Trailer Life & Woodalls ranks Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in the top 1% of the nation. The park has over 3 miles of pristine white sandy beach with emerald water.
Topsail
There are coastal cypress domes, lakes, and wet prairies. The sand is very fine, white, and feels good to walk on….not like the west coast or Hawaiian beaches we are familiar with.
Topsail has 22 tent sites, 155 RV sites, and 32 cabins available. The camping facilities include bathroom/shower/laundry facilities, swimming pool, shuffleboard, bike and canoe rentals, beach shuttle, fishing, wifi hotspot, concrete pads, and a camp store. However, the cost is close to a private RV park. We paid $42/night…..the other Florida state parks have been about $26/night. Can’t do that every night. Much more expensive compared to other state parks, but the others don’t offer everything Topsail does. If it had a hot tub, food trucks, live music, and a wine bar it would be amazing! The concrete pad was nice to keep sand and pebbles out of the motorhome. The park is about a mile from the beach. They provide a shuttle every hour which will drop/pickup very close to the beach. But, can also walk or bike to it. Dogs are not allowed on the beach, ugh.
Their sites are huge, many are concrete, water, 50 amp, sewer, 80+ cable channels (in a state park!!!!!), and private. There is a nice amount of space between sites with plenty of trees for some privacy. It was easy to get into the park, back in, and level. No need to ask a neighbor to move a vehicle or to call the ranger to trim a tree.
Pretty much every park we visited has had controlled burns on their schedule. Must be that time of the year.
Coastal Dune Lakes
There are rare coastal dune lakes located in Topsail State Park. The lakes are fresh water….some brackish, as they often connect with the ocean. But what makes these lakes truly unique is that they are mostly fresh water and are within just a few feet of the Gulf’s salt water, separated only by a natural berm of sand. Following a heavy rain or other inflow, the sand berms are suddenly breached, causing a flood of fresh water to pour openly into the Gulf.
Destin
The city has just about everything one might need…bars, restaurants, and massage! While driving along highway 98….after a trip to Home Depot, we saw the word “wine”. We had a late lunch at Vin’tij, a wine boutique. Fun atmosphere, great staff, good wine selection and food. We found an inexpensive Zinfandel from Napa.
