florida

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida: Bison, Gopher Tortoises & Why Florida’s Cowboys Were Called Crackers

March 19, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

From White Springs and the Suwannee River, we headed south to Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park — a 21,000-acre savanna in Micanopy, Florida, just south of Gainesville. Florida acquired the land in 1970 and has been steadily restoring it to a more natural condition ever since. With over 270 species of birds, wild bison, Florida Cracker horses, and one very patient gopher tortoise who finally decided to show itself after three months of teasing us with road signs, it turned out to be one of the more educational stops of our entire winter.

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White Springs, Florida: The Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, Carillons & Early Spring Blooms Along the Suwannee

March 7, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: May 2026

The Suwannee River runs through the northern Florida interior with quiet authority, draining the Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia and making its slow, dark-watered way to the Gulf of Mexico some 240 miles away. “Way down upon the Suwannee River” — the opening line of Stephen Foster’s 1851 song “Old Folks at Home” — made this otherwise obscure waterway the most recognized river name in American popular music. We’d already visited Suwannee River State Park at the river’s confluence with the Withlacoochee; now, heading back south through the Florida Panhandle, we stopped in White Springs — a small town the river bends around — and found more than we expected.

Old building with Spring Tree blooms, White Springs, Florida

RV travel through north Florida, route to White Springs

Blackwater River State Park, Florida: One of America’s Purest Rivers, Tea-Dark Water & Trails of Appalachian Sand

March 3, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: March 3, 2017

From Bella Terra we headed back into Florida and into one of its lesser-known gems. Blackwater River State Park opened in 1968 and covers about 600 acres in the Florida Panhandle — a destination built around one of the purest sand-bottom rivers in the United States. We came looking forward to canoeing, got rained out of the trails, and still left thoroughly impressed.

The dark tannin-stained water of Blackwater River flowing through Blackwater River State Park, Florida

Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida: Fort Pickens, Geronimo’s Captivity & Sunsets Lit by Controlled Burns

February 21, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: February 21, 2017

Gulf Islands National Seashore stretches from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi, protecting the natural and historic resources of a chain of Gulf Coast barrier islands that have seen an extraordinary amount of American history. The protected area spans mainland sections and parts of seven islands — and the ground here has been fought over, abandoned, reclaimed, and fought over again for more than 500 years.

White sand beach and clear emerald water at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Florida: Top 1% Camping, Rare Coastal Dune Lakes & a Wine Bar in Destin

February 18, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: February 18, 2017

Trailer Life and Woodall’s rank Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in the top 1% of campgrounds in the nation. That’s a bold claim for a Florida state park, but after a few days here it’s hard to argue. The park has over three miles of pristine white sandy beach fronting emerald Gulf water, coastal cypress domes, freshwater lakes, and wet prairies — and the camping infrastructure to match.

Emerald Gulf water and white sand beach at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, Florida

St. George Island State Park, Florida: Five Bald Eagles, Gulf Oysters & the Pine Trees That Built the Navy

February 12, 2017 by Michael Huntley

Last Updated: February 12, 2017

St. George Island State Park — formally the Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park — sits at the eastern tip of a 22-mile barrier island off Florida’s Panhandle coast. Barrier islands run parallel to the mainland, absorbing storm surge before it reaches the shore. At St. George, that translates to nine miles of undeveloped shoreline, rolling sand dunes, a longleaf pine forest, and salt marshes on the bayside where oyster bars and inlets stretch toward Apalachicola Bay. Forbes ranked it the third-best beach in America in 2013. After walking its empty Gulf-side shore, we weren’t surprised.