# Road trips in Florida > 8 road trips and 28 hand-picked places in Florida, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/florida/ 8 road trips and 28 hand-picked places in Florida, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Florida - [The Overseas Highway to Key West](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/overseas/): A string of islands and 42 bridges, with a gator detour through the Everglades first. - [Florida Gulf Coast and the Everglades](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/florida-gulf/): Shell beaches on Sanibel, Naples and the Tamiami Trail across the Everglades. - [Florida’s Forgotten Coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/forgotten-coast/): Oyster towns and empty beaches on the Big Bend, from Pensacola to Cedar Key. - [Manatees and springs on Florida’s Nature Coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-nature-coast-springs/): Crystal-clear springs, winter manatees and the old fishing village of Cedar Key along US-19. - [White sand on the Panhandle: Pensacola to Panama City Beach](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b10-emerald-coast/): Sugar-white beaches, a Civil War fort, coastal dune lakes and the pastel towns of Scenic 30A. - [Florida’s Space Coast: Kennedy Space Center to Daytona](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-space-coast/): Rockets, wildlife refuges and empty dunes on the Atlantic shore, from Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Center north to Daytona Beach. - [A1A from Jacksonville to Daytona: forts, lighthouses and coquina](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-a1a-first-coast/): Florida’s oldest history along the Atlantic: a plantation island, a river ferry, St. Augustine’s forts and lighthouse, coquina beaches and quiet Flagler Beach. - [Central Florida springs: Wekiwa to the Ichetucknee](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b20-central-florida-springs/): A spring-hopping trip through inland Florida: manatees at Blue Spring, the Ocala National Forest, glass-bottom boats at Silver Springs and tubing on the Ichetucknee. ## Places worth the detour in Florida - [Seven Mile Bridge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/seven-mile/): Almost seven miles of open water on the Overseas Highway. The old bridge alongside is partly open to walkers. - [Weeki Wachee Springs](https://camping-spirit.com/places/weeki-wachee/): Mermaid shows have run in an underwater theater since 1947. You can also paddle the clear spring run. - [Three Sisters Springs](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-three-sisters-springs/): Clear blue springs in Kings Bay where hundreds of manatees gather on cold winter days. Boardwalks give views from above; parking is off-site with a shuttle. - [Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-fort-pickens/): A brick fort from the 1830s at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, surrounded by white dunes. The road can close after storms, so check conditions before driving out. - [Grayton Beach State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-grayton-beach/): Sugar-white sand, tall dunes and a rare coastal dune lake right behind the beach. Arrive early in summer; the day-use lot fills fast. - [Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-kennedy-space-center/): NASA’s visitor complex, with the Space Shuttle Atlantis, a Saturn V rocket in the Apollo/Saturn V Center and bus tours past the launch areas. Plan a full day; admission is charged and the large parking lots take RVs. - [Blue Spring State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-blue-spring/): The winter refuge of hundreds of West Indian manatees, watched from a boardwalk along the clear spring run from November to March. Swimming is closed in manatee season; the lots fill by mid-morning on cold days. - [Shark Valley, Everglades](https://camping-spirit.com/places/shark-valley/): A 15-mile paved loop through sawgrass, with alligators sunning at the edge. Rent a bike or take the tram. - [Southernmost Point Buoy](https://camping-spirit.com/places/southernmost/): A striped concrete buoy that says Cuba is 90 miles away. Expect a line at sunset. - [Coral Castle](https://camping-spirit.com/places/coral-castle/): More than 1,100 tons of coral rock carved and moved by one man working alone at night. Nobody is quite sure how he did it. - [Castillo de San Marcos](https://camping-spirit.com/places/st-aug-fort/): A 17th-century Spanish stone fort made of coquina shell. Rangers fire the cannons on many weekends. - [Bahia Honda State Park Campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/cg-bahia-honda/): Beachfront Keys camping with some of the clearest water in Florida. Book up to 11 months ahead. - [Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-homosassa-springs/): A spring-fed park where an underwater observatory lets you watch manatees and schools of fish at eye level. A pontoon boat runs from the US-19 visitor center to the main spring. - [Rainbow Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-rainbow-springs/): A first-magnitude spring with gardens and small man-made waterfalls from its old roadside-attraction days. Tubing on the Rainbow River starts from a separate entrance in summer. - [Manatee Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-manatee-springs/): A spring run flowing through cypress swamp into the Suwannee River, with a boardwalk to the river and a popular campground. Manatees come in during winter. - [St. Andrews State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b10-st-andrews-sp/): Gulf beaches, a protected jetty lagoon that is good for snorkeling with children, and boats to undeveloped Shell Island. - [Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island NWR](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-black-point-drive/): A one-way, 7-mile unpaved dike road through marsh and impoundments where spoonbills, herons, alligators and winter ducks feed close to the road. A refuge pass is required; early mornings from November to March are best. - [Playalinda Beach, Canaveral National Seashore](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-playalinda-beach/): The southern end of Canaveral National Seashore: an undeveloped beach behind high dunes, reached by boardwalks from numbered parking lots, with launch pads in view to the south. Entrance fee; the road closes around some launches. - [Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-ponce-inlet-lighthouse/): Florida’s tallest lighthouse, 175 feet high, with 203 steps to a gallery overlooking the inlet and the Atlantic beaches. The keepers’ houses hold a small museum; admission is charged and on-site parking is limited. - [Kingsley Plantation, Timucuan Preserve](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-kingsley-plantation/): The oldest standing plantation house in Florida, with the tabby ruins of 25 slave cabins on Fort George Island. Free and run by the National Park Service; the last stretch of road is narrow and unpaved. - [St. Augustine Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-st-augustine-lighthouse/): A black-and-white spiral-striped lighthouse on Anastasia Island, finished in 1874, with 219 steps to a view over the old city and Matanzas Bay. A maritime museum fills the keeper’s house; admission is charged. - [Fort Matanzas National Monument](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-fort-matanzas/): A small Spanish coquina watchtower from 1742 guarding the southern inlet to St. Augustine. A free passenger boat crosses from the visitor center on A1A, but not on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; boarding passes are issued on the day and trips stop in bad weather. - [Washington Oaks Gardens State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-washington-oaks/): Formal gardens under live oaks on the river side of A1A, and across the road a beach of orange coquina boulders shaped by the surf. Park fee per vehicle; visit the rocks at low tide. - [Wekiwa Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-wekiwa-springs/): A spring pool at a steady 72°F with swimming just north of Orlando, plus canoe routes down the Wekiwa River and pine-forest trails. The gate closes when the park is full on summer weekends, so arrive early. - [De Leon Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-de-leon-springs/): A walled swimming spring beside the site of an old sugar mill, with a nature trail and canoe access into Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Park fee per vehicle; weekends in summer are busy. - [Juniper Springs Recreation Area](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-juniper-springs/): A stone-walled spring pool and mill house built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Ocala National Forest, with a narrow 7-mile canoe run through subtropical forest. Day-use fee; lots fill on summer weekends. - [Silver Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-silver-springs/): One of the largest artesian springs in the world, known for glass-bottom boat rides that began in the 1870s. Wild rhesus monkeys live along the Silver River; kayaks and boat tours start from the main spring. - [Ichetucknee Springs State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b20-ichetucknee-springs/): A clear, cold spring river known for summer tubing, with a park shuttle from the south entrance. Visitor numbers are capped in summer; outside tubing season the head spring and river are calm and good for paddling. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Florida?** Popular routes include The Overseas Highway to Key West, Florida Gulf Coast and the Everglades, Florida’s Forgotten Coast and Manatees and springs on Florida’s Nature Coast. CampingSpirit has 8 trip guides that pass through Florida, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Florida are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Seven Mile Bridge, Weeki Wachee Springs, Three Sisters Springs, Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Grayton Beach State Park and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.