“nature lover's paradise”
With over 700 acres; Big Lagoon State Park is a nature lover’s paradise. Come camp in one of its 75 campsites (electric and water hook-up on each site). The park has two hiking trails totaling 5.5 miles; a boat launch; and swimming areas in the beautiful waters of Big Lagoon - the parks namesake. Try your luck fishing in Long Pond; Grand Lagoon Lake; or along the Intracoastal Waterway. Come birding; Big Lagoon State Park is a gateway for the Florida Birding Trail. With six different habitat types including saltmarsh; birds are abundant. Enjoy the 360 degree view of the marsh; Perdido Key; and Intracoastal Waterway from the three story observation tower. Launch your kayak or canoe and explore the waters of Grand Lagoon; if you don’t have your own they are available for rent at the Ranger Station. The park has four picnic areas with grills. Come and celebrate your wedding; family reunion; or birthday party – there are three pavilions that are available for rent. Come explore and enjoy Big Lagoon State Park. Big Lagoon State Park is open every day of the year (including holidays) from 8 a.m. to sundown. There are park admission; boat launch; and camping fees that apply. Annual passes are available for purchase.
Reviews of Big Lagoon State Park
41 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 26 users | Last reported on April 27, 2024AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 15 users | Last reported on June 18, 2022T-Mobile 4G/5G
Confirmed by 4 users | Last reported on April 27, 2024Reviews
We stayed here for a couple of rainy days on our way west. The park is close enough to Pensacola to visit the Naval Air Musuem, but also has some great walking paths, an observation tower, a playground, and when the weather is good they rent canoes! Would love to come back and explore this park when the weather is more favorable. Sites are pretty sandy and on the smaller side (which in the rain wasn't fun) but we managed to level our trailer just fine.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 59
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Our site at Big Lagoon State Park was small but private. There is only one campsite next to site 47 and it's separated by a lot of foliage. I would have preferred site 46, it's bigger, very private, has a nice deck and cement slabs for the tires.
The showers here are great. Hot water, private stalls and good water pressure.
Over the air HDTV has a bunch of channels including the major networks and Verizon with a booster got up to 26Mb/s down.
The nearby beach at Perdido Key - Gulf Islands National Seashore is gorgeous!
Verizon - DOWNLOAD: 2.48Mb/s, UPLOAD: 1.49Mb/s
AT&T - DOWNLOAD: 12.52Mb/s, UPLOAD: 4.95Mb/s
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 47
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
I had understood that this campground was close to the beach (that you could walk to the beach on the ocean from your site), but it is not the case. There are nice trails that lead to a lagoon where you can swim, but it is very shallow. Beautiful beaches are only 10 min drive away (we loved The Gulf Islands National Seashore on Johnson Rd; free with our National Park Pass or $15 for the week) or Perdido Key Beach Access #3 (free). The other downside is that there is not laundry facility in the park and the only laudromat is 20 minutes drive away (not so great with all the sand, 3 kids and a dog!). Some sites are pretty small and/or sandy, whereas others are big and have cement slabs for big rigs (but it's not indicated on Reserve America...). It seems like most of the nicer sites are not reservable (first come, first serve basis).
There is a really nice Pavillion on the main waterfront area with a built-in BBQ area. We brought our charcoal and burgers there one night and watched the sunset. It was beautiful. The shower building are nice and clean (hot water, great pressure).
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 35 and 22
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
We enjoyed our stay here. The sites are a tight squeeze, but we had room to take our our slide, so we can't complain too much. There's a boardwalk that takes you to the beach, but it's not a typical Florida ocean beach. Don't plan on doing much swimming here.
The Salt Marsh trail was worth doing. It's mostly on sand dunes and it's a relaxing way to spend an afternoon exploring the lagoon and woods around the park. We saw lots of deer here and luckily, not too many mosquitoes. Definitely walk to the observation tower to watch a sunset.
The cell service was good. We got 11.26 MBPS down/3.55 MBPS up with our Verizon Jetpack, unboosted.
While you're here, take a drive to the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Pensacola is also a great little town to walk around and get dinner.
Nightly Rate: $23.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 42
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
We stayed here while visiting friends in the area. Enjoyed the hiking trails and views around the lagoon. Like stated before the sites can be fairly tight. The vegetation between sites is great for privacy.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: 52
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
What a wonderful little park on the intercoastal waterway between Period Key and on the outskirts of Pensacola. Unfortunately progress is pushing on the boundaries of the park. You can see some high rises off in the distance and a bit of road noise during rush hour, otherwise it is a very peaceful park. You can hear the birds chirp and the insects sing at night. As other people have mentionned, pick your site carefully because they vary in width and length, as well as slope and material - some have pads and others are sand. There are still large trailers and rvs in here as well as smaller campers. Some are more shaded than others. The bathrooms are centrally located and well cared for. The roads in the park are good for bikes and you really should have one if you want to go to the beach and not take your car. You can rent a kayak or put in with yours at the kayak launch for the lagoon or try the larger body of water and cross over to the national seashore - watch the wind and boat traffic. Check out on the web where to put in at Bayou Grande, which is nearby. There is also the naval museum nearby at the base that people say is wonderful, but we didn't have time to get there. There are two large groceries stores within a few miles. Dinner at Fisherman's Corner rounded out a delightful time here and it is on the list to come back to.
Nightly Rate: $26.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 28
We had no trouble maneuvering in our site, plenty of space. Thankful we had a bit of shade, sites 1 and 2 seemed to have direct sun most of the day, although with electric (and water) hookups, we still ran the AC a couple times.
I say it was "mostly peaceful" because the Blue Angels practice a couple days per week and it is definitely loud. Like, really really loud. The hubby works from the RV and the jets were flying during his morning video meeting so it wasn't necessarily ideal. You can actually watch their practices for free at the Naval Museum on certain days, and I thought that would have been fun if the timing had worked.
Lots of raised boardwalks take you around the park and over the lagoons. Never found the beach access for swimming but didn't try too hard.
We took the dogs over to Pensacola Beach (what a cute town!) -- there is a small area where dogs can be on the sand (on-leash). The sand is gorgeous and super soft, and we caught a phenomenal sunset that night. It costs a $1 toll to enter the peninsula, free parking at the dog beach (and many other beach areas). We originally booked our stay at Fort Pickens but it got cancelled due to storm damage at that campground. That would have been a great location...much much closer to Pensacola and the dog beach. Still had a nice stay at Big Lagoon, would likely camp there again, but would prefer something closer to Pensacola.
Nightly Rate: $25.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 3
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
Site # 30. Sand, level. Narrow foliage between sites. Felt private. Great biking trails. Airplane noise. When the Blue Angels are practicing. Close to Pensacola. Electric and water. Facilities were good. We would return to this campground.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: 30
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
Lets start with the very soft sandy sites making it difficult to get rv level without digging in. Theres no place to do laundry, Closest laundromat is 10 miles away. No wifi.
Beach wasn't that great either (even the ranger said so). Signs warning about alligators, another one saying "no swimming due to toxic water conditions".
Campground store is closed (we came in Sept) untill March. Fortunately Walmart is 5 miles away. A LOT of sites are full sun...super HOT.
I regret booking for 2 weeks. I don't recommend, and I wont be back.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 14
Site Number: 33
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
Some spots are paved, others are packed sand . Great privacy between RVs, trees and bushes provide privacy. October 2018 I paid $22 per night. Includes electric and water, and there are dump stations. Great Verizon 4G. There does seem to be an unusual amount of vehicle traffic. Also, as the afternoon wore on I heard military jets flying overhead, as there is a base close by. I happen to love planes, but this could really annoy some people.
Nightly Rate: $22.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 8
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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Big Lagoon State Park
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Max Length
- 40 ft
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Sites Count
- 75
- Last Nightly Rate
- 39.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 8.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 36.0
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Sites
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Laundry
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Propane
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Showers
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Big Rigs
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Boondock
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Firewood
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Fifty Amp
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Tent Sites
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Cabin Sites
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Full Hookup
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Dump Station
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Mobile Homes
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Public Water
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Pull Through
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Water Hookup
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Potable Water
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Age Restricted
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Rec Facilities
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Dispersed Sites
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Open Seasonally
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Permit Required
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Group Tent Sites
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Fulltime Residents
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Standard Tent Sites
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Adult Only
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