Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Mary Esther, FL

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.

This camp ground is growing so there was quite a bit of construction debris around, but looking past that. This spot is literally right off Hwy 10 at exit 26 making it convenient for travelers. I would not recommend this campsite for true "camping". On ground fires are not allowed and there are no trails or walking areas. There is a small dog park but it is not really a "park". The Pool looked nice, but was closed. Nice shower house with great shower pressure. Probably 50/50 on folks living there and those just stopping through. I stayed 3 nights during the week, it was very quiet. The price is great for the location close to beaches, rivers and city. Not the prettiest camp ground, but if you just want to park your rig while you hit the beach, good choice.

This is our 3rd time here we pay a lot of extra money for premium site only to find out that they have a tiki bar directly behind us . Partly spoiling our view but the worst part is lots of people walking through our site to get to bar . This includes workers at bar pulling through supplies on carts . People drunk outside our camper cursing and swearing at night . We came for beautiful relaxing time not happening . The place looks lovely and we have enjoyed it immensely until this time . Also people not using dog park and dogs shitting on our premium site . Next to us had a family that had 4 RVs and they all congregated at the one beside us taking over part of our lot . I couldn’t hardly use my outdoor shower without 20 or more people there . This place has really changed . We won’t be back will look in destin probably for the future.

We stayed for the weekend. First thoughts were that it felt a bit cramped. We had an issue with the electrical that we couldn’t figure out, but one of the campground workers was very nice and tried to help us figure out the issue. We loved walking to the waterfront. My son enjoyed the basketball court. My kids loved the pool. It was quiet at night. The dog park consists of two fenced in areas which was nice because my dog gets bored quickly of the same area, so I alternated between the two. Overall it was a decent stay. The basic pull throughs do not have a fire pit, which sucked because it was chilly at night. The store was nice, as well. There is an entrance and an exit on opposite ends of the park - the exit is a bit tight and my husband was nervous to pull the camper that way. We noticed several people going out the entrance because it’s easier, just a heads up.