Florida Panhandle Coast (US 98)

What should you know before visiting Florida Panhandle Coast (US 98)?

Tolls and vignettes for a car: about $3 (FL).

• Reservations are strongly recommended. Campgrounds are busiest from March through August and on holiday weekends, when booking months ahead is advised.
• Visit Florida lists Fort Pickens RV areas for rigs up to 50 feet. The booking page counts RV plus tow vehicle and warns of low limbs, so check each site's restrictions.
• Camping right at the waterline is usually not permitted. Sites generally sit behind the dunes, to protect sea turtles and nesting birds.
• Fort Pickens Road and the campground have closed after flooding and storms. Check the current notices of Gulf Islands National Seashore (National Park Service).

The drive

Visit Florida lists, west to east, Pensacola Beach, Navarre, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Miramar Beach, Seaside, Grayton Beach, Cape San Blas and St. George Island. Scenic Highway 30A follows the 28-mile South Walton coast with 15 coastal dune lakes. Gulf Islands National Seashore stretches about 150 miles along the Gulf coast between Florida and Mississippi. The sources do not describe the road itself in detail; plan the drive with a current map.

Camping

Fort Pickens near Pensacola Beach has roughly 180–200 sites for tents and RVs (sources differ), many with water and electricity. State parks such as Big Lagoon (75 sites), St. Andrews (176) and St. George Island (60) are booked online. At Fort Pickens a site allows no more than two vehicles, and non-campers may not enter at night. The sources do not cover overnighting outside campgrounds, so clarify locally beforehand.

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