Best Tent Camping near Port St. Joe, FL

Pros: -Right on the water, 1 minute walk to the beach. We could see the water from our site A1 -quiet and remote area with fewer people than surrounding 30A areas -close to Cape San Blas and Port St Joe to explore -clean bathrooms and showers

Cons:

• our site was difficult to back into down a small hill and not very level.
• there are large trees and they could do some branch trimming. Our rig is 32 feet and was rubbing on branches when trying to exit.

The campground doesn't have as much shade or as many trees as it had before the hurricane in 2018, but it is back open for business and is a great place for military and veterans to park their campers short or long term.  There are also some small, elevated cabins back in business and a rec center/lounge area that can be reserved for groups, which includes a large kitchen (call ahead, may be closed due to COVID).  It's close to Tyndall AFB and the Tyndall marina (requires a drive, not directly connected) where you can rent kayaks, canoes, pontoon boats, jet skis, bikes, and more (again, call ahead to verify availability and whether reservations are required).  It's about a 15 minute drive from Walmart, Win Dixie, and a slew of restaurants both fast-food and regular.  A 20 minute drive will put you in Mexico Beach, a town devastated by the hurricane but well on it's way to recovery--a real gem.  A bit further away is Port St. Joe, a quaint Gulf-side town with restaurants, shops, parks, and more.

St Joseph Peninsula State Park on Cape San Blas is a great spot. We tent camped for 4 days and loved it! Bathhouse is air conditioned, sites are large and most have ample shade. Easy walk to the beach and the bay is also close for paddling and fishing! Wonderful very secluded beach and shells galore!

10 campsites all fairly spacious (too big for just me as I am solo tent camping). CG overlooks a small lake. Nice open day use waterfront area. Swimming area as well. The lake has a hiking trail encircling it. Showers had hot water, I was surprised. 2 mi dirt road to get to it. I recommend.

This camp ground was fantastic for our church group. They had electricity and water by the tent sites and also a shower facility that was very well kept. The water is a very short walk and the beach is beautiful. At night the stars are like nothing you have ever seen. A blanket above you for sure. The only downfall is that we could not have our hammocks hanging up. This was a few years ago and may have changed.

At over 200,000 acres, Tate's Hell is the second largest State Forest in Florida, second only to Blackwater River State Forest in Santa Rose County. That's Hell is located off of U>S> Highway 98 in  Franklin County, between the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee rivers. Check out The Ledgend of Tate's Hell on the State Forest webpage, https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Tate-s-Hell-State-Forest.

For roughing it in the woods, nothing I have found beats Tate's Hell. With 36 primitive campgrounds (tent space, fire ring, and picnic table) with multiple campsites and 4 campgrounds with facilities (restrooms and some RV sites) there is plenty of room to camp and explore Tate's Hell.

The Womack Creek campground, where I spent one night, has both RV and tent campsites and a boat ramp with access to Womack Creek. 

Recreation opportunities include the High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail which is part of the Forest Service's Trailwalker Program.

This place is great! A beach within a short walk, palm trees,clean bathrooms, wildlife, sunsets………… And the Florida State Parks system is contactable and friendly!!! There are hike in spots for those with tents who want to. There are very nice screened in cabins available.

Let me say first that St. George Island State Park is perhaps the main reason we purchased our small travel trailer in the first place and found groups like The Dyrt for insight for other places to explore. We visited St. George Island in May on Florida’s“Forgotten Coast” but the State Park on the island really stole the show. 

The first thing you’ll notice about both the island and in particular the State Park is how remote it is. The beaches are seemingly empty even during busy seasons. It has one of the most beautiful beaches in the entire state of Florida and as Floridian’s we are pretty particular. The beach is lined with beautiful sand dunes from one end to the other. The island is narrow with a single road maybe 5 miles long. The road was closed after the camp ground as they are still repairing the park from the last hurricane that hammered The Panhandle area of Florida. Not sure what's taking so long as State Park HQ is in Tallahassee only an hour or so away. 

The park has one camp ground and sites are very hard to come by. One visit and you’ll see why. Facilities are very well maintained with a friendly staff which is true for most Florida State Parks. There was a good mix of people camping in tents, small trailers and big rigs which is nice as many places in Florida are dominated by people who camp with everything they own and have rigs bigger than our house. 

You bring your own fun here so just chill on the beach. If you have kayaks or paddle boards bring em. If you have bikes, those would be good too. Fishing(check). You could probably catch dinner as there is little pressure on these waters. There is some hiking but just walking on the beach is great. Nice flat beach at low tide with hard packed sand from the outgoing tide will make it a great walk. 

Be sure to visit Apalachicola across the bay. A really good place to eat is the Owl Cafe and if you can get there for a Sunday Brunch, all the better. Very local, very southern, very authentic. 

We will be back for sure whenever we can secure a camping spot that fits our schedule. Hope it won't be too long!

Lagoon front sites available for tents, vans, or campers with hookups and water! Close to private oceanfront.

Highly recommended, the campsites are fairly small but lots of privacy in an oak and pine hammock across from the beach. Not many tent campers when I went there, I think I was the only person with a rooftop tent. Almost everybody else was in RVs.

Electric and water at each site, nice facilities including showers. Make sure you get there before sundown so you can register and get your code for the gate. Luckily a nice camper let me in since I arrived after 7:30 p.m.

Absolutely gorgeous beach, very nice campsite.

If you forget to reserve, there’s a sign reminding you to call. 2 sites on the cash creek boat launch, both clean and scenic. The boat ramp gets some use (4 kayaks total for the day) but otherwise it’s very quiet. Bathroom available because of the boat ramp. It says tent only but the sites are big enough to back in a 20 foot trailer.

Me and my husband tented here for 4 days and it was perfect! The tent sight we stayed in was 58 and 41. They both were open, spacious sights both with water and power.

Sight 60 seemed to be the best tent sight because there is some extra brush around the tent spot where you can pitch the tent. Feels a little bit more private.

No lights (like street lights) so it was nice, although there are lights across the lagoon so it’s not like pitch black. But you can still see plenty of stars on a clear night.

The bathhouses were kept very clean and they had hot water which was nice to shower in on a cold morning! There are electrical outlets in the bathroom for hairdryers and such. Also very handicapped/wheelchair/walker accessible. They have showers and bathrooms, and ramps for those specific needs.

There is a small drive to the beach from the campground sight but you can have access to the beach at all hours of the day and night free. We went late close to midnight and it was beautiful and eery at the same time! I would highly recommend!

We saw no gators, but we did see some cool things at the beach! Jellyfish, stingrays (a couple), dolphins, pufferfish, hermit crabs (they are literally everywhere! Check your shells to make sure you have no visitors coming home with you!) and we also saw so many regular crabs! We found some beautiful shells!

I’m sure that if you are adventurous and go out further out you will see many more creatures and shells, I just stayed close to shore.

Many many sandbars! It was pretty to Wade out to them and be sitting on the sand in the middle of the ocean!

Definitely an underrated campground and beach!

Oh also, because you stay there, the beach is kept nicer and not as many people come there. After a certain time it’s just the campers that are on the beach and it’s so peaceful! You feel like you have the whole beach to yourself.

We went at the beginning of May and it was cool in the evenings and warm during the day. It did sprinkle and was overcast but that was perfect! Not much of a sunburn and the cool made the beach more enjoyable so we didn’t feel like we were dying of heat exhaustion! Lol

I would recommend this beach to everyone I know and I will continue to go there every year as much as possible!

The staff was super helpful and nice too! They are kind and gentle. Really feel at home here!

There is a store on sight that has basic needs, we never went there so I can’t tell you anything else about it but they do have it. Firewood is also sold here, and is a very fire friendly place.

The roads are bumpy in the park with lots of pot holes, so just go the speed limit and watch out and you should be fine. Everyone in a big rig and pull behind, 5th wheels and just regular cars did fine on the roads. Just wanted to put that out there.

We stayed here several years ago. This is a pretty campground, but in the heart of summer, the mosquitoes and bugs were plentiful. It rained so much that our tent was virtually floating and we had to seek shelter in the bath house. We ended up getting a hotel that night. The island itself is beautiful. Great beaches that are not overcrowded and there is even a lighthouse.

Enjoy the beach, snorkel in the bay, rent a kayak at the marina, go hiking, go fishing. One of the BEST Florida parks!

As the title states. At midnight on our second night at 50 Rake Creek, two separate vehicles raced right past our tent and parked down by the water access. When told that it was a reserved private campsite that I paid for, they became aggressive and argued that it was not private. Both vehicles did three point turns, narrowly missing our tent and shining headlights in our faces and spun tires out of the campsite. We felt unsafe and like they might return to retaliate so we had no choice but to break camp at midnight and make a 5 hour drive through the night back home. 

During the day, multiple vehicles miss the small sign that says "primitive campsite" at the dirt road entrance and drive down the road looking to fish or explore. Most of them quickly turn around when they realize its a campsite. 

I have emailed the state forest asking for better signage indicating that it is a paid for, reserved campsite or a gate with a code. If it weren't for the music blaring, tire spinning, aggressive individuals who argued that it was not private when I asked them to leave, I would not be making such a fuss about it. It seems that we campers with a reservation busted up their usual backroad drinking spot. 

Lovely campsite that we had decided was the best place we had ever camped with a short 15 min drive to St. George Island until we were essentially run off in the middle of the night.

We’ve been coming to Indian Pass and the area for twenty years and although there has been some areas of overdevelopment, this campground still has the old Florida feel. Friendly staff, beautiful sites right on the water, stunning sunsets and wilderness all around you!

Florida State Parks did a great job redoing this campground after Hurricane Michael in 2018. Brand new facilities, excellent camping pads, and good beach access. You can still see some of the hurricane damage which is a testament to the severity of Michael in the area.