Anastasia State Park Campground

We reserved far in advance to get 10 nights in the Coquina loop.

Site 135 was spacious enough for our 20 ft trailer, F150 and our son’s car. Bathhouse is older and shower curtains needed attention. Not bad for older state park. Washer and dryer were convenient.

Dogs are not allowed on the beach but we went to Vilano Beach and Butler Beach.

3-4 miles from downtown St Augustine historic district.

Plenty to do and we hope to return.

We had reservations here months in advance, but we were not disappointed. WiFi is good and you are close to restaurants and stores. I recommend site 87, especially if you have dogs. Not only is the site big and private, but it is close to a service road that goes into the woods. Dogs love to walk down there because of the smells. On Saturday mornings they have a farmer’s market with fresh baked goodies, coffee, and the usual crafts.

I travelled here with a 35’ 5th wheel, long bed pickup and parked in the site #67, an E/W, BI site for $33/night. Park roads are asphalt and the sites are a combination of sand and rock. Navigation was easy except for one sharp right turn into the campground. Swing wide and it isn’t a problem. The turn at the end of the interior roads can be tight if people are parked right at the edge of the pavement. Most sites have some shade and many are pretty private. I had a little trouble backing in due to the narrow access road. There was plenty of space for the rig and truck. I had to use 2 boards under one side to get level. It was a very quiet park and the beach was very nice, wide and flat. The bathhouse was clean, but the water pressure in the showers was a little low even in the middle of the day. Lots of mosquitos as expected. I had 1-2 bars 5G with Verizon, many OTA channels, no wifi. The best sites in my opinion were 65 and 120. Other good sites for larger rigs are: 24, 43, 48, 66, 77, 78, 80, 84, 96, 111, 114, 127, and 134. There are lots of activities and things to do in St. Augustine and the campground is very convenient to get to the old fort. I would definitely stay here again.

It's easy to see why Anastasia is consistently one of the most popular state parks in Florida. It offers the best of both worlds: campsites in a secluded oak hammock setting adjacent to pristine beaches, just a few miles from the oldest European city in the US, full of museums and other destinations.

Sites are pretty standard for Florida: sandy, level, water + electric (20/30/50), with large dump station near the campground entrance. Some sites are restricted to tents and small RVs (e.g., queen conch loop) but on the main loops (Coquina, Sand Dollar, etc) the sites are plenty large and overhanging trees are trimmed back. Our site was supposed to be a 35 foot pad but the site was actually 50 feet long, so we had no trouble getting in even though the loop road is a bit narrow. Sites have lots of foliage between for privacy. There are multiple bath houses. The one on our loop (Sand Dollar) was a bit dated but kept spotlessly clean, and the water was hot with good water pressure.

While the park has limited trails, there are miles of beach for walking accessed by a handy boardwalk. The food concession and watercraft rental (kayak, SUP) were a nice addition to the park, and situated far enough away from the campground area that day use visitors were not bothering campers. The park also has direct walking access to the St. Augustine amphitheater, making it easy to check out the very impressive farmer's market on Saturday mornings.

Our only negatives were weak cell signal on AT&T which was a problem on the entire northern part of Anastasia Island (1 bar 5G in the CG, 2 bars outside the park) and the lack of OATV. We got 2 of the 4 main networks over the air, no NBC or ABC, and no PBS.

The best part of the park is the proximity to St. Augustine, which offers excellent historical sites, museums, restaurants, and more. We particularly enjoyed the student-led tour of Flagler College (formerly the ornate Ponce de Leon hotel) and the Alligator Farm just outside the park entrance (excellent reptile park).

Our first visit to Anastasia was at the end of May.

The Good:
The beach was very nice. Water temp was great.
Three dump stations!
Friendly staff.
Close to downtown St. Augustine.
Very good cell signal through T-Mobile for our TravelData modem.
Our site had very good water pressure.
Tons of sites for tents or smaller rigs.

The Not So Good:
Ants and spiders/webs all over our coach (I assume it's mainly a summer thing)
Not a whole lot of good sites for larger rigs. Our site was dirt. Some are gravel.
No 50A service but we were able to run two AC's thanks to SoftStarts.
Campground roads are quite narrow.
The camp store is understocked.
The restaurant is only open for lunch...11am-3pm. Never got a chance to try it out.

I would consider staying again during the fall, winter or early spring.

Anastasia State Park
Our overall impression was very positive with this beautiful Florida state park. It has many amenities and a great location!
Here are the answers to a few questions we had before we arrived at this state park.

The map online indicated that some of the sites were closer to the salt run than others. This was actually somewhat deceiving because there are no walkways or direct route from each loop to the water. There are no views of the water from any of the sites that I could tell.

This state park fill up early and we only had a choice of two sites although we booked nearly one year ahead of time. Know that you should book as soon as the reservations are open and available.

We also had difficulty telling how far we would have to walk for hot showers and for laundry facilities from the state park map. It turns out the bathhouse, at least in the Sand Dollar Loop has free showers (someone on the reviews stated you had to purchase showers at the ranger station) and two washers and dryer‘s (1.50 each, quarters required). The showers are comfortably warm to hot and although some appear older, they are kept clean. There is also an outdoor sink facility where you can wash dishes if needed.

We were unable to tell from the park map was how far the walk was from our campsite to the St John Pier, near a motel where we had a relative staying. The walk is about 2 to 2 1/2 miles depending on which loop you are in. It took us about an hour to walk down to the beach and over to the pier.

The gate closes early after the ranger station closes at 5:30pm. So call ahead if you are arriving later than 5:30pm or you will not have a way to get in. Also, when leaving stay back and wait for the incoming car to get in to the park. The gate seems to only sense one car at a time.

Uber is allowed access to the park, even after hours) and can drive you to an individual campsite but you probably have to give them the gate code.

The Saturday Farmers Market is a true jewel and is a very short walk within the park at the amphitheater.

Verizon service was 1-2 bars but we were able to download newspaper and search on browsers.

Anastasia is absolutely beautiful! But the the spaces are very close to each other. So just be prepared, there isn't much privacy. And while the "price per night" is $28, the total per night comes out to $45.73 per night once taxes and fees are added.

That being said, the sites are beautiful and the bathrooms were clean! The beach and the trails are great too. Be sure to bring your bicycle! Would camp here again when it's not so crowded (we were there the week of christmas).