Henderson Beach State Park Campground

We were amazed at our stay. The park was well planned with space and shrubbery in between sites so you had plenty of privacy. All the spots were back in with gravel that appeared very level. You had a picnic table and a double clothesline. The bathrooms were clean and not to far to walk from our site. The boardwalk down to the beach was about a 1/4 mile walk but not unreasonable. The beach was perfect with the boardwalk leading you over protected white sand dunes that gave you a glimpse of what the beach looked like before developers. Also, there is a super Walmart right across the street from the park entrance! And a bunch of other amenities! Convenience and location!! The only thing that might bother some is the area is close to an Air Force Base so you do get a lot of jets, helicopters, and the occasional bombing noise in the background.We had great time our whole stay..... However upon our checkout day we ran a little late checking out by 3 minutes. Mind you we have a 1 year old, a 2 year old, and I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and very sick feeling so we were running a bit slower. But almost hooked up and ready to pull out when the volunteer camp host and his wife drive up and jump out of there golf cart. He was tapping his wrist and begins to ask why aren't we gone yet! It was 1:03PM and checkout was 1pm! When I said, yes I know we were almost finished, he began to berate me for not planning better! They then parked at the entrance to our site and watched us as we proceeded to finish. Which just made me mad that we were being treated so rudely and I proceeded to have words with the man and his wife at the poor customer service and the lack of grace for families with young children! His wife then said she raised 4 and always planned better!! The camp host said "I am calling the Rangers" since we were over our time limit and I said GOOD because I wanted the rangers to see how we were being treated! In the end the Ranger came about 10 minutes later and apologized for the behavior of the camp host stating that they are all volunteers and sometimes they don't know what type of personality they are getting. He had no issue with us being a few minutes late pulling out and was very nice and relaxed. His name was Evan Waters and he was very kind and professional stating they don't want people to be stressed out when they come to stay and the Camp Host was in the wrong. When we left the Supervisor of the Rangers called and stated that he talked with his Ranger about what happened and the Camp Hosts were no longer Camp Hosts and he apologized for how badly they treated us. He said in the future there will be more training of Camp Hosts to make sure they are in line with the Park philosophy. As long as they pick appropriate Camp Hosts this park is amazing!

We LOVED this site! Our pull through site had nicely raked gravel, with a fire pit! It felt like we had our own yard! The site felt remote and private, but, was conveniently located close to the main strip, which offered restaurants, touristy beach shops, and Walmart (we bought our firewood here for $5/bundle). Because of it's convenience to civilization, there was some road noise. Overall, it's worth the $30/night and we will camp here again.

STATS:
-30/50 amp sites
-water hookup
-dump station
-level, gravel sites
-laundry
-bath house (very clean)
-nature trail (see details below!)

CONVENIENCE:
-close to Walmart and more shopping
-bike ride or drive to the boardwalk
-5 minute board walk to pristine Henderson Beach

HIKING:
The nature trail was better than we expected - pretty awesome, actually! From our site, we walked our 2 dogs down the campground road (from Loop "B", it was about a 30 minute walk) to the nature trail, which is located near the entrance gate. Once we got to the nature trail, we hiked in our bare feet through the sand dunes (.8 mile loop)- very cool at sunset!

One of the most impressive things about Henderson Beach State Park is the privacy of the camp sites. Sites are spacious and surrounded by trees and dense shrubs. Our back-in site had excellent privacy and space, and many of the pull-throughs were well over 100 feet long. Although there was no sewer at our site, our stay was short enough that it wasn't a problem for us. You can hear the surf breaking, but can't see the water from the camp sites. Just outside the campground is a Walmart, lots of restaurants, shopping, etc. The gate is closed at night but we were given a code to open it after hours. Unfortunately, county law prohibits dogs on the beach, but there was plenty of room to walk our dog in the campground area. There was free WiFi that worked pretty well, and both Verizon and AT&T had strong service. We'd definitely return here.

What an awesome state park. The layout is wonderful with a limited number of RV sites, around 60 if I remember correctly, and the feeling of privacy is great! If you've never been to Destin it has the most perfect sand in the world (an yes we have been around...Bora Bora for example). You have the conveniences of Destin FL yet with a sense of being far away.

There was plenty of room in the campsite, which was a back-in, to park the truck in front of the TT. Plenty of paved roads to ride your bike on and the boardwalk to the beach is a walk through a nature trail.

We hated to leave and my only regret was not booking early enough to get more than 4 nights. We would stay here again if ever in the area.

We love Henderson Beach SP! The sites are wooded with shrubbery, providing your own private oasis near the beach. There is a bit of a walk to the beach from the camping area, over a well-maintained boardwalk. This may be an issue if you have accessibility problems. The beach is pristine - very clean with few crowds. This is truly a tropical paradise right in the Florida panhandle.

Destin is right down the road, with outlets, restaurants (you have to try McGuires!) and grocery stores, but the campground feels very secluded and peaceful.

Date of stay: September 2014

Powdery white sandy beach. I could stop the review here and that would be enough. But I won’t as I am sure you want all the details. :)

My spontaneous behavior (when it comes to finding a place to stay) worked out yet again as I was able to get the last site at Henderson Beach State Park for 5 nights I was there. Awesome site close to the bath house, laundry facilities, and most importantly, the boardwalk to the beach. Oh, the beach. Just as you would picture it. No, make that better than you would picture it. Loved the beach!

There are several day use pavilions west of the campground, so I would take the boardwalk to the beach, walk down to the farthest pavilion, and work from there. Talk about a horrible commute!

Henderson Beach State Park is literally right in Destin, yet it was very quiet. A little slice of heaven amongst the touristy town.

While there weren’t exactly an abundance of trails to hike on, it didn’t matter as you could walk on the beach as far as you would like. Or you could go float in the clear warm water. Yeah, it doesn’t get much better than this!

The park also served as a great place to go explore the famous 30A road that takes you through some very interesting beach towns. And it was a great place to leave from to go explore Pensacola - specifically the National Naval Aviation Museum.

We stayed here two years ago. As we drove to the park all I saw was shops and restaurants and I wondered how there could be a state park here. Then we saw the sign, and shortly after driving in everything changed. It was as if we'd driven to another area. Quiet and beautiful.

The hosts were extremely friendly, and were quick to emphasize that this was the state park with "the cleanest restrooms in Florida". Interesting.

The sites are water and electric only. They have beautiful native vegetation between them and feel very private. There's a dump on site.

Depending on your point of view, just outside the state park there are lots of fun things to do or lots to get away from.

This is a beautiful beach with white, powdery sand and lots of sand dunes. A short pet friendly nature trail provides access to dunes and beautiful views. There is lots of bird life all around. A boardwalk amongst the sand dunes and vegetation provides access to the beach. Unfortunately, pets are not allowed on the beach. There's an outdoor shower for those returning from the beach.

As the camp hosts said, they have the "cleanest rest rooms in Florida". The showers were gleaming. And they have heating and air conditioning.

There are a few washers and dryers on the property, pretty unusual for state parks.

You can have it all here, enjoying nature inside the park, and going out to fun restaurants and bars just outside.