Best Tent Camping near Jay, FL

We tent camped at Ft Pickens for the first time. For $26 a night, you can't beat beach access, good tent sites, walking to historical areas and endless activities. The armadillos and ospreys were an exciting addition to our camping area, and the restroom facilities were decent.

The only downside is lack of supplies,ice,food nearby and it's a drive to get to any convenience store or restaurant. But when you watch the sun go down, and it's just your family, a few ghost crabs and the historic lighthouse behind you- all that is forgotten.

So many things to do here. You have several historic Forts to explore. A discovery center to learn the history of the island and the wildlife. A bookstore with wifi. Beaches to swim . Pier fishing and land fishing. Many trails to ride your bike or walk. And a gated group tent camping as well as tent camping in campground. And the Blue Angels practice and fly right over the campground and forts.

We had a wonderful time tent camping. Great campsites and facilities with hot showers. Everything was kept very clean. Relaxing and friendly atmosphere.

Drove through the grounds looking for some nice tent camping spots while stationed down in the area. Sites seemed nice enough but more like a parking lot than anything. Not bad. Fun for the kids!

We have been camping here for six years and have always loved it. Some of the interior sites flood when it rains, so choose wisely as there is a good chance it will rain. This year they separated tent sites from RV sites and removed water and electric from the tent sites. There is still good access to water faucets, so not a huge deal. Our biggest annoyance this year was that they got reLly fussy about hanging hammocks from trees. We had purposefully picked a site with good trees so that was a bit frustrating. Also, the camp store has been closed down so you have to leave the park to get ice. Be sure you bring whatever you need with you. But they have clean bathrooms and the beach access is close. And since the beach there is really only campers it has never been very crowded.

This beautiful equestrian campground offers 55 RV/tent campsites and one tent only site and 60 horse stalls. All campsites have water and electrical hookups. There is a dump station, restrooms, showers, and a dining facility available by reservation. Cold Water Creek runs along the north edge of the campgrounds with easy access from the camp sites. A very beautiful area. Only complaint is the the campsites are right next to each other with no screening between sites.

I camped here for one night in the improved tent campsites at bartram campground. The site had trees to hang my hammock, a fire ring, water, and a picnic table. You walk maybe 50ft from your parking spot to the site in the woods. The bathroom was clean, had a light, very soft toilet paper, and hand sanitizer. Would definitely stay here again!

The camping for tent sites was nice expect they are hard to book at last minute. I was there during the last week of September 2021. During the week it was peaceful. However, on my last night there “ Friday” I had some very rude tent campers surrounding me. They were up all night extremely loud ~ holleringuntil I couldn’t stand the noise any longer I got up around 3:00 am and started packing up since I was leaving that Saturday. They have some nice showers through the campground with hot water and there is also a laundry room at campground A .

I stayed at the base lodging. Found out there are no more tent sites here and was directed to Blue Angel site, which is off base. Chose the lodging instead.

That being said, the beach was very clean. A solid 3 mile round trip walking. Saw some dolphins in the early morning and some rays. Not many people and plenty of space. The beach area is closed after sunset; per the military police. The RV site itself appeared very busy and crowded but very clean and well managed. Would have wished to being able to camp, but it was not meant to be.

Blakely State Park is a very large State Park, with different choices for camping. There are larger primitive tent sites, smaller tent sites with power/water hookups, RV sites, two primitive cabins and 2 newer cabins which are very nice. There's TONS of hiking, a battleground for history buffs, a playground, a boatdock, lots of hiking, horseback riding etc.

I stayed in one of the two Squirrels Nest, which are primitive cabins. Basically open air cabins. 2 walls, a roof and 2 walls of screens. There are two wooden platforms for beds. A twin and a queen, and barstools to sit inside and look out into the woods, over the hill in which they are nestled. There's a sink (but no water) and a cabinet, and outside a large deck with bench seating. Below is a fire pit and picnic table. There is a shared porta potty outside of the two cabins. These cabins are a bit of a drive out in the woods, so make sure your vehicle is up to it. It's very peaceful out there. My cabin was inhabited by mice at night, so I kept my food in airtight plastic paint bucket containers & my belongings covered by garbage bags on one of the platforms and had my air mattress inside a pop-up mosquito tent, so the mice did not bother me. I was after all in their house. I sprinkled peppermint oil around my gear & my bed platform to keep the mice away. Next time I will have my food in a large cooler so that the wildlife is not attracted.

There are hiking trails by these sites, as well as, steps down the hill, leading off into another trail.

i would stay there again. Great place to get away.

First you will check in at the front office, where you will be greeted by a very kind lady. They are very knowledgeable about the area and when you are done checking in a man on a cart will escort you to your campsite. We tent camped but we had a nice shady spot on a comfortable raised sand bed. This campground has it's own sweet little beach and pier. Also has a small hot tub and a 4 foot deep heated pool. It is also a mile away from the public beach across the Santa rosa sound. Dont forget to stop at Tommy's Sno Balls we went there every day and tried a different flavor snow cone every time.

My husband and I tent camped at fort Pickens campground in February, 2019. We were able to use our senior national park pass to get in for free and a discount on our site. This is a busy park due to beaches and the actual old fort Pickens buildings, but the campsites were fairly peaceful. We were less than a 10 minute walk from the beach and walked about 30 minutes to the old fort. The showers were separate from the bathrooms and what you might expect for a beach, the water was nice and hot. There is supposed to be a store, but it was closed when we were there. There is a book store in the old fort. The beach and water were just beautiful.

For campers that like things closer to basic camping in unspoiled nature, this is great place to camp. The rates are great especially for national park pass holders. Loved $20 a night at discount. It has nice bath houses and most sites with electric and water. Also laundry available and dish washing station. There are also primitive tent sites available. Short walk to bay or ocean. Easy drive to Ft Pickens and numerous battery sites for site seeing. Easy drive over to Pensacola Beach when you wish to go for dining or shopping or other activities. We love it. Highly recommend for campers who wish to get away from high priced resort camping.

We stayed at the Historic Blakeley State Park campground in the Apalachee Campground. This is a super cool campground and state park with tons of stuff to do. The RV campsites are very spread out providing ample privacy from your neighbors and other park visitors while still providing water, power and sewer hookup ups. This campground loop was named in honor of the Apalachee Indians who once occupied park grounds. We would recommend staying at this campground or even the tent sites as there is TONS of stuff to do with lots of history!

Check out our blog at www.unnamedadventures.com and follow our journey on Facebook and Instagram or on our YouTube Channel at Unnamed Adventures. 

• Facebook

• Instagram

• YouTube

We went tent camping for two nights with our pups at Fort Pickens and we really did enjoy it. The campground was nice and clean. They had nice showers and potties as well. The showers in the RV section have better shower heads btw. The beaches are gorgeous! A tip for travelers with pets, FL does not allow dogs on their beaches accept in specific "dog park" locations. Our dogs are not.. eh, normal .. so we ended up driving down to a private beach so they could enjoy the ocean. There is a lot of night life but We decided to skip that this trip. We enjoyed the beaches in the park at night and i highly recommend it! All in all we enjoyed our trip but we probably won't be back to Fort Pickens campground. The sites are very close together and we had a very nosey and drunk neighbor who really wanted to chat. We camp to get away from people, just saying. We were also bothered by RV and truck lights shining directly into our tent both nights from people driving through the campground. Not the best but we enjoyed camping at the beach.