10 Best Things to Do in Henderson Beach State Park + Camping in 2024
Are you looking for crystal-clear, warm waters and campgrounds near Destin, Florida? Then Henderson Beach State Park, in the Florida panhandle, is the place for you! This park offers that and more, with beautiful green waters of the Gulf of Mexico that the whole family will enjoy.
This special place is great for day trips or for camping trips. The state park has easy access to stores in Destin and the surrounding beaches. We love exploring the Florida state parks and national parks while soaking in the Florida sun, and so will you. Grab your beach chairs and hit the warm gulf waters at this great Florida State Park.
Hours: 8 A.M. until sundown every day
Fees: $6 per vehicle
Address: 17000 Emerald Coast Parkway, Destin, FL 32541
Phone Number: 850-837-7550
Things to Do in Henderson Beach State Park
1. Visit the Beach
This may go without saying, but we will say it anyways. Visiting the beach at Henderson Beach State Park is a great activity. There are multiple beach locations, and the pristine white sugar sand beaches are spectacular.
If you want to relax with your family, try to catch some fish, search for sea shells, or play in the water, the beach at Henderson Beach State Park is a fantastic play. Make sure to bring a good beach chair and boogie board!
Interesting Fact: The sand here and surrounding beaches squeaks when you walk on it. This is because the sand is made out of quarts with a very specific shape that causes the sand to squeak when you walk on it.
2. Earn a Junior Ranger Badge
Our kids love getting junior ranger badges, and the great thing about the state parks in Florida is they all have a Junior Ranger Program. During these programs, you will learn about each state park, the different animals that frequent the park, and you can learn about the different activities people enjoy inside each state park.
We highly recommend participating in the Henderson Beach State Park Junior Ranger Program. While you are there, make sure you ask questions about the surrounding area because the people who work there are typically locals and know many sweet activities and some great places to eat.
If you’re looking for other state parks in the area to earn more badges, be sure to check out St Andrews State Park in Panama City.
3. Go Ghost Crabbing
Henderson Beach State Park is a fun place to go ghost-crabbing. If you have never been ghost crabbing or you do not know what that is, ghost crabs are small crabs that live in the sand at many of the beaches along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
During the day, you won’t typically see ghost crabs. They blend in with the white sand because the crabs are white, and they like to venture out of their burrows at night. When it is dark outside, you can walk on the beach with a flashlight, and you will see the ghost crabs running around on the sand looking for food.
Our kids love to try and catch the ghost crabs and see who can find the biggest crab. It’s one of their favorite things to do in Destin! After we catch them, we let them go. Ghost crabs are very fast, so you may want to have a net to help you catch them if you are going to try and catch them.
However, just watching them run around on the beach is fun. They are very fast.
Remember to be mindful of turtle nesting season from June through late September. If it is during nesting season, you will want to use red lights on the beach.
4. Visit the Playground
Henderson Beach State Park offers a nice little playground close to some of the beach parking area. Our kids love to visit every playground. It does not matter how big or small the playground is. If they see something that even resembles a playground, they want to check it out.
The park area here does not have the largest playground areas, but it has some ropes you can walk on and a few things to climb on, so a quick stop on your way to the beach or leaving the beach is nice.
5. Enjoy a Picnic
Picnics are a great activity on the beach, but if you don’t want to have the picnic right on the beach, then you can use the covered seating areas that are close to the beach. The easiest way to have fussy children and sometimes adults is to go to the beach hungry.
Make sure you back some food or snacks when traveling around the Florida state parks to keep everyone feeling good.
The shade here is also really nice if you’re going to have a baby at the beach and don’t have your own shade cover.
6. Walk On the Nature Trail
The Henderson Beach State Park has a short hiking trail that is pet friendly. The trail is just under a mile long, and it winds through some dunes and neat vegetation.
Something pretty cool about this area is that the dune has gradually shaped itself around an old bunker when the area was used for the military. If you enjoy geo-cashing, make sure to check out the different Geo-Cashes in the area.
7. Go Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico
Swimming and snorkeling here is a great and safe activity as long as you are paying attention. The water can be very warm and relaxing just make sure you don’t venture out into the Gulf of Mexico when the double red flags are out.
🚩 If there is a single red flag, you can still go into the ocean, but it is recommended you don’t go out very far and that you keep an eye on your kids.
There are five different flags that you should be aware of when swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. The first mentioned above is the double red flag. This flag means you are not allowed to enter the water.
The single red flag means high surf and that there can be hazardous sections, so stay vigilant. A yellow flag stands for moderate surf, and a green flag means there are calm conditions. You may see these flags accompanied by a purple flag, and this flag means there are stinging marine mammals in the area, like a man o war jellyfish or stingrays.
If the flagpole does not have a flag, you need to be cautious. An absence of a flag does not mean the area is safe.
8. Go Camping
Destin camping is a great activity, especially at Florida’s Henderson Beach. The Henderson Beach State Park Campground is a great way to explore the state park and spend some time with family.
This is not the only reason to stay here, though. To stay here, you will be treated to great campsites that are cheap. You won’t find cheaper accommodations in the area than camping at Henderson State Park Beach.
The state park is also right in Destin. You are across the street from a Walmart and many other great shops. If you want to explore other areas outside of Destin, there are some great nearby towns to explore, like 30A and Seaside.
9. Go Fishing
Fishing is such a great activity when visiting the state park near Destin, FL. You can fish inside the state park, or you can go on a fishing charter. Destin is a fantastic place to go on a fishing charter.
What makes it so great is you can catch amazing fish, and you don’t need to travel that far off the coast to find them. During our early morning walks on the beach, we saw quite a few people fishing right off the beach in the state park.
10. Looking for Nature and Wildlife at Henderson Beach State Park
Looking for wildlife is something we do everywhere we go. It does not matter if the wildlife is big or small. We saw lots of birds and bunnies playing inside the park, but there is abundant wildlife that can be found inside Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, FL.
When visiting the area, make sure to keep a lookout for fun animals. We also saw dolphins when in the area. Other animals that you could find within the park are sea turtles.
Henderson Beach State Park Camping
Henderson Beach State Park Camping Reservations
Reservations at Henderson State Park can be hard to come by. If you are looking to stay here, we recommend two options. The first option is to reserve a campground the earliest possible, which is 11 months in advance the same time it becomes available.
It took us multiple tries waking up at 6 am MST to get a reservation. People love to camp at the state parks in Florida.
If this is not an option for you, then you can try the Dyrt Pro. The Dyrt Pro has a notification feature that will continually search certain campgrounds and notify you when a campsite becomes available. If you use our code, “CSGinger” you can try Dyrt Pro for free for 30 days.
▶ Sign Up For The Dyrt Pro Free Trial Here
Campground Amenities
The campground at Henderson Beach State Park in Florida has 60 available campsites, and they can accommodate tents or RVs. Some of the sites are back in, and some of them are pull-through sites. The largest your rig can be is 60 feet long.
The sites have water and electric hookups, but they do not offer sewer hookups. They have a dump station that you can use if needed. We don’t like to move, so you will either want to use the restrooms and showers that are on-site, or you can use a portable waste tank.
Portable waste tanks work great for these types of campgrounds. The campground also has coin-operated laundry facilities. They are not the biggest, but they get the job done. The park also has your typical ground grills, picnic tables, and picnic pavilions.
One thing we really liked about this state park is that they had a family restroom with a combined shower. This made it so easy to shower our children. We didn’t need to send our young kids into the hot showers by themselves. Not all of the state parks have this as an option, but we hope this gradually becomes mainstream.
Pets at Henderson Beach State Park
Pets are allowed at this Destin state park, but they are not allowed everywhere. Your pets are allowed on the nature trail, parking areas, and the campground. Pets are not allowed on the beach in this area.
If you are wanting to take your pet to the beach, make sure you are taking them to a pet-friendly beach. Many of the beaches in Florida and the state parks do not allow pets.
Hotels near Henderson Beach State Park
If you are not into Henderson Beach State Park RV camping, then you will be glad to know that many of the best hotels are right next to the state park. In part, this is because of the majestic shoreline that lines the state park. Below are our favorite hotels in the area.
The Henderson Beach Resort & Spa
The Henderson Beach Resort & Spa is a fabulous resort to stay at while visiting Destin, Florida. The resort has everything to make your trip amazing.
They have gorgeous rooms, restaurants, pools, and a spa. We enjoy getting a nice couples spa treatment when we can. The estate is like staying in your super-rich uncle’s mansion. You will love staying here and getting to relax on the private beach.
Beautiful, quiet, clean property. The staff was all around fantastic, helpful, friendly but not overly attentive to the point of feeling uncomfortable. The beach here is stellar- and having a private beach makes the trip far more enjoyable than pretending as though one would be able to find parking at a public beach. Adorable kid’s activities (no children for us) but the consideration put into kids events shows. 10/10 recommend
– Tyler (Read more reviews)
▶ BOOK Henderson Beach Resort & Spa
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Destin
If you don’t want to stay at an expensive resort with a private beach, then you can save some money by staying at the beautiful Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Destin. The hotel has great reviews, and it is across the street from Henderson Beach State Park, making it one of the best hotels near Henderson Beach State Park, FL.
The grounds here are very accommodating, with an indoor and outdoor pool as well as free breakfast. It is close enough to the state park you could walk or bike ride to the beach. If you want to explore a little, the hotel is only a short drive to the cool Airstream Row in Seaside, Florida.
I really enjoyed stay in this hotel, very clean and the staff did a great job. The location is perfect.
– Luis (Read More Reviews)
▶ BOOK Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Destin
Other Fun Things to Do Near Henderson Beach State Park
Visit the 30A Beaches
Destin, Florida, is an amazing place to visit, but there are many close areas that we would recommend taking the time to visit while in the area. One of these areas is 30A. If you have not heard of 30A beaches, you should. These are wonderful places to break out the beach toys and enjoy a day in the Florida sunshine. You can thank us later.
Crab Island
Crab Island is awesome. It is not really an island, nor does it have crabs on it. The island is named crab island because it used to be an island shaped like a crab. However, the island has been submerged and now resembles a large sand bar.
What makes Crab Island awesome is that people visit the island sandbar and hang out floating or walking on the now-submerged island. There are floating food trucks, and at different times of the year, you can find sweet blow-up obstacle courses.
You will need to rent a boat or take a tour out to crab island to get there. It isn’t too far off the shore, but it is too far to try to swim. This is a really fun and relaxing place to hang out for the afternoon.
Fishing Trip
A fishing trip while in Destin is a must. Destin is nicknamed the luckiest fishing village because it is a great place to go on a fishing charter. I had a great experience with the fishing charter we took. We caught lots of fish, and they were delicious to cook and eat.
I sometimes balk at the prices for fishing charters and tours, but after doing them, I would do them over and over every time we return because they are so great and so worth it.
The Track Destin
The Track Destin is a fun adventure park where you can ride go-carts and amusement rides, play miniature golf, and play arcade games. We had a great time visiting the Track Destin.
When we were there, it was not crowded at all, and all of our kids were able to have a great time. Our youngest, who was three at the time, thought she was driving the go-cart and had the biggest smile.
Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
At Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, you can see live shows with dolphins, sea lions, and harbor seals. At the adventure park, there are also aquariums and touch tanks inside the park where you can touch different creatures.
The best part about the park is the dolphin shows. Watching the dolphin show was so cool. They teach you how they train the dolphins, and you get to see the dolphins do some amazing tricks. The adventure park also has some other animal shows that we enjoyed.
Okaloosa Island
Okaloosa Island is an 8-mile-long barrier island located between Pensacola Beach and Destin, Florida. It is a popular destination due to its stunning white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, quaint boardwalk, fun activities, and nearby attractions. Those who visit the island enjoy beachcombing, fishing, kayaking, parasailing, dolphin watching, kite-flying, and sunbathing.
There are also lots of beach-front Destin hotels here if you’re looking for a hotel in the area.
Destin Boardwalk
The Destin Boardwalk has been around for many years. This boardwalk runs along the harbor in Destin, and it is a great place to take a walk and people-watch. The boardwalk also offers some restaurants with outdoor seating, an ice cream shop, souvenir shops, and other shopping options. It’s worth a visit while in Destin.
FAQ: Henderson Beach State Park?
What Does it Cost to Get Into Henderson Beach State Park?
The cost to get into Henderson Beach State Park is $6 per vehicle.
Does Henderson State Park Have Cabins?
Henderson State Park does not have cabins available to rent.
Does Henderson Beach State Park Have Showers?
Yes, Henderson Beach State Park does have showers, and they are great. The best thing about the showers is they have a family shower and restroom combination. This is great for families with small children.
Are Dogs Allowed on Henderson Beach State Park?
Yes, dogs are allowed at Henderson Beach State Park, but they are not allowed on the beach or the park area. They are allowed on the nature trail.
Is There Seaweed at Henderson Beach State Park?
Yes, there can be seaweed that washes onto the beach at Henderson Beach State Park. Sargassum seaweed is the most common type of seaweed you will find. However, you won’t find it there all the time. We didn’t see any seaweed the last time we were visiting the park.
Conclusion: Henderson Beach State Park
If you are visiting Destin, Florida, or staying at one of the nearby Fort Walton Beach hotels, we definitely recommend visiting Henderson Beach State Park. If you don’t stay at the park, stay at one of the nearby Henderson Beach State Park hotels. We enjoyed our time at this state park and found it to be in a great location and very family-friendly.
We hope you love your time in Destin and get to explore this state park and the surrounding area. Get out with your family and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
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