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Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
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Camp Helen State Park
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| State Park Contact Information: |
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Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
7525 W. Scenic Highway 30A
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459
Phone: 850-267-0299
Reservations: 800-326-3521
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Photography: add your photos
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| State Park Reservations: |
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Reservations: 
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| State Park Overview: |
| This park offers a wide variety of natural resources including 3.2 miles of secluded, white sand beaches with majestic dunes over 25 feet tall. Three rare coastal dune lakes provide excellent freshwater fishing. Although boats are not allowed, fishing from the shoreline yields bass, bream, panfish, and catfish. Lakes, pristine beaches, old-growth long leaf pines, sand pine scrub, and a variety of wetlands offer a bird-watching and hiking paradise. Visitors may bike, walk, or enjoy a quick ride to the beach on our timely tram service to swim, fish, sunbathe, or beachcomb. Gregory E. Moore RV resort features a (non-heated) swimming pool and shuffleboard courts. Furnished bungalows are available for weekly stays. A camp store offers a variety of camping items, as well as snacks and drinks. Located in Santa Rosa Beach on Route 30A, one mile off U.S. 98. |
| Nature of the Area: |
| Topsail Hill Preserve State Park has excellent trails, beaches, and lakes to view wildlife, including birds, reptiles, and mammals. Topsail Hill Preserve is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail |
| Reviews By Park Visitors: |
| Be the 1st to Review Topsail Hill Preserve State Park. You can rate it, post a comment on it, or do both. |
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| Camping: |
| The Gregory E Moore RV Resort has 156 sites with water, 30 or 50 amp electric, cable, sewer, (non-heated) swimming pool, laundry and shuffleboard courts. Bathhouses are heated and cooled. Big rigs welcome.
RV Camping
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park has excellent RV camping for visitors to enjoy. There are 156 sites with full hook-ups, including sewer, electric, cable, and water. |
| Trails: |
| Explore our Morris Lake Nature Trail as it meanders 2.5 miles through ancient dunes and scrub communities. Along this trail you can see old remnants of iron tracks can be seen from the first WWII missile development program in the U.S. Hikers can also enjoy miles of abandoned jeep trails within the park. Along Campbell Lake Nature Trail, enthusiasts may discover a diverse array of plants and animals covering an area of over 5 miles. |
| Picnicking: |
| Enjoy a picnic under our picnic pavilions located at the end of Topsail Road and near the beach boardwalk. |
| Swimming: |
| Swim in the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico anywhere along 3.2 miles of quiet, white quartz sand beaches. Lifeguards are not available. |
| Fishing and Hunting: |
| Try your luck on our excellent fishing spots. Enjoy fish water fishing on one of our coastal dune lakes. These lakes are full of many types of freshwater fish including bass, pan fish, and freshwater catfish. The 3.2 mile stretch of secluded beach is excellent for saltwater fishing. Catch a pompano, red fish, Spanish or king mackerel. License is required for fresh and saltwater fishing. |
| History of the Area: |
| Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is named for the tallest dune in the Preserve. When viewed from the Gulf the tallest dune resembles a ship?s Topsail.
The preserve was purchased in 1992 and the RV resort was added in 1998. Funds to buy this property came from the Conservation Acquisition of Recreation Lands (CARL) program, also known as Forever Florida. In total Topsail Hill Preserve encompasses 1,637 acres. Topsail was purchased because of it?s unique natural ecosystems, 14 in all including freshwater coastal dune lakes, wet prairies, scrub, pine flatwoods, marshes, cypress domes, seepage slopes and 3.2 miles of sparkling white sand beaches. In fact Topsail Hill is the most intact coastal ecosystem in Florida.
When Europeans entered the area they started logging and gathering turpentine from pine trees. There was a little settlement here called the ?Quarters? which was a turpentine camp. Turpentine was very important for ship maintenance in the days when ships where the main means of transportation. Turpentining is hard labor. A deep V or cat face is cut into the side of a tree to induce the flow of sap where it is the gathered in a pot hung from a nail in the tree. The sap is then boiled and the evaporative turpentine collected. Many of these trees with the cat faces still evident are found in the preserve. |
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| Directions: |
| Located in Santa Rosa Beach 10 miles east of Destin, FL. Take Interstate 10 to Exit 85 (Defuniak Springs) and follow U.S. Highway 331 south. Travel 27 miles to U.S. Highway 98. Turn right and travel approximately 5 miles west to scenic Highway 30A. Turn left and go ? mile to the entrance on the right. |
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