It’s quiet here, waves softly lapping on the beach. Shore birds scoot along the surf line. The sun is making its slow descent into a glowing sunset. Sea oats wave in the breeze across rolling dunes.
You can feel it. Smell it. Breath it. Settle into your beach chair.
This is Henderson Beach State Park in Destin along Florida’s Panhandle.
Ranked consistently as one of America’s Best Beaches, this protected slice of paradise is a pleasant slip of isolation wedged between a pile of high-rise resorts and condos of Sandestin and Destin.
The Panhandle is popular with visitors from Georgia and Alabama, and the beaches here ease out of the hot summer more easily and quickly than other parts of the state..
The boardwalk from the campground to the beach is a quarter-mile trek through coastal scrub, dwarf magnolia and stunted live oak, gradually opening up to rolling dunes covered in sea oats.
On our walk to the beach during our visit, we saw blue jays, cardinals and even a playful red, red robin just bobbin’ along! Migrating songbirds complement the steady presence of native shorebirds.
Fall and spring bring encounters with migrating Monarch butterflies, who pour through Florida’s Panhandle en route to and from their winter home in Mexico. As they flutter through, the Monarch’s lay their eggs in native milkweed, enabling their larvae to survive.
Note: The campground’s beach-access boardwalk will be closed for repairs from September 2021 through March 2022. Campers will be asked to use beach access points in the Day-Use area. For updates, visit Henderson Beach State Park.
The Beach
A half-mile wide and more than a mile long, Henderson Beach’s eco-system supports a scenic spray of low-growth sand pine, scrub oak, sea oats, Southern magnolia and dune rosemary on its rolling dunes, some of which are 30 feet high.
Day-use visitors are directed to the western reaches of the 250-acre park, while campers take root on the eastern end, creating two distinct areas with the campground beach enjoying the least amount of crowding, crowding significant enough to close the park on many summer days but more relaxed in fall.
Surf fishing is popular, and your catch may include pompano, redfish (red drum), flounder, catfish, whiting and maybe even the occasional cobia.
Unfortunately, kayaking is not allowed in the park and while bicycling is allowed, cyclists must stick to the paved roadways also used by RVs and cars.
For visitors in wheelchairs, an all-terrain beach wheelchair is available to provide access to beach areas. Inquire at the ranger station if none are available beachside.
Pets are not permitted on the beach but are allowed on the three-quarter mile nature trail that explores the ancient dunes and the coastal scrub plant and wildlife community once ubiquitous in this coastal zone now largely overwhelmed by development.
The Campground
The campground has 60 sites with a mix of back-in and pull-through sites. The maximum RV length is 45 feet. All sites have water and electric (some 50-amp), picnic tables, ground grills and clothesline posts. A shared dump station is available.
Restrooms with showers have heating and A/C, coin-operated washers and dryers. Pets are welcome in the campground and on some trails but not on the beach.
We found cellular service to be excellent for both AT&T and Verizon, but the lack of an OTA signal for the television in our RV came as a bit of a surprise. For RVs with satellite dishes, there was plenty of open skies.
Bob Rountree is a beach bum and camper who has explored Florida for decades. Bob and his wife Kathy live in South Florida and roam the Sunshine State in their RV with kayaks and bicycles on board. A retired news editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Bob co-founded FloridaRambler.com with fellow journalist Bonnie Gross in 2010.
thomas verhoven
Sunday 22nd of August 2021
surely you're not saying Fall has arrived in Florida? There is AT LEAST another month of it!
Bob Rountree
Sunday 22nd of August 2021
No, fall hasn't arrived yet. But if you plan on camping here, you need to reserve your campsite early -- as much as 11 months early. I checked reservations today, and the first availability was December 12 for a tent site. No RV sites were available at all for the rest of the year.