Blackwater River State Park is one of our favorite family outdoor locations. This park is one of the closest state parks to Pensacola, Florida and so it is ideal for a quick getaway.

Blackwater River has been designated a Florida Canoe Trail. The river is part of a statewide system of Greenways and Trails. We first visited Blackwater River State Park a little over a year ago while looking for a nice swimming area and a place to launch our kayak. Since then, we have spent many weekend days playing in the cool refreshing waters.

Chain of Lakes Trail

What can you do at Blackwater River State Park?

• Tubing – grab a tube and relax as you float down Blackwater River
• Kayaking
• Camping – The state park has a nice campground. The campground has full electric hookups, bathroom facilities, playgrounds, and access to the river.
• Hiking – hike the beautiful Chain of Lakes nature trail.
• Have a picnic in the day use area.
• Relax on a white, sandy beach

About Camping at Blackwater River State Park

Relax under the shade of longleaf pines in Blackwater State Park. Easily access Blackwater River from Juniper Lake Nature Trail. At Blackwater you’ll enjoy camping, swimming, and hiking in this beautiful location in Northwest Florida.

• Two campground loops
• 30 campsites
• Water
• Electricity
• Picnic tables
• Playground
• Hot showers, clean restrooms, and a dump station.
• Sites accommodate camping from tents to 35 foot RVs

Day use area at Blackwater River State Park

• Deaton Bridge – Just south of Deaton Bridge is a pay parking area for access to Blackwater River and Chain of Lakes nature trail. This location has picnic tables and BBQ grills. To access the sandy beach cross over Deaton Bridge road and access the beach at the beginning of Chain of Lakes nature trail. There are no restrooms at this location.
• Blackwater River State Park – less than a 1/2 mile north of the Deaton Bridge location is the gate to the Blackwater River State Park day use and campground area. This facility has bathroom facilities, outside showers, pavilions, and access the white sandy beaches on Blackwater River.

View Blackwater River State Park in a larger map

Articles about Blackwater State Park

• Blackwater River Family Kayak Trip
• Chain of Lakes nature trail location/maps
• A Cooler Side To Your Florida Vacation
• Florida State Parks [external link]

Smithsonian-Westerlund 1's young stars about 16,000 light years from Earth

Friday Evenings from Sunset–10 p.m., June 11-August 13

Volunteers from the Escambia Amateur Astronomers’ Association will set up a variety of telescopes for viewing stars, planets and constellations. You will be able to view the moon, Mars, Saturn and many of the constellations. This is a free event, but there is an $8 entry fee to Fort Pickens or $25 for an annual pass. For info., call (850) 934-2600 or go online to www.nps.gov/guis. See Events.

Our son surfing at the beach

How does a beautiful, sunny Spring day with white sands, emerald water and clean surf sound? Sounds like a perfect family weekend to me. The salty, cool water feels so relaxing. When I think about packing, I only want to take the essentials on the trip. One of those essential items happens to be a basic first aid kit. We love surfing and making sandcastles on the beach with the kids. I want my children to remember those great times at the beach and that means we need to go prepared.

This brings me to some water safety tips for beaches:

• Swim in designated swimming areas-These are sometimes marked off places with lifeguard present.
• Bring a first aid kit- Although lifeguards will have one, it is much easier to have a first aid kit right there with you- especially if you are beach camping and new a few extra items in the kit. Also, by having your own,  you won’t distract the lifeguards attention away from watching the water. So, what should be in a simple first aid kit: Waterproof band-aids, antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream for insect bites, aloe and for sure, put in vinegar and shaving cream or any of the new lotions for stings.
• Never swim or surf alone- It can be tempting to go out by yourself if others are busy, but it’s not a good idea. If you need help, a friend would be closer help than a lifeguard.
• Always wear sunscreen-Sunburns hurt and you really can get deadly skin cancer. Don’t wait until you or someone you know has skin cancer before you wear sunscreen. It only takes a minute to put on.
• Life-jackets- You may not know, but a kayak is considered a form of a boat and you must wear a life-jacket while using. Kayaking through the surf is a lot of fun and sometimes dangerous, so wear a life-jackets. Our kids wear their life-jackets as they paddle out into the surf with us and then they like to jump off the kayak when we get close to shore.
  
• Be aware of water conditions- Make sure to check the beach flags and know what they mean. It’s important to know if there is a rip current or red tide in the water in order to keep your family safe. Below are a list of the colored flags and their meanings. They are posted daily.

Don’t let fear keep you from getting in the water at the beach this year. There’s nothing better than cool, saltwater-especially during allergy season. There are a ton of fun things to do at the beach. Have a great time and be water safe!

No salt in your water? Fresh water is refreshing too. Join us for the final water safety section which will be about rivers.

Jellyfish photo by the_tahoe_guy

Peacock at Gulf Breeze Zoo

Spring Break began and I got spit on! Yes, that’s correct. One of the llamas at the Gulf Breeze Zoo spit on me. Chewed food went splat all over my face and shirt. As you can imagine, it gave a good laugh to the family.

At the zoo, we enjoyed looking at the animals and feeding the ones we could feed. After lunch, we took the zoo train ride. The kids always like the train rides. On the ride you get to see monkeys, gorillas, hippos, different varieties of deer, and more.

Then, it was time to head to the campground and set up camp. At check in, we were greeted by one of Navarre Beach Campground’s friendly staff.

After setting up camp we cooked some burgers outside on the Coleman stove…yummy! We didn’t quite have our camping supply list made as we packed, so a quick supply run to Walmart  was necessary and then it was pool time! The campground has a heated pool and hot tub. This was such a treat.

To top off the day we took our smores gear to the campground fire ring where a nice hot fire was waiting for us. We got to meet some folks at the campfire. That was a nice way to top off a new day.

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Day two was filled with fun. We awoke to a cool fresh morning with birds singing. We cooked bacon and pancakes for breakfast… Yummy! After breakfast we headed to the pool. Yes, I know we’re roughing it this time. It’s been good having a pool being that our daughter broke one of her big toes and can’t get around much. So, this has been a good place to spend our Spring Break.

After lunch we enjoyed sitting on the beach and I went on a quick kayak ride. The beach is located on Santa Rosa Sound. There is a fishing pier, bench swings, and lounge chairs.

We finished the day having BBQ chicken, swimming in the pool, and making smores by the public fire ring.

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Come journey with us as we enjoy a week of fun this spring break. This year we’ve headed to the Navarre Beach Campground. We want to invite you to join with us as we share our experiences and photos from our trip.

• Blackwater Heritage Trail & Fort Pickens
• Gulf Breeze Zoo & Campground
• Fun in the Sun
• A Blue Heron, Pelicans, and Joe Patti’s

This year the Greater Good event also helped raise awareness for Big Brothers and Big Sisters, an organization bringing together mentoring relationships for children. What in our busy lives could be more important than the encouragement and guidance we can bring to others? So, in a fun, family, outdoor environment we took the opportunity to cultivate our own family relationships as well as to help cultivate community.

The festival was held at Adventures Unlimited, so people could camp and stay together all weekend or just come and go on various days. Adventures Unlimited offers cabin camping or regular tent or in our case pop-up camper camping. We recently bought a camper that we got to use for the first time. Love it! Although we did not bring our kayak on this trip, there is river access which is perfect for kayaking, canoeing or tubing. Scout groups and other youth groups can come and use the other amenities like the rope course. This area is even available for company picnics. The large open field was the perfect place for safe playing and relaxing. We all brought our chairs and blankets and spent the day together.

Favorite Festival Vendors:

• Beehaven- My daughter was immediately enamored by artist Talia J. Gate’s Blushing Ballerinas, so we bought her the note cards which included five different ones.

• Gulf Coast Authors- We were excited to see the great books offered by our own local writers. One of the books called From the Wilderness by J.R. Thompson is said to make a good read for children ages 8 to 98. A recipe book by ToniAnn Guadagnoli caught my attention. She includes recipes from her Italian family for tiramisu, bruschetta, eggplant parmesan, and biscotti in her book titled Recipes and Remembrance.

• Escambia Amateur Astronomers- This booth was a favorite of our whole family, especially of our son. We viewed various things including the sun with a filter and in the evening the Orion nebulus. They will be having stargazing at Pensacola Beach on March 19, 21, 23. If you want more astronomy activities for children, check out this page for your junior astronomer http://www.eaaa.net/juniorpagesection.htm

Favorite Festival Activities:

• Mike Potters, the Belmont youth guitar instructor, held a kazoo and harmonica workshop which was a hit with the children. Mike gave out free kazoos and harmonicas and taught the children a few songs to play with their new instruments. He and Lauren Southern, the children’s area coordinator, also lead the children in singing songs; I even loved singing along!

• Hula hooping- Hula hoops were lying around the children’s tent for anyone to pick up and try. People of all ages enjoyed them.

• Face painting- There were always lines of kids waiting to get their faces painted. The workers were great! Kids got to pretend to be butterflies, lions and many other things. Our daughter got transformed into a snow fairy on Saturday and became a beautiful queen on Sunday.

• Relaxing by the river- Many of us decided to take a break from the music and games to just explore alongside of the river while the kids played. Other families rented kayaks for some time out on the water.

• Music- Musicians like Tanya Gallagher, Tammerlin, and Betsy Badwater played most of the day and into the evening.

The Greater Good Art, Music and Chilren’s Festival was a great family event for fostering community. I hope to see you next year. In the mean time, as the weather warms and we start carefully cultivating our gardens, let’s also work on cultivating or enriching our own family relationships and see how we can reach out in helping others through time in the outdoors. Life is Short, Live with Purpose, Let’s Go Explore!

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Photo by Jim Trottier

With several family camping trips behind us now, I started thinking about some ways to make each camping trip filled with something new this year. Living on the gulf coast, we always choose campsites with swimming access and other activities. However, during the times of hanging out and enjoying our campsite, I would like to have a variety of activities for the kids to do. While we are not opposed to technology out camping- we take our iphones everywhere for the GPS, etc- we would rather limit the time our kids are watching movies or playing app games on the phones. There are several games many of us played as children that my children have not learned yet.  And, since our social daughter will start looking for children to play with at other campsites, I decided a fun way to meet our camping neighbors could be to introduce ourselves to them and then invite their kids or grandkids over for a game.

Here are a some choices for games that could be played by children ages 5 and up- making many fun camping moments.

New  Orleans is started by picking two captains and they then choose their team. Each team has a home base. After teams are chosen, one team is chosen to present the charade. This team then decides what activity or occupation to act out such as washing dishes or pretending to be a doctor.  Once this has been done and the actions for the charade discussed, the teams line up on their home bases facing each other. The teams then approach each other and the team chosen to begin the game, begins with the following question:

Team 1: “Here we come.”

Team 2: “Where are you from?”

Team 1: “New Orleans.”

Team 2: “What’s your trade?”

Team 1: “Ice cream and lemonade.”

Team 1 then begins the charade and Team 2 tries to guess. The captain of Team 1 answers the guesses either by saying yes or no or you’re getting warmer. If the correct guess is made, Team 2 tries to catch the members of Team 1 before Team 1 can run back to their home base.

What’s the time Mr. Wolf is played with one player as the wolf. He/she will stand with back turned about 20 feet from the others. The others call out, “What’s the time Mr. Wolf” and the wolf turns to face the others and shouts out a time such as 10 o’clock. The others would then take 10 steps toward the wolf. The group will take the same amount of steps toward the wolf as the amount of hours in the wolf’s time. The wolf will then turn his back to the group again for them to yell “whats the time….” (He looks at the group only when he shouts the time at the group”. When the group gets close to the wolf the next time the group yells “What’s the time Mr. Wolf” and the wolf will say ‘DINNER TIME” and run after the group who are to run back to the start line and hopefully catch one of the group who will then be the wolf.

Capture the Flag can be played in an open field area between campsites. The field is divided into two halves, known as territories. Players form two teams, one for each territory. Each side has a “flag” or piece of fabric. Cloth napkins or bandanas would work fine. The flags are generally placed in a visible location at the rear of a teams territory. The object of the game is for players to make their way into the opposing team’s territory, grab the flag and return with it to their own territory without being tagged. The flag is defended mainly by tagging opposing players who attempt to take it. Within their own territory players are “safe”, meaning that they cannot be tagged by opposing players. Once they cross in to the opposing teams territory they are vulnerable. Different versions can be made up according to age level of children and number of players.

Up and Down is a variation of the game tag where one person is it and runs to catch the other players on the field. But rather than having one  to run to for safety, base is anything that you can climb up on top of.  So, at a campground, base would be a picnic table, chair or tree.

Whether you are planning to camp as a group or just with your  family, you are sure to have a memorable time playing  games while keeping your kids happy campers.

Fresh air with warm spring days and cool nights is perfect for beach camping along the Florida Gulf Coast. Now is the time to start planning ahead since the campgrounds fill up fast as the days begin to warm. The best part about camping on the Gulf Coast is many of the campgrounds offer online booking. Camping is also a great way to save money. When staying on the beach in a hotel, there’s a good chance you’ll spend over $100 dollars during peak season. Get closer to nature camping out and spend $20 – $50 per night.

We’ve put together a list of campgrounds from Pensacola to Panama City that are located on the Gulf of Mexico. I think you’ll enjoy these great beach locations on the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Big Lagoon State Park is located near Pensacola, Florida. This campground is a great family get-a-way located on the north side of the Big Lagoon waterway. Though not located directly on the Gulf of Mexico, the park has access to Big Lagoon and is minutes from the beautiful white beaches on Perdido Key.

Big Lagoon kayaking and observation tower

We’ve been to this park multiple times for day use and a few times for camping. This campground is perfect for families. The campground has a nice playground for the kids to play while you sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery.  In addition to the camping area playground there is another playground near the swimming area.

One thing I like about the park is the kayak launch they’ve created. The launch puts you right in a winding seagrass estuary. It’s a beautiful place for paddling and watching coastal birds.

Big Lagoon has many birding trails and a kayaking trail.The area also has places to fish and nice boardwalks that go out to a great observation tower overlooking Big Lagoon. For the camper that wants to get on the water, but does not have his or her own canoe or kayak there are canoes to use by contacting the park office.

Fort Pickens is another campground our family has enjoyed. The park is located to the west of Pensacola Beach and is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Fort Pickens is rich in both history and nature. The park includes swimming, hiking, kayaking, biking, fishing, birding, camping, and fort exploring. While camping at Fort Pickens we’ve enjoyed biking on the trails, hiking, exploring forts, watching fisherman on the pier, and enjoying the beauty of the surroundings.

Sunrise at Fort Pickens

The park has full electric hookups as well as bathroom and shower facilities. The camping areas are just a short walk to both the Gulf of Mexico and Pensacola Bay.

Grayton Beach State Park is located off Scenic Highway 30A in South Walton. Visitors will enjoy hiking, kayaking, fishing, and swimming. Grayton Beach is known as one of the most beautiful beaches in the United States. There are hiking trails through the coastal forests and miles of biking trails.

Henderson Beach State Park is located off Highway 98 to the east of Destin, Florida. Located on the pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Campers can enjoy lounging on the whites beach sands or hiking the trails.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is located between Henderson Beach State Park and Grayton Beach State Park. Topsail Preserve State Park is located on the Gulf of Mexico. The park has miles of beaches and boasts of its beautiful sugar white dunes. At the park you’ll enjoy biking, walking, swimming or fishing in the beautiful dune lakes.

Saint Andrews State Park is located on the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City. For those that enjoy the beach, this campground is a great pick. Visitors to the park will enjoy swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, hiking, and more. St. Andrews State Park has full facility campsites.

Now it’s time to start planning that Florida beach get-a-way.  If you’ve been to any of these campgrounds we’d love to have you share your experiences in the comments.  Happy camping!

Photo by Let Ideas Compete on Flickr

If your kids are like ours, they are active and need food. . . often. When hiking or busy with camping activities, you will have happier kids with more focused energy if you make sure they have plenty of great healthy snacks. These are some great snacks to make in an oven or dehydrator to take with you. They are healthy for you, taste great and won’t quickly spoil.

• Dehydrated fruit/Fruit roll-ups- Our family favorites are bananas, pineapples and apples. I like to add Apple Pie spice to the apples to give them a great cinnamon smell and taste. The best fruit roll-ups are the simplest ones; puree strawberries or blueberries with a little banana, apple juice and honey. If you don’t like bananas, yogurt is great too. Fruit only takes 5-7 hours of drying at 135 degrees.

• Beef jerky- It’s less expensive than jerky from grocery or convenience stores and really, it’s not that difficult. You can buy seasoning packets for dehydrators or try mixing soy, worcestershire and tomato sauce with a little pepper into some ground hamburger meat or thin steaks. Let marinade for 4-8 hours. Form meat into strips. Then, heat in your oven or dehydrator at 165 for 14 hours. For a higher quality, better tasting jerky use flank steak cut in thin strips by the grocery butcher. These will dry thoroughly in 6 hours.  Extra heating may be required if you need it to stay fresh for several weeks.

• Energy/Protein bars- I love to exercise outdoors and love my energy and protein bars- so do my kids! Here is a recipe for Carob Almond Bars.  Grind 1/3 carob chips (they are like chocolate), 1 cup slivered almonds, 3 cups of dried apples and golden raisins. Mix with 3/4 cup of unsweetened pineapple juice, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1/4 cup of honey wheat germ, 1/4 cup of protein powder and 1 cup more of carob chips. If using a dehydrator, spread onto fruit roll sheet over night at 135 degrees- approx. 14 hours. Cut in to bars and have great bars for your daily adventures.

If you are camping, of course, don’t forget the ingredients for an evening of smores. Lots of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate!