12/9 Gamble Rogers State Park, Flagler Beach, FL

Gamble Rogers SP is one of my favorite places in Florida for a couple of reasons.  The first is that it is directly on the Atlantic Ocean, with some of the campsites having a direct view of the ocean.  The second is that it is near Flagler Beach, which is a nice, little town an easy three-mile bike ride away.  

This is also a very, very hard place to get a reservation, especially if you have a bigger vehicle and want one of the handful of campsites that have a good view of the ocean.  It took me several very early mornings in the west to get this reservation for two weeks!  (Reason is that oceanfront sites here are $28 per night, compared to commercial campgrounds in the area that range from $170-$200+ per night!!  And these state park sites are much bigger, although they do not have sewer hookups.) 

Headed towards the ocean at Flagler Beach.  Will turn right at the light towards Gamble Rogers.  I like this little town because it lacks the overdone huge beachfront high-rise hotels and condos that you find in most of Florida. 

You can still park directly overlooking the Atlantic in this little town! 

 

 

The state park is on both sides of the main highway--the beach campground is behind me as I took this photo, but the newer campground that overlooks the inland waterway is on the opposite side.  I have reservations on that side for February. 

The beach sand is an orangy color and consists of mostly tiny broken shell pieces, along with some tiny stones.  It is also a relatively steep beach, at least compared to Pacific beaches in Oregon and Washington.  Also, in spite of the whitecaps, it was not very windy the two weeks I was here.  This photo, by the way, was taken from my campsite!!

The campground is really pretty basic, with dirt roads and hard-packed sandy campsites.  Each site does have water and electric, however, which is nice. 

 

 

This is my campsite.  I don't have much of a view to the left because of the scrub growing on the dune area.  

 

However, on the right side, you can see that I have a partial view.  Actually, it is not bad, but the prime sites are the two next to me, but someone beat me to those!!

 

In Florida, dunes are strongly protected, so you must use a boardwalk to access the beach.  Boardwalks protect dunes, which in turn protect the land and buildings during hurricanes.  You can see in this photo how steep the beach is. 

I used my telephoto to take a picture of the town pier three miles away. 

This is a fishing boat, probably shrimping.  The big nets are lowered by these large arms, and the boat moves slowly, dragging the nets behind it. 

The beach, looking south towards Daytona Beach.  Always lots of people fishing, but I have never seen anyone actually catch a fish.  I think fishing is just an excuse to sit on the beach.

Some kind of a sandpiper.  There are several that look similar so I am not sure which this is.

Cute little guy, probably a sanderling.

View of the top of my motorhome from the beach. 

Another fishing boat with nets deployed.

This is also one of the few areas in Florida where the highway goes so close to the beach.  This means they cannot build big hotels, so there are lots of small homes that overlook the ocean.  And there are three other streets that go parallel to this main highway, so it is possible to buy a reasonably priced home here within a block or two of the beach.  Some of them are old and really need work, but others are in very good condition.