Dateline May 6, 2012, Heading to the RTJ Trail by Way of Henderson Beach
We left Flagler Beach heading for the first overnight stop on the golf trip up to the Robert Trent Jones Trail. About seven hours west across the state and we pulled into Henderson Beach State Park in Destin, on the Florida panhandle. They have RV sites in the campground and beach parking as well.
This was our first trip to the panhandle since the BP Gulf oil spill. The beaches were spectacular. No trace of the disaster. The sea, it turns out, is a marvelous thing. Left to its own devices, it cleaned itself.
The park itself was beyond what we expected. The campsites are tucked between trees and scrub so you have the feeling of being parked alone.
A series of boardwalks runs out to the beach to protect the dunes.
The dunes provide an ecosystem for sea turtles laying eggs and for monarch butterflies leaving larvae on their fall trip down to Mexico. Worth the time to see. The sand on the beach is like powder.
You wonder how a park like this is even possible when every other stretch of beach for miles is condos and resorts. A little history helped. Named for its previous owners, the land was purchased in 1983 from the Henderson family estate and opened to the public on March 29, 1991. It was the first acquisition under Florida's Save Our Coast Program. The family had wanted the land preserved, both for the natural features and to give the public a chance to enjoy them. The initial build included two picnic pavilions with restrooms, the beach boardwalks, an entrance station, and the support buildings.
In March 2000, thirty campsites, a bathhouse with restrooms and showers, a playground, and another beach boardwalk were added. A three-quarter-mile nature trail was built in partnership with the Friends of Henderson Beach State Park, and the trail now runs through some of the last remaining coastal scrub habitat on the panhandle. The dunes, the monarchs, the sea turtles, all of it preserved.
The campsite cost sixteen dollars for the night. Being sixty-five helped.
In the morning, on to Alabama.
