Florida State Parks System Guide

Florida has 175 state parks, trails and historic sites covering more than 815,000 acres, run by the Division of Recreation and Parks of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Florida DEP).

The same division page counts 101 miles of sandy beach inside the system, and a June 2026 DEP release adds more than 3,024 miles of multi-use trails (DEP release). Florida law gives the division the job to supervise, administer, regulate and control state parks, monuments, memorials and historic and archaeological sites owned by the state (Chapter 258, Florida Statutes).

For administration, section 258.001 splits Florida into five park regions. The First Region is the Panhandle, Escambia east to Jefferson County. The Second runs from Madison and Taylor across North Florida to Duval, Nassau and St. Johns. The Third covers the west-central peninsula from Citrus to Charlotte and Glades. The Fourth covers the central east coast and Orlando area, Flagler through Martin County. The Fifth covers Lee, Hendry, Palm Beach, Collier, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe (F.S. 258.001).

The statewide office is the Division of Recreation and Parks, 3900 Commonwealth Blvd, Tallahassee, FL 32399, phone 850-245-3029 (Florida DEP). Its page links to the Office of Greenways and Trails, the Office of Park Planning, park unit management plans, overnight reservations, volunteer programs, citizen support organizations and the Florida State Parks Foundation. Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division of Recreation and Parks website.

Cross Florida Greenway drew the most visitors of any Florida state park unit in FY 2022-23, with 3,444,052, followed by Honeymoon Island State Park at 1,528,178 (DEP economic impact assessment).

The whole Florida system counted 28,701,075 residents and visitors that fiscal year (DEP Office of Park Planning). Two of the ten busiest units in the report are long-distance trails rather than parks: Cross Florida Greenway and the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail.

The same Florida report puts the system direct economic impact at over $3.6 billion, with over $241 million in added sales tax revenue and 50,427 jobs supported by state park operations (FY 2022-23 assessment). It estimates about $125,498 of direct impact on the local community for every 1,000 people who visit a Florida state park.

A caution on dates: the assessment cited here is the FY 2022-23 edition, dated October 3, 2023, and the division says it has generated the annual report since 1994. The June 2026 DEP release cites over 28 million visitors and an estimated $3.6 billion in statewide economic impact for the last fiscal year (DEP release), the same rounded figures as the FY 2022-23 report. A DEP 2024 public access report says Florida State Parks hosted over 30 million visitors in FY 2023-24 (DEP 2024 public access report), so the two DEP attendance figures conflict, and the 2026 release does not name the fiscal year it means. Questions about the report go to the Office of Park Planning at 850.245.3051.

Florida residents can reserve state park cabins and campsites up to 11 months ahead and nonresidents up to 10 months ahead, under section 258.014 of the Florida Statutes (Chapter 258).

The rule covers cabins and RV, tent, boat and equestrian campsites in every Florida state park. A Florida resident who books more than 10 months out must give a valid Florida driver license number or Florida identification card number as proof of residency when making the reservation (Chapter 258). Because the windows are set in statute rather than park by park, the one-month head start for residents applies at every Florida state park campground.

Older and disabled Florida campers get a separate break. Section 258.016 creates a senior and disabled citizen camping permit, free of charge to Florida citizens 65 or older and to Florida citizens holding a current Social Security disability award certificate or a 100 percent federal disability award certificate. The permit gives the named person and one companion a 50 percent discount on current base campsite fees (F.S. 258.016).

Overnight reservations are booked through the link on the Division of Recreation and Parks page (Florida DEP). Fees collected at Florida parks are deposited in the State Park Trust Fund for park administration, improvement and maintenance (Chapter 258).

Florida law gives active duty service members and honorably discharged veterans 25 percent off a state park annual entrance pass, and several groups of families receive lifetime family passes at no charge (Chapter 258).

Under section 258.0145 of the Florida Statutes, honorably discharged veterans with service-connected disabilities receive lifetime family annual entrance passes at no charge. The same free lifetime family pass goes to surviving spouses and parents of service members who fell in combat, and to the surviving spouse and parents of a law enforcement officer or firefighter who died in the line of duty. Each benefit requires written documentation satisfactory to the division (Chapter 258).

Families operating a licensed foster home in Florida receive family annual entrance passes at no charge and 50 percent off base campsite fees, and families who adopt a difficult-to-place child through the Department of Children and Families receive a one-time free family annual entrance pass (F.S. 258.0142).

DEP also waives day-use admission on some holiday weekends. For America’s 250th anniversary, Florida State Parks waived admission fees from Friday, July 3, 2026, through Sunday, July 5, 2026 (DEP release). That waiver covered day-use only and excluded Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Skyway Fishing Pier State Park and Weeki Wachee Springs State Park; overnight accommodations, special events, concessions and vendor rentals stayed at full price. The release points visitors to FloridaStateParks.org to find a park and plan a visit.

The 2025 State Park Preservation Act barred new golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts, ball fields and similar sporting facilities in Florida state parks and limited new lodging, effective July 1, 2025 (Florida Senate summary).

The act, CS/CS/HB 209, passed the Senate 37-0 and the House 112-0 (Florida Senate). It requires DEP to manage Florida state parks and preserves for the greatest combination of benefits to the public and to the land’s natural resources, and for conservation-based recreational uses. Existing sporting facilities and existing lodging may keep operating and be repaired.

Chapter 258 now spells out what conservation-based recreation means in a Florida state park: fishing, camping, bicycling, hiking, nature study, swimming, boating, canoeing, horseback riding, diving, birding, sailing and jogging, managed to minimize impacts to undisturbed habitat (F.S. 258.004). Section 258.007 still lets the division grant concessions and leases for visitor accommodation, but not on terms that deny or interfere with free public access to natural curiosities.

The act also changed how Florida park plans are written. Updates to land management plans now need public hearings, plans must be published 30 days before a hearing, state park plans are developed with an advisory group, and advisory group hearings need 30 days of notice. It renamed St. Marks River Preserve State Park as Ney Landrum State Park and directed DEP to report on the state park system to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2025 (Senate bill summary). Residents who want a say in changes at a specific park can watch for that park’s plan hearing.

The Florida Park Service is the only state park system to win the National Gold Medal for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management four times, in 1999, 2005, 2013 and 2019 (DEP release).

The awards come from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association, and DEP calls Florida the first four-time winner (Florida DEP). The division page describes what fills the Florida system: swimming and diving in rivers and springs, birding, fishing, hiking and riding on scenic trails, battle reenactments, Native American festivals, art shows, museums and lighthouses (Division of Recreation and Parks).

Day-to-day Florida park questions, such as hours, campsite availability or a closure after a storm, belong with the individual park; policy and planning questions go to the division in Tallahassee at 850-245-3029, and economic and attendance data questions to the Office of Park Planning at 850.245.3051 (DEP Office of Park Planning). Building continues: DEP broke ground on April 6, 2026, on a new visitor center at Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, with meeting space and interpretive exhibits, and expects construction to finish in early 2027 (DEP release). The Digital Towns Florida recreation guides on camping, paddling trails and rail trails cover many of the same parks by activity.