Perfect Camping for You in Florida! Best Tent Camping: Florida will guide you to the quietest, most beautiful, most secure, and best managed campgrounds in Florida. Painstakingly selected from more than 1,000 campgrounds in the forest, in the swamps, and on the coast, each campsite is rated for beauty, noise, privacy, security, spaciousness, and cleanliness. Each campground profile provides essential details on facilities, reservations, fees, and restrictions, as well as an accurate, easy-to-read map, making the campground easily accessible. Well-traveled outdoors writer Johnny Molloy has used his wealth of experience and scoured the entirety of Florida for this updated edition―choosing only the most pristine campgrounds that include great locales for tent campers and feature fun outdoors activities nearby, most as close as your tent door. Whether you are a native Floridian in search of new territory or an out-of-state vacationer, Best Tent Camping unlocks the secrets to finding and enjoying the best tent-camping experiences in Florida. Johnny Molloy is a writer and adventurer based in Johnson City, TN. He has written more than 40 books about the outdoors, including hiking, camping, and paddling guidebooks; comprehensive guidebooks about specific areas; and true outdoor adventure books set throughout the Eastern United States. Molloy writes for various magazines and websites, and he is a columnist and feature writer for his local paper, the Johnson City Press. Big Lagoon State Park Campground Big Lagoon State Park Campground was built on an ancient, wooded sand dune, which accounts for the varied campsites you find there today. Beauty: 4 stars Privacy: 4 stars Spaciousness: 4 stars Quiet: 3 stars Security: 5 stars Cleanliness: 4 stars KEY INFORMATION ADDRESS: Big Lagoon State Park, 12301 Gulf Beach Highway, Pensacola, FL 32507 OPERATED BY: Florida State Parks CONTACT: 850-492-1595, floridastateparks.org; reservations 800-326-3521, reserveamerica.com OPEN: Year-round SITES: 75 EACH SITE: Picnic table, fire ring, water, electricity ASSIGNMENT: Self-assignment via Reserve America, otherwise assigned by ranger REGISTRATION: By phone, online, or at park entrance booth FACILITIES: Hot showers, flush toilets, dump station PARKING: At campsites only in campground FEE: $20/night ELEVATION: Sea level RESTRICTIONS: PETS: On 6-foot leash; proof of vaccination required FIRES: In fire rings only ALCOHOL: Prohibited VEHICLES: None OTHER: 14-day stay limit Located on the Intracoastal Waterway, Big Lagoon is Florida’s most westerly recreation area. The water-dominated park has fishing, boating, hiking, swimming, and camping. Nearby Perdido Key Recreation Area features a white-sand Gulf beach. Big Lagoon’s campground has a mix of sites to suit any camper’s desires. Look over the campground before you pick a site, or you’ll miss out on a campsite that you wish you could have had. Big Lagoon Campground was built on an ancient, wooded sand dune, which accounts for the varied campsites you find there today. A very long and narrow loop road runs along either low side of the dune. This setup makes for a rolling campground with vertical relief, unusual for Florida. Differing degrees of forest cover make for both sunny, open campsites and hidden, wooded campsites. Tall slash pines tower above the campground, but the more prevalent pine is the low-slung sand pine that favors sandy coastal regions like Big Lagoon. Live oaks grow about, but they don’t reach the heights seen farther inland. Plants like dune rosemary combine with wax myrtle, winged sumac, and palmetto to form thick campsite buffers that shield you from your neighbor. Enter the loop. The campsites on the right-hand side of the loop are higher and have less-dense woodlands. The other side of the loop backs against a marsh and has campsites cut into moist woods. Still other sites are cut into the dune and have wooden walls to hold back the sand. The sites in the back of the campground are better suited for tent campers. Quaint wooden fences separate some of the campsites and protect fragile buffer vegetation. This area is the highest in the campground and has many appealing sites: adequate space and privacy can be found at nearly every one. Three clean and modern comfort stations serve the campground. Campground hosts and on-site rangers make this a very safe place to camp. Park recreation is just a walk away. Two nature trails leave the campground via boardwalks and connect to the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. There are two swimming areas: East Beach and West Beach. Neat, wooden picnic pavilions offer refuge from the sun between playtime in the water. East Beach has an observation tower overlooking the surrounding Gulf beaches and waters. Quality saltwater fishing for sea trout and flounder is available. Boaters have a boat ramp to launch their craft. Hungry campers can even go crabbing in Big La