Adventurist Sara’s Biased Guide to the Best Florida State Parks

One of the best parts of my role as Lead Adventurist is that I get to spend my time exploring Florida’s award-winning state parks. Florida State Parks are not only some of the most impressive in the country, but they are perfect for discovering and cherishing wild Florida.
Words and Photographs by Sara Sheehy
Live Wildly Lead Adventurist
As I reflect back on the Florida State Parks that I’ve visited in the last year, there are a handful that stand out as my completely biased favorites. This list will surely anger some and please others, but what can I say? I’m a woman of strong opinions, and these opinions are mine (and entirely subject to change without notice).
So here, in no particular order, is Adventurist Sara’s Biased Guide to the Best Florida State Parks.
Silver Springs State Park
I got soaked to the bone at Silver Springs State Park. My first visit to the park was in June, when the afternoon rainstorms are so predictable that losing track of the time was entirely my fault. I didn’t mind the drenching one bit; if anything, it made me love this park even more.
Silver Springs State Park has a little bit of everything – iconic glass-bottom boat tours that speak to history and ecology, winding paddle trails through the bottomland hardwood forests, and historic gardens to wander through. I particularly loved seeing all the locals and their dogs, arriving the moment the gates opened to walk the paved paths through the park.
Glass Bottom Boat Tours for All at Silver Springs State Park
Why I love this park: It’s an intriguing mix of nature and history and big enough to spend a full day (or more) exploring.
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
I love big landscapes, and of all the places that I’ve seen in Florida, Paynes Prairie is one of the most expansive wild places that is open to the public. Climbing up the 50-foot observation tower to look out across the Great Alachua Savannah is both a treat and a surprise.
5 Ways to Discover the Wonders of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park
Who knew that our state had such wide open spaces? I spotted the park’s resident wild bison herd and looked in vain for the wild horses. I’m glad I didn’t see them – I always like a reason to return.
In addition to the views over the prairie, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park has boardwalks into the wetlands, and I loved the easy access to incredible birding and wildlife viewing. While on that La Chua Trail, gazing at the dozens of alligators lining the shore, I overheard a fellow hiker say, “Why would anyone pay to see alligators in a tourist park when they can just come here?” Why indeed.
Why I love this park: Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park is big, bold, and beautiful.
Myakka River State Park
Any park with a “wild and scenic” designation is after my heart, and Myakka River State Park does the job of heart thief correctly. Damage from the seemingly never-ending barrage of storms that hit the central Florida coast is evident here at Myakka, but in many respects, the park is doing precisely what it should be doing – allowing the river to overflow and act as it should without interference.
I love this park for its resilience and scars. You can read the storms in the high-level marks on tree trunks and the debris that litters the forest floor. And within that, it’s a beautiful park, with its trails, broad river, fields of wildflowers, and wetlands filled with birds.
Why I love this park: It’s a landscape of resilience that is full of opportunities for exploration.
Jonathan Dickinson State Park
I arrived at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in a thunderstorm so intense that I had to hunker down in my campervan until the lightning passed so that I could check into my campsite. It was a spicy arrival for what turned out to be a spectacular park.
The campground is modern and clean, close enough to the ocean that you can smell the sea breezes. The park’s sandy trails are a favorite of mountain bikers, and I temporarily joined their ranks to wind through the scrub on two wheels.
Deeper inland, the Loxahatchee River tempts paddlers and picnickers along its shores. I ate a hamburger from the on-site food truck near the river while watching a woodpecker tap its beak into the trees, looking for a tasty morsel. Let’s hope the Florida State Parks can open the observation tower on Hobe Mountain again soon – the views up there are spectacular.
Why I love this park: Excellent camping and so much room to roam.
Crystal River Archaeological State Park
How can such a teeny tiny Florida State Park make my highly biased list of favorites? Because it’s just that good. Crystal River Archaeological State Park is a National Historic Landmark that preserves the remains of a once-bustling pre-Columbian Native American gathering site. The complex of burial and temple mounds offers a glimpse into the past, sure, but it’s the stories that make this park so special.
History and Nature at Crystal River Archaeological State Park
I visited during the day but was lucky enough to also hop onto one of the park’s Moon Over the Mounds tours. These quarterly tours happen on the night of a full moon and are staffed by trained archaeologists who guide you through the mounds by the light of the moon and well-placed tiki torches. It is pure magic to experience the park in this way – 10/10 recommend.
Why I love this park: Great storytelling and an exceptional experience at Moon Over the Mounds.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park
A writer loves Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park. How novel, right? (Do you see what I did there?)
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ storytelling prowess aside, this park has such a great vibe that it had to make the list. Florida State Park staff and volunteers maintain this site so carefully that it feels like you’re stepping back into 1930’s rural farm life. I was delighted to wander through the groves, sampling oranges as I went. Closer to the house, chickens run free, and a kitchen garden makes you feel like Marjorie will pop out for a tomato at any moment.
Take a tour of the house, walk the trails, check out the nearby boat launch for Orange Lake, and soak in the wonder of this spot.
Why I love this park: It is lovingly preserved, has a wonderful vibe, and feels like you’re stepping back in time.
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park
Put in the word “ancient,” and I’m there. I love the feeling that one gets in a landscape so untouched by human hands that it feels timeless. That’s what I experienced at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, which is home to one of the world’s largest and deepest freshwater springs. My favorite part of the experience was taking a boat tour through the spring run – a stretch of water whose banks have never been developed and, thanks to the Florida State Parks, never will be.
Accessibility on the Water at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park
This ancient cypress swamp and spring holds other types of history, too, from the complete mastodon skeleton that was pulled from its depths and is now on display at the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee to the glass-bottomed boats that visitors used as far back as 1875.
Why I love this park: Wakulla Springs is ancient and timeless, a reminder of what wild Florida once felt like.
Torreya State Park
Rugged hiking in Florida? Yes, it exists, and I know just where to find it: Torreya State Park. I visited this somewhat out-the-way Florida State Park during our Explore the Corridor Week in 2024 and swiveled my head around so much on the entrance road that I might have gotten whiplash. “What is this place?” I muttered while spying a panoramic overlook here, a rocky bluff there, and trees everywhere.
If you’re used to the sandy expanses of our beaches or the rainforest-like drip of our southern forests, Torreya will be a shock. And maybe that’s the exact reason to go. Perched along a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River, this park has hills to climb, rocky trails to pick your feet over, and endangered plant species that you won’t see anywhere else in the world.
Why I love this park: It’s a rugged shock to the system compared to other state parks that I’ve visited – and I do love surprises.
Grayton Beach State Park
My contrarian nature makes it hard to like things with too many accolades. Best book of the year? Pass. Box office hit? I’d rather read. So why, then, do I find myself at Grayton Beach State Park, consistently ranked one of the best beaches in the United States?
It’s not for the beach – though it is beautiful, indeed – but instead for the coastal forest. Four miles of trails wind through the scrub oaks and magnolia, dwarfed and bent over by the relentless coastal winds. With sugar sand underfoot and dense forest canopy above, this park offers a wild hiking experience that I haven’t seen anywhere else. The frosting on the cake was looking up to see scrub oak branches puzzled together in crown shyness, a phenomenon where the crowns of fully grown trees do not touch each other.
Why I love this park: Coastal forest trails and witnessing a beautiful example of crown shyness in the scrub oak.
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
Rocky beaches are more associated with New England than Florida, so imagine my surprise when, without intending to, I came across a stretch of rocky coastline right here in the Sunshine State.
Quiet Adventure at Washington Oaks Gardens: Formal Gardens, Tidepools and More
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is better known for its well-preserved formal gardens, but across the street from the park headquarters is a coquina rock beach that is perfect for rockhopping and tidepooling.
Coquina is a type of rock that is formed from fragmented shells and other marine debris. By rock standards, it’s soft and porous, but it’s definitely hard enough to scramble over, and when the waves crash against it, they send a spray shooting in all directions. It’s pure delight.
Why I love this park: Crashing waves, rockhopping, and tidepools in wild Florida.
So there you have it, a completely biased list of my favorite Florida State Parks. Do you love it? Do you hate it? You can send me all your comments at @adventurist_sara, where I’ll either argue with you or – more likely – agree that your favorite park, indeed, should have made this list.
Where to next, my wild friends?