Take a trip to the Flagler Beach area, plus Ormond Beach and Palm Coast, and experience some amazing beaches, history, and beautiful state parks. Also called the Fun Coast or the Surf Coast, this area is nestled between two popular destinations: St. Augustine to the north and Daytona Beach to the south. There are seven state parks in this area all within about a 30-minute drive (plus two that have limited access).
Flagler Beach is a smaller town, outside the hustle and bustle– there are no mega beach resorts here. I recommend staying centrally in the Flagler Beach area to make it easy to access the state parks and sites all around this area. This trip makes a great weekend trip, or even a day trip! At the bottom of the post, I share my itinerary of how to fit everything into just three days!
Quick Guide
State Parks In and Around Flagler Beach
We visited seven Florida State Parks in the area during our 3-day trip. There are two parks to the north in Palm Coast, a couple centrally located in Flagler Beach, and a few towards Ormond Beach to the south. There are also two parks that are accessible only by boat, Addison Blockhouse Historic State Park and Haw Creek Preserve.
Faver-Dykes State Park
Faver-Dykes State Park is a small and quiet park with activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, and bird-watching in several ecosystems, including pine flatwoods and hardwood hammocks. The park’s peaceful Pellicer Creek is one of the most pristine estuarine tidal marshes on the east coast of Florida, and is a Florida Designated Paddling Trail. This park can be a quick stop for a hike or a paddle.
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
I often hear this named as one of people’s favorite state parks! There are beautiful gardens, a historic house, huge old oak trees, hiking trails, and even a beach full of interesting coquina rocks. You can easily spend hours wandering around the gardens and looking at all the sights here. Don’t miss the gazebo and the rose gardens!
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Park
This park is another with a beach side and a park side. There’s also beach camping available here. If you’re up for camping, you could use this park as your home base for your weekend trip. The hiking trail in the park is definitely worth checking out as well. The main road in this area is elevated above the beach, so you can get beautiful panoramic views of the ocean, and this is an excellent spot for sunset. Even though the sun does not set over the water on the East Coast, you can usually still catch some beautiful colors in the sky over the ocean.
North Peninsula State Park
One of the most underrated parks in my opinion, this park also has a beach side and a trailhead. The beach side offers beautiful panoramic views of the ocean, and apparently a chance of spotting Right Whales at certain times of year. The Smith Creek Landing trailhead offers access to the Intracoastal Waterway where visitors launch a kayak or fish along the banks, and a beautiful hiking trail, the 2-mile Coastal Strand Trail.
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park
One of the most unique state parks, as the name suggests, this park is home to the ruins of the Bulow Sugar Plantation. Like many sugar plantations in the mid-1800s, this mill fell victim to destruction by Native Americans in the area. There’s a short and scenic trail out to the ruins, and be sure to bring bug spray! You can also access the Bulow Creek Paddling Trail from this park.
Bulow Creek State Park
This park has an extensive trail system, which connects between two trailheads. There’s also another entrance with another sugar plantation ruin, the Dummet Mill Ruins. And, this park is home to the Fairchild Oak, a massive oak tree that’s estimated to be over 400 years old.
Tomoka State Park
This historic park was once the site of a thriving Native American hub. Now it offers camping, water sports, and a short but beautiful hiking trail. It also has a historic statue of Chief Tomoki.
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Addison Blockhouse Historic State Park & Haw Creek Preserve State Park
There are two state parks in this area that have limited access. Addison Blockhouse Historic State Park is home to a small coquina rock ruin where there was once an 18th century plantation. The website states “This property is maintained for cultural preservation and is not open to the public.” If you are trying to visit all 175 Florida State Parks like me, I’d read up on the history and visit all the other parks in the area, then check this one off.
Haw Creek Preserve State Park also has limited access, but you are able to visit this waterway via boat. The park can be accessed by launching a boat, kayak or canoe at the Flagler County public boat ramp called Russell Landing. This park is not super close to the others, but is managed as part of the Tomoka Basin State Parks, so I included it in this post.
Other Things to Do around Flagler Beach
Flagler Beach Historical Museum
This small but informative museum is the perfect place to learn about the history of Flagler Beach. The museum covers hundreds of years of history. You can also take a self-guided walking tour of downtown historic Flagler Beach using a brochure, which you can also grab from the museum.
Flagler Beach Fishing Pier
Visiting the pier is a quick but worthwhile stop while in Flagler Beach. Although the pier is no longer accessible for walking on due to hurricane damage, it’s still a cool sight to stop at, especially with the giant “Flagler Beach” letters.
Princess Place Preserve
Further to the north, near Washington Oaks Gardens, you’ll find Princess Place Preserve. This big preserve is full of outdoor activities like camping, hiking, horseback riding, and kayaking. It’s also home to the historic lodge known as Princess Place, which stills stands as Flagler County’s oldest intact structure. Tours of the lodge are available of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2pm. This was one of our favorite stops, and definitely worth the visit.
River to Sea Preserve
This beautiful park has both a beach side and a hiking side. A boardwalk runs alongside the beach, which is filled with interesting coquina rocks. The west side offers trails, picnicking, and a kayak launch.
Shopping & Dining in Downtown Flagler Beach
There are plenty of options for shopping and dining in this area. Some options are: Beach Front Grille, Funky Pelican, and Flagler Fish Company.
For drinks, you can try Coquina Coast Brewing Co., Sip & Surf Coffee Co., or Flagler Beachfront Winery.
Bulow Creek Canoe Trail
The 6.5 mile paddling trail starts 3.5 miles north of Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park (but this is the northernmost public point to access it) and runs downstream to end near North Peninsula State Park. Both of these points have free public launching once park admission fees have been paid. I did not see any rentals available at either of these parks, and there doesn’t look to be many rental companies in the immediate area, so definitely plan ahead or bring your own boat if you want to do this paddling trail.
3-Day Itinerary
All the parks and activities are fairly close together, but I’ve outlined an efficient way to see everything within 3 days (assuming you’re staying centrally in the Flagler Beach area). This is what I personally followed when I visited.
You can reduce this itinerary down to just two days if your trip is shorter. You can either:
- Cut Day 1 and do the north Palm Coast activities a different time, or
- Skip the paddling trail on Day 3 and squeeze the Flagler Beach Pier and Museum into Day 1 or 2
Day 1:
River to Sea Preserve [beach & hiking]
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park [gardens & beach side]
Princess Place Preserve
Faver-Dykes State Park
Day 2:
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park
Tomoka State Park
Dummett Sugar Mill Ruins
Bulow Creek State Park
North Peninsula State Park
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Park [hike + beach sunset]
Day 3:
Paddling Trail
Flagler Beach Museum
Flagler Beach Pier
Downtown Flagler Beach Shopping & Dining
Optional: stop at Haw Creek Preserve State Park or De Leon Springs State Park on the way home
The information in this post was accurate at the time of publishing to the best of the author’s knowledge. If you are planning to visit any of the sites mentioned in this post, we recommend checking the most up-to-date information on their respective websites.
