7 of Florida's very best state parks for maximum fun
The Sunshine State of Florida* is one giant natural playground, where you'll find no fewer than 158 state parks spread across a whopping 800,000 acres.
If you love making the most of the great outdoors, you'll find a little bit of everything here, from wildlife-thick mangroves and rivers to beaches lapped by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, lined with trails for hikers, paddlers and cyclists of all ages. Here we look at just some of the fabulous ways to experience the very best state parks on any holiday to Florida.
Getting to Florida: find great value holidays all year round with TUI*.
Take a ride in a glass-bottomed boat
Few US states boast as many state parks as Florida. Among the best is Silver Springs, where over 30 crystal clear rivers bubble up from Florida's underground waters.
Here, you can rent kayaks to spot white-tailed deer on the mile-long Fort King paddling trail. Or hike the two-mile Swamp Trail through wetlands alive with American alligators. Tarzan and a few Bond movies were filmed in this riverine wilderness.
Thank Phillip Morrell for Silver Springs State Park's most nature-friendly invention. In the 1870s, this entrepreneur fixed a pane of glass to the bottom of a rowboat, spawning Florida's glass-bottomed boat tour industry. Gaze into the aquarium-like depths on a 30-minute tour. Like most Florida State Parks, Silver Springs opens from 8 am until sunset.
Stargaze from a prairie preserve
Midway between Orlando and Palm Beach, Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park offers a taste of the Wild West. Over 100 miles of hike, bike and horse riding tracks meander through wiregrass and scenery reminiscent of a Clint Eastwood Western.
Yet this dry prairie is alive. Crested caracaras and bald eagles swoop overhead while more butterflies than any other destination in Florida colour wildflower meadows. Grab a free nature spotters' checklist from a park ranger.
Another singular activity in Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is stargazing. As Florida's first recognised Dark Sky Park, rangers allow after-hours access for campers and astronomers.
In common with most Florida State Parks, entrance to Kissimmee costs just a few dollars. It's best to pay online in advance, saving the email confirmation on your phone.
Snorkel the first underwater park in the US
In the 1950s John Pennekamp, a campaigning editor at the Miami Herald who helped create the Everglades National Park, feared damage to coral ecosystems off Key Largo.
So he helped create America's first subaquatic park, which covers 70 square miles of warm ocean. Like most Florida State Parks, this one also hosts inexpensive camping pitches with shower blocks and fire pits.
Above all, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park encourages visitors to dive right in. Rent a mask to spot midnight parrotfish and yellowtail snappers playing among elkhorn coral.
Try a four-hour paddleboard ride or a speedboat tour into deep snorkel territory. End your day by promenading the boardwalks over mangrove wetlands, all dotted with wooden benches looking out to sea.
Play sand castles & soldiers in a Civil War fort
Fort Zachary Taylor on Key West was a Civil War bastion, WWII battery and Cold War submarine base, all built to control the Gulf of Mexico.
Named after the 12th president of the United States*, you can bring the past to life by strolling ramparts guarded with gigantic canons or following the historical hiking trail. Some hidden treasures have been geocached by previous visitors; finding them is a fun family activity.
Most visitors hit Fort Zachary Taylor State Park to stretch out on some of Florida's finest beaches. The warm Gulf shallows can be explored with a rented mask and snorkel. Serious divers can dip below the waves to the newly built coral reef offshore.
Hungry? Order Cuban sandwiches and chilli dogs from the beachfront Cayo Hueso Café. Fort Zachary Taylor has it all.
Make a splash in the Gulf of Mexico
What a beach! Grayton boasts a long slice of icing sugar sand, lapped by topaz shallows. Behind the shore, magnolias and scrub oaks have been artistically twisted by salty Gulf breezes. The sole development is the 30 state park cabins, each with two bedrooms, located a few minutes from the Gulf of Mexico.
Grayton Beach State Park packs awesome diversity into its near 2,000 acres. Distinct natural areas include mesic flatwoods, tidal marshes and a rare dune lake, which kayakers can paddle across.
Nature trails touch upon wildflowers, eastern bluebirds and white-tailed deer. The most all-encompassing of these routes is the 37-mile Timpoochee Trail, which includes plenty of photogenic rest stops as it passes through the small state park.
Spot manatees & swim in thermal waters
For centuries, Timacuan Indians made their home amid the humid swamplands of Blue Spring. In 1972 the godfather of scuba, Jacques Cousteau, helped turn this freshwater aquarium into a state park. Today over 700 manatees enjoy the park's geothermically heated springwaters, alongside kingfishers and eagles.
Over 140 bird species can be spotted on the 4.5-mile Pine Island Trail. Or for maximum interactivity, try wild swimming or tubing (floating on an inflated tyre) in the warm rivers of the Blue Spring State Park.
For a true jungle cruise take an eco-boat tour through cypress forests to track down alligators, all just a 45-minute drive from downtown Orlando.
Go birdwatching along the Myakka River
Myakka River is the only Florida waterway recognised by Congress as a Wild and Scenic River. It courses through one of Florida's largest state parks, via pine flatwoods and freshwater marshes, en route to the Gulf of Mexico.
The diversity of park wildlife it supports is immense. Take a treetop canopy walk or flat-bottomed boat trip to spot pink spoonbills and alligators.
Hardy botanists can hike the 39-mile Myakka Trail. For something softer, paddleboard rentals allow access to a hundred avian species including songbirds and raptors. The rental cabins and cool camping spots in Myakka River State Park could grace the cover of a travel magazine.
Climate in Florida
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum daytime temperature °C | ||||||||||||
| Hours of sunshine (daily) | ||||||||||||
| Days with some rainfall |
The above guide shows the climate in Orlando. Find out more about conditions across the county in our complete guide to the climate in Florida.
Ready to explore Florida's state parks? Check out the current offers on escapes with TUI.
More about Florida
- Overview
- Best time to visit
- Weather by month
- 5-day weather forecast
- Destinations
- Travel advice
- Deals & discounts
Florida by month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Explore holidays in the sun for less
- Beach holidays
- Family holidays
- City breaks
- Summer holidays
- Winter sun holidays
- Holiday offers
- Top travel brands
- Airlines & flights
- Discount hotels
- Airport parking deals
- TUI
- Jet2holidays
- easyJet holidays
- Love Holidays
- Boxing Day sales
Airport parking
- Manchester Airport
- Stansted Airport
- Bristol Airport
- Luton Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Gatwick Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Newcastle Airport
Airport lounges
- Manchester Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Bristol Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Heathrow Airport
- Newcastle Airport
- Stansted Airport
- Gatwick Airport
Be inspired
Get your weekly fix of holiday inspiration from some of the world's best travel writers plus save on your next trip with the latest exclusive offers
We promise not to share your details
