.  

Nice spot but....


Stayed at Big Lagoon 7/8/2021 for 4 nights in 24” travel trailer.  There is a mixture of sites that have dirt, gravel, sand, fully paved, partial paved drives.

Our first site: # 45 was a back in and was in low area, near a marshy area.  Entire site was muddy, and caked on to your shoes. (It had been pretty rainy the previous day, but we stayed at this site 2 nights and never really dried out. 

Went to Ranger who was very helpful and moved us, 1 site over: # 46.  This site had a paved area for Trailer and wide cement area to walk in and out of.. a much better site.  With the heavy foliage through out the park, sites are pretty private.

If you look at the campground map, you will see the sites on the north side are a bit higher and elevation and did not seem to have any issue with water.  When booking, read the description of the site, carefully, some are tent only, or very short drive so limited what you can put where.

Campground is gated, and you are given a code for “off hours” entrance. Used rest rooms and shower.  Very clean and really hot water.  No water views, short walk to water BUT, board walk was still closed due to last hurricane.  Looks very close to being done.

Lastly:  Campers:  if you do not plan on keeping your reservation, please be kind and formally cancel.  We wanted to move the first night but sign at Ranger stated “campground full” so we did not ask.. next morning there were at least 5 or 6 sites where people did not show nor cancelled.  

Big Lagoon State Park - Florida - Nice, quiet state park.

We stayed over the weekend. The campsites ranged from extra small to large so be sure to check out the map. Good views and nice trails. Unfortunately, some trails were closed due to the hurricane damage. Looking forward to the opening, it’s looks like it could be amazing. The area was well kept. Only has one dump station so there was a wait. Overall good place to visit. 

Nice Beachy Campground 

Unfortunately when we were at Big Lagoon most of the trails were closed. Very slow clean up from the hurricane the year before. Sites were quiet and private. Lots of shade trees. 

Nice and private state park 

Nice state park, as we've come to expect from all Florida State Parks. 

There are nice walking trails throughout but currently portions of the park are closed due to damage from Hurricane Sally. 

There was a Mardi Gras boat parade while we were there, which was fun, but we couldn't believe how much of the throws just plopped straight into the water, just adding to the ocean garbage. 

The showers are nice and hot and free. No laundry here. 

There are a lot of activities here: ranger talks, bird watching walks with a ranger, stargazing groups, etc. 

Hosts do a good job of maintaining the sites.

Each site was pretty private. Some are paved and some are not. Our site (#56)  was paved and the fire pit looked to have been moved aside for paving and forgotten about, because it was in the bushes and unusable. 

Overall a nice basic campground and we'd stay again. 

Nice

We often get a sitter at Big Lagoon. Very private rv spaces lots of shade. Great for pop up campers.

Great camping close to the beach

Big Lagoon is ALWAYS available. On the Gulf Coast, that's just unheard of.

Typical great facilities, well maintained, as with all Florida State Parks, and a nightly rate of $20...I've been coming here for years, and will continue to do so!

Perfect beaches at Perdido Key SP that are free to campers are 5 miles away. 

Great Hidden Gem

The parking itself is beautiful wrapped around the water the employees are very nice very understanding and the people that are coming in to obtain their new spots are very nice and helpful. I definitely recommend staying a few nights hooking up and walk in the park and visiting the people that are camping everyone is very hospitable and also Abrahams a very good atmosphere to the rest of the park. I am a native of Pensacola and I’ve been coming to the park for years so this is my first time actually camping as an RV’er! As I have to say I definitely do it again and again and again search for those that are looking for a great spot for camping with the kiddos or nightlife with the adults this is definitely the place to go is plenty to do and lots to see! 

A beautiful scenery with wonderful people that are extremely helpful

Gravel site. Electric and water. Some vegetation to block some of the other campers. Florida state parks are so reasonable. 

Great for the money

Campground is nice with private sites. A large part of the park is still closed due to hurricane damages.