Florida Panhandle camping! Henderson Beach State Park campground 🌞 Destin camping! RV + tent 🌞 Florida travel tips

Hi there!

So you want to go camping in Henderson Beach State Park!

This Florida campground is perfect if you also want to do things in Destin and want to make day trips around the Florida Panhandle.

 

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Camping in Henderson Beach State Park has been considered one of the best campgrounds in the Florida Panhandle for RV camping and tent camping.

The Henderson Beach State Park campground is in the popular Florida Panhandle beach town of Destin FL.

It’s located right off the main road that goes through Destin, so you won’t be getting a remote camping experience at Henderson Beach State Park!

 

 

But on the flip side, you have tons of conveniences for food!

There is even a Walmart just across the street from state park.

The campsites at Henderson Beach State Park do feel private though!

 

 

 

 

 

Is there beach camping in Henderson Beach State Park?

Henderson Beach State Park is best known for the beautiful Henderson Beach State Park beach along the gulf coast.

 

 

But the Henderson Beach State Park campground isn’t a beachfront campground, so it’s not possible to go camping in Henderson Beach State Park just steps from the beach or anything like that.

But, there is a trail from the campground that will take you to the beautiful Henderson Beach that is one of the best beaches in the Florida Panhandle!

This will be a walk of a few minutes. Maybe 5-10 minutes, depending on where your campsite is.

It will take you to a part of the beach that is not in the main Henderson Beach parking area which means it’s like you have your own campers beach!

 

👆 Henderson Beach State Park campground map. Note the campground boardwalk to Henderson Beach. It’s on the other side of the Henderson Beach parking lots!

 

Or, from the campground, you will be just a short drive of a couple of minutes to the beach. 

 

👆 There is parking for RV campers at the Henderson Beach State Park beach parking lots.

 

 

 

How do you reserve a campsite at the Henderson Beach State Park campground?

You reserve a campsite at the Henderson Beach State Park campground through the official Florida state parks camping reservations website.

Finding open campsite availability at state park campgrounds in the Florida Panhandle, including Henderson Beach State Park, has been known to be difficult.

If the camping trip to Henderson Beach State Park that you want to do is just a few months, weeks, or even days away, and you find no camping availability, cancellations do happen.

You just have to get lucky and search for campgrounds immediately after someone cancels.

Your “luck” will increase the more you search, and the closer you are to your travel date.

In general, you will find the greatest difficulty in finding open campgrounds for Saturday nights.

Naturally, you will also find more difficulty also during busy season… like winter months and spring break season.

But still, searching over and over (and over 😜) really can work.

It did work for me at Henderson Beach State Park! I was able to find open camping availability after searching a few times.

So, while it’s not something to necessarily depend on, it’s something you can look for.

1 night stays will generally be easier to find than multi-night stays.

 

See pictures below from the Henderson Beach State Park Campground!

 

 

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Here are some pictures from Henderson Beach State Park Campground

I did SUV camping / car camping at the Henderson Beach campground in March 2022. I was traveling alone and I slept in my car.

Your experience may vary!

 

👆 When you enter Henderson Beach State Park, you can let the park ranger know that you are there for camping and they will instruct you what to do next. They might check you in as you sit in your car, or they might have you park and enter the ranger station aka campground office.

 

👆 Parking for Henderson Beach campground check-in.

 

👆 Henderson Beach State Park “campground office” aka ranger station.

 

👆 When you check-in, you will get a Henderson Beach State Park camping pass. You do not have to pay any additional fees for entry to Henderson Beach State Park.

 

👆 If you plan on swimming at Henderson Beach, make note of the color of the beach flag as you enter Henderson Beach State Park! It will be a green flag, yellow flag, or red flag, indicating how safe it is to go swimming at Henderson Beach based on the current water conditions. There will also be a beach flag directly at the beach.

 

 

👆 To get to the Henderson Beach State Park campground, be on the lookout for the camping sign after you pass the entry station.

 

 

 

Henderson Beach State Park campsite pictures

👆 Campsite #18.

 

👆 Campsite #20.

 

👆 Campsites #28 and #29 have a shared driveway.

 

👆 Campsite #30.

 

 

The Henderson Beach State Park campground has electricity and water.

 

There is electricity at the campsite.

 

 

There is water at each individual campsite.

 

 

 

There are regular bathrooms at the Henderson Beach State Park Campground.

 

 

There are showers with hot water at the Henderson Beach State Park Campground.

 

 

There is a dishwashing sink.

 

You will find the dishwashing sink at the bathroom building.

 

 

There is laundry at Henderson Beach State Park.

 

Henderson Beach State Park is one of the Florida state parks that has laundry machines that you can use to do your own laundry.

You will also find this at the bathroom building.

There are washing machines and dryers.

These laundry machines only take quarters.

But there is also a change machine so you don’t need to worry about bringing quarters, although you do still need to be sure to have $1 bills or $5 bills.

 

 

For Florida state park campgrounds, a change machine is a luxury! It’s not something to expect at all Florida state park campgrounds that have laundry.

 

 

There is wifi.

 

You will find the wifi at the bathroom building. You will get the password at check-in.

There are benches here too.

And since Henderson Beach State Park is not remote, you will likely have no problem connecting to regular data service through your phone.

 

 

You can buy ice.

 

The Henderson Beach State Park entry station sells ice.

If the entry station is closed or they are not selling ice for some reason, you can just drive a few minutes further to buy ice from Walmart!

 

 

You can buy firewood from the campground host.

 

 

There is a trash dumpster for campers.

 

If you are tent camping, take your trash to the dumpster at the end of the night!

Or keep it in your car.

You want to keep the animals away.

There were also some recycling bins.

So check to see what you can recycle!

 

 

There is a dump station for RV campers.

 

 

There is a grocery store across the street from Henderson Beach State Park.

👆 The intersection that you will come to as you drive out of Henderson Beach State Park. Spot the Walmart! Well, if you can’t see it here, you will be able to when you are actually at this intersection!

 

 

 

Henderson Beach State Park campground map

 

 

More about Henderson Beach State Park camping

See more about camping in Henderson Beach State Park from Florida State Parks:

Henderson Beach State Park has 60 campsites that can accommodate either tents or RVs, with a mixture of back-in and pull-through sites.

The campsites have water, electricity (all sites have both 30 and 50-amp service except campsites #28 and #29); picnic tables, ground grills and clothesline posts.

Campsites do not have sewer connections; a centrally located dump station is provided for proper disposal of waste.

Amenities include heated and air-conditioned restrooms with showers, coin operated washers, dryers and vending machines.

Pets are welcome at campsites.

Unlike remote wilderness camping, provisions and restaurants are a short drive away.

The nearby three-quarter mile nature trail meanders through ancient but still growing and shifting dunes with vegetation known as coastal scrub.

The trail provides a vista of the park, and in some places, the Gulf of Mexico.

Maximum RV length is 60 feet.

Last checked: Florida State Parks, July 2022

 

 

 

And that’s a bit about the Henderson Beach State Park campground!

 

More for your trip to Henderson Beach State Park and beyond:

• Henderson Beach State Park beach
• Beaches near Destin FL
• Best campgrounds in the Florida Panhandle
• Best state parks in the Florida Panhandle
• Best beaches in the Florida Panhandle
• Destin to Orlando drive

 

More Florida state parks for camping:

• Grayton Beach State Park campground (Florida Panhandle)
• St Andrews State Park campground (Florida Panhandle)
• Florida Caverns State Park campground (Florida Panhandle)
• Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park campground (camping between Florida Panhandle and Orlando)
• John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park (Florida Keys)
• Sandspur Campground in Bahia Honda State Park (Florida Keys)
• Oleta River State Park camping cabins (North Miami)

 

HAPPY CAMPING IN HENDERSON BEACH STATE PARK!