Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Gulf State Park

Fort Pickens, Florida & Orange Beach, Alabama: Camping on Santa Rosa Island, Civil War Brickwork & Gulf State Park

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Last Updated: August 1, 2026

Fort Pickens sits at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island inside the Gulf Islands National Seashore of Florida. Sandy and I have camped here before, and we keep coming back for the same reason: miles of white sand without the beach crowds or the wall of high-rise condos that swallow so much of the Florida coastline. This was our favorite kind of travel day — about an hour and a half of sunny, scenic coastal driving from Santa Rosa Beach and Topsail Hill Preserve to the Fort Pickens Campground, with our brand-new 27-foot Airstream behind the truck and Jake stretched out in the back seat.

Large coastal defense cannon aimed toward the Gulf of Mexico from the ramparts of Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola Beach, Florida, photographed by travel blogger Michael Huntley
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Gulf State Park, Alabama: White Sand Beach, 496 Campsites & the Herons Who Figured Out the Fish Cleaning Station

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Last Updated: February 24, 2017

We only had a couple of days at Gulf State Park, and it rained for most of them — so this isn’t an exhaustive account. But even a rainy short stay at one of Alabama’s largest state parks gives you a sense of the scale. Gulf State Park covers 11.5 square miles of Alabama’s Gulf Coast, with 2.5 miles of white sand beach, a 1,540-foot fishing pier, miles of paved trails, and enough campsites to house a small city.

White sand beach and Gulf of Mexico at Gulf State Park, Alabama

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