Updated: 12 Dec 2017
This was by far our coldest visit to date. Low temps below freezing for the first two days gradually gave way to highs in the low 60s for our last two. We could hear the waves pounding from the campground so our walk on Sunday was only as far as Grayton Beach for hot chocolate and coffee.
Monday’s itinerary included a walk on the beach and a trip to Seaside for lunch at Great Southern Cafe and a bit of Christmas shopping. This included our first trip on the section of the bike trail and two new bridges across Western Lake on the way to Watercolor. What a tremendous improvement in safety.
Updated: 3 Mar 2016
Another four days in paradise has left us all feeling relaxed and with a feeling that we are physically getting closer to home but it isn’t time to be there yet. There’s still a few things left to do here.
We had a couple of firsts during this visit. There was no rain for our entire stay. We had plenty of clouds and plenty of sunshine and the yellow flag, in my opinion, is a permanent fixture on the beach. Our first attempt to walk the beach was stopped by a very chilly breeze but our second was beautiful and sunny, not a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees. We have walked west to the town of Santa Rosa Beach a number of times but were always stopped because the lake at that point was open to the gulf. This time, however, the rainfall, waves and tide (what there is) were all on our side and we walked into Santa Rosa Beach. After toodling around for awhile, we considered our curiosity satisfied, and we returned to the park.
The next day we walked to Seaside for lunch at Great Southern Cafe. Along with our entrees came some very good smoked Gouda cheese grits. And another first, the window at the Seaside Post Office was open.
Yesterday was a work day and if you have to do some of that, this is easily one of the nicest places to do it!
Updated: 21 Jan 2016
We spent four wonderful days here (on three different sites) on this visit. That’s the way it works here. Unless you plan to be here at a certain time, you reserve what you can when you can and fill in however you can do it. Given the rain we had down in Apalachicola, we thought it would again be waterlogged but the park was quite dry.
This is still one of our favorite parks on the panhandle. Great biking to Watercolor and Seaside, long walks on the beach and food and other shopping quick and easy to get to. Very helpful and friendly rangers in the office made the campsite shuffle as easy as it could have been. And as always, clean, and hot showers.
Updated: 24 Nov 2015
This has been a unbelievably rainy fall in this part of Florida and the water is up in the park. The water starts about a foot off our gravel pad. What were paths from each site to the bathrooms with plenty of room for our screen tent are now more than slightly wet. Some of the hiking trails are flooded but there aren’t any problems in the campsites. One thing missing from our last visit would be the washing machines at the bath houses. They were quite convenient. Hopefully, this is a temporary situation.
The food wagons are still in Seaside. The construction and traffic seems to have gotten worse but this might just be all the people coming in for Thanksgiving.
All said, a wonderfully quiet place. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Original: 7 Mar 2015
There are a number of reasons why Grayton Beach consistently ranks in the top ten of Florida State Parks. The white sandy beach is easily accessed from the campground. The park is full of birds. The staff and volunteers are extremely friendly and helpful.
There are two loops in the campground. The newer one is more open and has concrete pads while the older one has sites carved out of the abundant vegetation. It’s not for larger RVs but perfect for tents and smaller RVs like ours. If you want open and sunny, pick the new loop. If you want private and secluded, pick the old loop. If you get a site that’s oriented just right, you can use your satellite dish.
Our first three days at Grayton were like the photo above. There were times during the day when you could barely see that there was a beach out there. Then, for our last day, we were rewarded for our patience with the 180 degree panorama below.
There is an 18.6 mile long bike trail that runs from Topsail Hill Preserve State Park to Inlet Beach along dune lakes through the planned communities of Watercolor, Seaside and Rosemary. The western end nearest Topsail is quieter and much less developed. There is a great deal of construction happening and there are many driveways cutting across the trail from Seagrove to Deer Lake so be extra careful to watch for vehicles. A collection of old Airstream trailers line the trail in Seaside serving everything from hot dogs to asian to anything with melted cheese.
Once you’ve parked in the campground, you can get to almost anything you need by bike. If you’re looking for a place to stop and unwind, this is it.