Big Lagoon State Park - Pensacola, Florida (November 2022)

Our last Rosie adventure camping in the Pensacola area was memorable. (Rosie is the name of our Airstream trailer.) Our trip was cut short when that campground closed because of a hurricane in the Gulf. As Yogi Berra said, “It seemed like deja vu all over again” as we packed to go to a different park along the Gulf and we saw news stories about a new hurricane coming up the coast. We could not help but wonder if this was going to be another abbreviated trip. 

Before we left home, we called the Ranger Station at Big Lagoon State Park to talk about the possibility of that park closing. Yes, the Ranger would close the park if a hurricane was approaching it, but his information suggested the storm was going to miss Pensacola.  That was good enough for us and we continued to load Rosie and headed to Big Lagoon. 

Sign at the entrance to the park

Check in at Big Lagoon State Park was a breeze. We gave our name and our site number to the ranger on duty at the entrance station and he gave us our registration papers and vehicle pass. Things quickly went downhill from there. 

Our site (55) was mostly loose sand. We could see the deep ruts made by the previous camper as we started to back in. We finally parked and the iPhone app we use to level Rosie said we had to raise the right side five inches to even approach level. That wasn’t going to happen because the tires on our truck spun in the soft sand as we backed in. We knew that going up on the leveler blocks would be impossible.

As we were about to accept the obvious fact that our reserved site was a sand pit and we would spend our time there with a pronounced side-to-side lean, a camp host came over to help us. He called in a Ranger and after a short conference, we were moved to an open campground volunteer’s site. Instead of parking in what could have been a golf course sand trap, our new site was paved with grass and a few sandy areas. Things were looking up!

Rosie in the Volunteers Loop

Speaking about looking up, we learned that the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels team was scheduled to perform their “Homecoming” show during our stay. The Pensacola newspaper predicted that 150,000 people would attend that air show. That helped us decide to avoid the crowd and watch the show from the campground. 

We heard the jets more than we saw them, but were impressed with their performance. 

The sign that kept us from walking to the "point" to see the Blue Angels

Big Lagoon State Park was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sally two years before this visit. We were not surprised by the damage because we camped there several times after the storm. We were amazed that most of the park was still closed from the storm damage. This park had some great trails and places to ride bikes, but those had been closed for more than two years and that limited the activities you could do there. 

The boardwalk remains impassible

Do we want to go back to this campground? Yes, but we will probably wait until they start reopening the areas damaged by Hurricane Sally before making our next reservations there. 

Along the shore in Big Lagoon State Park

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground. We were placed into a campground volunteer's site and were amazed at how many other campers in the park asked us how long we were going to serve as volunteers in the campground 
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides. Our site was huge because it was a volunteer's site. We know that we will have to serve as campground hosts if we ever want that site again
• Our original site could qualify as a golf course sand trap. It had an abundance of soft sand and our truck’s tires were spinning and digging ruts as we tried to park there. Our second site was paved with grass and gravel with a few patches of soft sand. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in this park. It was a long way from our site
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground and in the middle of the second camping loop. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were several bathhouses in the campground 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Bounce, Charge, Circle, Court-TV, Dabl, Get, ION, ME-TV, Stadium and TBD
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Boats returning after watching the Blue Angels show

Path to the shore at Johnson Beach

Johnson Beach

Big Lagoon State Park, Pensacola, Florida (November 2021)

It felt odd to return to Big Lagoon State Park. The park was closed by order of Florida’s governor the last time we camped there in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. That was back in 2020, the early days of COVID. No one at that time had any idea how bad it was going to turn out. What we knew then was that the State of Florida, along with most other states, closed all of public parks and campgrounds and we had to leave after being there for only a few days. 

Sign at entrance to the park

It also felt good to return. 

We read that Hurricane Sally damaged the park and called the Ranger’s Station to learn more before we made our reservations. What we heard wasn’t encouraging. It sounded as if the campground was about the only place in the park that was still open. About three-quarters of the boardwalks were damaged and closed, the observation tower was unreachable and the park's roads were closed beyond the boat launch area. That meant we could not get to the kayak launch area. That was disappointing because we loved exploring the waterways in this park from our kayak. Our expectations were rock bottom after talking to the ranger. We decided that we would simply explore any open trails and enjoy the few areas that were still accessible. 

Rosie's site in the campground 

On our earlier visits to this park, we frequently rode our bikes on the boardwalks from the campground to the bay. We occasionally stopped as we passed by what we called the alligator pond then continued on to the bay side of the park. Stopping was mandatory this time because the rest of the boardwalk was barricaded.  

We hadn’t noticed before the quiet beauty of that spot.  We enjoyed walking there most mornings and afternoons. We remarked several times about how peaceful it was there. In case you are wondering, we did see an alligator in that pond. 

At the "alligator" pond

The reflections were great

We also saw two deer with babies near the alligator pond. Add armadillos, snakes, squirrels and many varieties of birds to that list and you see why some people mentioned wildlife in their reviews of this park.

Yes, you can see the alligator in this photo

The barricades after the "alligator" pond

Experienced campers know that most campgrounds change personalities over weekends. The campground filled with young families with children. We enjoyed seeing excited children laugh and play in the park. 

For some reason, weekenders seem to believe they don’t have a good campfire unless it is belching out a blinding cloud of smoke. It was sadly amusing to see the campground area engulfed in a cloud of smoke as we walked our dog weekend evenings. 

The temperature dipped into the 30s while camping at Big Lagoon. Rosie’s heat pump kept us warm until the temperature was too low for it to keep up and the propane furnace took over. There was a surprising number of people camping in tents and we hoped they were able to stay warm during the cold snap. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were three loops in the campground 
• Some sites had minimal shade. More sites were either full or partial sun. It helps to have a good working air conditioner when camping here 
• Most sites had some space on both sides 
• The surface of our site was dirt. Make that soft dirt. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. We noticed that the leveling blocks kept sinking in the sand as we stayed there
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service. It appeared that only a handful of sites had 50 amp service as most sites were 30 amp only
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in this park. It was near the entrance to the camping area and was a long way from our site.
• The trash dumpsters were near several bathhouses. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were three bathhouses in the campground. They appeared to be clean and well maintained 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Bounce, Comet, Court-TV, Get, Grit, ION, ME-TV, Stadium and TBD
• This was a pet friendly park 

We noticed while walking around the campground one afternoon that there were a couple of sites with about six or seven people pitching one-man tents. We talked to several in that group and found out they were a bicycle tour group traveling from San Diego, California, to St Augustine, Florida. They described their bike ride as three weeks before Texas, three weeks in Texas and three weeks after Texas. Most of the members in this group were in their 60s and 70s. That group was gone the next morning as they continued their trip. 

We hope the park recovers from Hurricane Sally. It was easy to tell that they are making progress rebuilding what we have always considered to be a fun park to camp in. 

Wildlife at the park

A selfie

Big Lagoon State Park - Pensacola, Florida (March 2020)

We knew what the Ranger was going to say before he reached Rosie, our Airstream trailer. The concerned look on his face gave it away. 

We were right. He told us the State of Florida was closing all state parks at noon on Friday and we needed make plans about where we would head next. 

Why was Florida closing all state park campgrounds? The simple answer is the Coronavirus, which is also the complex answer to any question during that time that dealt with human interactions. 

We were amazed and shocked at how fast the Coronavirus entered our conversations, sent everyone running to empty store shelves in a panic and left us afraid to be closer than a ten-foot pole to each other. (I think I finally understand that saying from my elementary school days.)

We were at Big Lagoon for our family version of Spring Break. 

Sign at the entrance to the park

Spring Break traditionally meant our family would be found camping in T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park. For the second year in a row, that park remained closed to camping due to the damage suffered in 2018 from Hurricane Michael. In addition, the access road to the campground was breached leaving it an island. 

So, this was our second year of spending Spring Break at Big Lagoon State Park. That wasn’t to imply that Big Lagoon was a second tier park. It simply wasn’t the park our family historically went to for Spring Break. 

Big Lagoon is a park that we always want to bring our bicycles and kayak to. We brought both and used neither. Between my hurt ankle and the fear of the Coronavirus that gripped everyone, we mostly stayed inside Rosie and avoided other people when we took Suzy, our Yorkie, out for brief walks. We were thankful that there was a good distance and shrubbery between individual camp sites in this park.

Section of the boardwalk

Everyone else in the park was doing the same as we didn’t see children riding their bikes nor were people outside their trailers enjoying the park. It appeared to us that the campers on either side of Rosie were grandparents who were probably keeping their grandchildren while the public school systems were shutting down in most states. I guess the shutdown of Florida’s state parks instantly made things more difficult for those grandparents.

The swamp area where alligators are typically found

Suzy on the boardwalk

The alligator warning sign

Becky’s sister and her husband were camping in the Navy’s FamCamp while we were in Big Lagoon. We were able to visit them on Battleship Row and they visited us in Rosie. We would have seen them more but they had to head south to help with their grandchildren, who were suddenly in a homeschool situation.

Navy FamCamp area

Battleship Row in Pensacola Navy FamCamp

Becky and her sister in their RV

We hope our Spring Break trip next year will be completely uneventful and relaxing. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There are three camping loops in this park. 
• Our site had a concrete pad. 
• Our site had 30 and 20 amp electrical service. 
• Our site had a water connection. 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection. 
• There was one dump station located at the entrance to the campground. 
• There were three restrooms/showers in the camping areas. We noticed that the volunteers were spending more than an hour scrubbing and cleaning the restrooms every day.  
• AT&T placed a strong 4G signal over our campsite for voice and data. 
• Similar to many state parks, Big Lagoon does not provide WiFi. 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS TV stations using Rosie's antenna. We also received digital signals from GET, GRIT, ME-TV MY-TV, Stadium and Comet. The signal strength would fluctuate during the day. We were glad we brought our over-the-air DVR from home loaded with episodes of shows we wanted to watch. 

Evening photo of Rosie in Big Lagoon

Becky and Suzy in Big Lagoon

Big Lagoon State Park - Pensacola, Florida (March 2019)

One of our family’s long-standing camping traditions was to spend spring break camping at T.H. Stone St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Florida. This was a wonderful park and one of our favorites.

Was?

We are not there this year and the park is probably empty. That’s because Hurricane Michael turned the peninsula into multiple islands. You have to use a boat to get to it. Port St. Joe Peninsula State Park is closed and unlikely to reopen anytime soon. 

That is very sad to us. 

The state park near Port St. Joe isn’t the only Florida park closed this year. Several parks haven't recovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. We hope these parks quickly reopen. 

If you have camped in a Florida State Park before, you know that you have to make your reservations about a year before you want to arrive there. When it was time to plan our Spring Break trip, we decided that we would take Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, to Big Lagoon State Park near Pensacola instead of Port St. Joe. Pensacola is a few hours closer to our home and we thought that it would be interesting to go somewhere different on what has become our "shake-down" camping trip for the year. We didn’t know how fortunate that decision was at the time.

Sign at entrance of Big Lagoon State Park

We reserved our site in Big Lagoon State Park for two weeks. It was a form of entertainment to watch our neighbors as they moved sites nearly every day. We found out that most of these people had reservations at one of Florida’s closed parks and had to scramble to replace those reservations with something else, a day or two at a time. 

Rosie in our campsite at Big Lagoon

There is a variety of camping sites at Big Lagoon. Some sites have concrete pads while others are paved with soft beach sand. Most of the sites had some form of scrubs around them so that you didn't see your neighbors. We were fortunate in that we had a site with a concrete pad.

We kept hearing some of our fellow campers asking about what there was to do in this park. At first glance, it may appear that the options are limited, but this isn’t accurate. This is a park that you need to bring your bicycles and kayaks to. There are several trails that are great for bikes and the road in the campground area is paved. There are several lagoons and waterways that are fun for kayaks. To answer our neighbor's question, there are plenty of things to do in this park.

The lookout tower at Big Lagoon

View from the lookout tower

Walkway over the area next to the lagoon

Becky and Suzy on one of the hiking paths

An Osprey watches the nest

One of the bike/hiking paths we enjoyed included a small footbridge over a finger of the lagoon. We saw alligators there during a previous trip. We were happy to see a small alligator there this time.

A baby alligator and a turtle 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There are three camping loops in this park. 
• Our site had a concrete pad. 
• Our site had 30 and 20 amp electrical service. There are some 50 amp sites in this park. 
• Our site had a water connection. We noticed that the water filter in the kitchen sink needed to be replaced, but we left our spare at home. We were able to order a new one online and had it delivered to us in the park. 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection. 
• There was one dump station located at the entrance to the campground. It was common to see several campers waiting in line for their turns at the dump station. 
• There were three restrooms/showers in the camping areas. The one nearest us was exceptionally clean during our visit. (Thanks, volunteers!)
• There was a camp store in the first loop. It never opened while we were there. 
• AT&T placed a strong 4G signal over our campsite for voice and data. 
• Similar to many state parks, Big Lagoon does not provide WiFi. 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS TV stations using Rosie's antenna. We also received digital signals from GRIT, ME-TV and Comet. The signal strength would fluctuate during the day. We were glad we brought our over-the-air DVR from home loaded with episodes of shows we wanted to watch. 

We were amazed at the number of Airstream units we saw while we were in this campground. During the two weeks we camped in Big Lagoon, we saw eight Airstream trailers, two Airstream motor homes and a Nest there. 

It is a good thing that we have a “shake down” trip before we start our camping season. We discovered that we left some important things home. We updated our camping list and will be better prepared for our next trip. 

Getting ready to kayak in the lagoon

Out on the water

Tug pushing a barge

A great place for fresh and local seafood

A heron along the shore

A squadron of pelicans fly by

Sunset over the lagoon

The moon over the lagoon

Becky displaying a couple of watercolor pictures she painted at Big Lagoon

Big Lagoon State Park - Florida (September 2017)

What are the odds? You have to reserve campsites in most Florida State Parks nearly a year in advance to get a decent spot. Its ironic that we selected an arrival date at Big Lagoon State Park that turned out to be a couple days after Hurricane Irma hit Florida. In case you don’t remember Hurricane Irma, it destroyed and flooded property from the Florida Keys to the Florida panhandle.

We called the park the day before we were scheduled to arrive to make sure it was open. We were told that Big Lagoon was one of only two Florida State Parks that were open and able to accept campers. What are the odds?

You could not miss the convoys of utility trucks heading into Florida as we pulled Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer to the Pensacola area. It is always comforting to see people arriving to help after a disaster. Thousands and thousands of homes stretching from the Keys to north Florida were without power and an army of power trucks were moving in to help restore service. Pensacola may have been one of the few areas of Florida that was not feeling the impact of Hurricane Irma.

Rosie in Big Lagoon State Park

Our campsite in Big Lagoon State Park

We noticed that the park was nearly empty when we arrived. That was understandable since many people probably canceled their reservations due to the unpredictable path of the hurricane. Those camping in the park didn’t appear to us to be normal campers as few awnings were open and we didn’t see the usual trimmings found at most campsites. It didn’t take long to figure out that the park had several hurricane refugees who fled their homes with their RVs and were waiting to hear that they could return. 

For example, there was an Airstream family parked across from us. They told us they had fled from the Keys and were leaving the next morning to start the long drive home. They hoped their home stood up to the wind and waves. 

We were probably one of the few campers in the park paying the camping fees. The governor of Florida waived park fees for Florida residents escaping the storm. That helped explain why some campers in the park didn’t appear to be there on vacation. 

We tend to associate certain activities with the campgrounds we frequent. Big Lagoon is our “kayak” park. We enjoyed watching the birds along the shore as we paddled through the lagoons. We also found a baby alligator along the boardwalk connecting the campground to the lagoon.

The boardwalk in Big Lagoon State Park

A walking trail in Big Lagoon State Park

The Bay

Our youngest son and his family were able to visit us on Saturday. We drove over to Johnson Beach so that our eight-month old grandson could have his first beach experience. By the way, he wasn’t impressed with the Gulf but enjoyed eating ice cream that evening.

Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson visit Big Lagoon

Our grandson's first visit to the beach

Our grandson in Rosie

Our family in the park's observation tower

 Pensacola Naval Air Station is only a few miles from Big Lagoon State Park. We visited the Naval Museum of Naval Aviation and watch the Blue Angles perform.

We found an A3D on the tarmac (the type of jet Steve's brother worked on while he served in the U.S. Navy)

Becky found the "Blues"

That probably was the wrong button to push!

Suzy wasn't too impressed with the Blue Angles

Here are some specifics about this park:

• There were three primary camping loops in this park. 
• Our site had 50 and 20 amp electrical service. Some sites had only 30 amps. 
• Our site had a water connection with 40 pounds of pressure. 
• Our site did not have a sewer connection. 
• There was one dump station located near the campground exit. 
• Our site was dirt and required multiple leveling tools. 
• Each loop had a bathhouse. The bathhouse in our loop was well maintained and clean. 
• There wasn’t a breeze flowing through the bathhouse and that meant it was hot and stuffy. 
• Another bathhouse issue was that the timer controlling the lights wasn’t properly set. Too many campers found the lights off inside while it was still dark outside. 
• There was a camp store in the first camping loop. It was tiny, but had a good selection of items that weren’t “tourist “ priced. 
• The camp store sent a delivery cart around the campground every evening with firewood and ice cream, which are campground necessities for many people. 
• AT&T placed a strong 4G voice and data signal over the park. 
• The park did not offer Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi was available at the public library just outside the park. 
• We were able to watch off-air TV signals from: ABC, CBS, CW, COZI, FOX, NBC and PBS. We also saw digital signals from Antenna, Get, Grit, Ion and ME-TV. 

We continue to learn things on our camping adventures. We had two take-always from this visit. 

First, always travel with a few truck/Rosie cleaning supplies. We drove through a colony of love bugs and that meant we needed to clean both vehicles as soon as we parked. 

Second, we need to pay attention to the season when we reserve a campsite. The park wasn’t full in part due to Hurricane Irma. The other reason was because other people knew better than to make reservations where it will be hot during September. A Ranger said that the campground usually fills in October when the weather turns cooler. I think the odds are good next year that we will head north or to the mountains. 

We lost power a couple of times during our stay and it wasn’t the park’s fault. A big motor home plowed over a water connection and a power box while attempting to park. The rangers disconnected power to our section of the park to make sure the destroyed power box was safe then switched the power off again while fixing the problem.

You can rent canoes in Big Lagoon State Park

Sunset

Becky completed a plein air watercolor painting from the top of the observation tower

Enjoying the beach

Suzy plays with one of her toys

Big Lagoon State Park

Who is afraid of an alligator?

Boardwalk to the observation tower in Big Lagoon State Park