TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park: A Florida Panhandle Day Trip

TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is located north of Cape San Blas and south of Port St. Joe.  In 2002, Dr. Beach named this state park the top beach in the country.  The cape is situated in a north-south orientation, so if you camp here you will have the unique opportunity to see the sun rise over the St. Joseph Bay and set over the Gulf of Mexico.  The park sustained significant damage during Hurricane Michael in 2018.  Beach access, sea oats & dunes, parking lots and a few trails have been restored, however the improvements continue. 

We visited TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park for a day trip during our spring break trip to Mexico Beach, but you can stay in this beautiful place longer!  The park rebuilt its 8 cabins and they are ready for you to reserve!  The Shady Pines Campground completed restoration and is available to reserve for RVers and tent campers.  This campground has access to the Gulf side of the park.  The new Bayview Campground is in the works on the bay side of the park.  Primitive campsites are available again now that the landscape has recovered. 

Gulf Side: Gulf Breeze Day Use Area

We visited TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park on a Tuesday during our April spring break.  When we arrived, the attendant told us that the bay side was closed and only the gulf side was open.  She directed us to proceed to Beach Access #2 parking lot because the first parking lot was full.  As we passed it, most of the Beach Access #1 parking was being paved and the small area that was available was indeed full. 

At Beach Access #2, the Gulf Breeze Day Use Area is available.  When we visited, improvements were underway, but I imagine that they are complete now.  They were building a boardwalk out to the beach and picnic pavilions.  Please let me know in the comments if you visit and learn more about the progress!

The Beach

We walked out to the beach.  I really liked the beach access runner that lined the path to the beach through the dunes.  If you have a difficult time walking on soft sand and the surface will make the walk past the dunes very easy.  There were a handful of families at the beach when we arrived.  I have not been to many state park beaches, it was lovely to be on a completely natural beach that did not have any adjacent construction.  I really enjoyed truly being out in nature.  The sand was white and sugary. 

My son took his boogie board out.  He said that the water was quite chilly.  I stepped on something hard and brought in a cool shell to show us.  As he handed it to my daughter, she asked, “Is anybody in there?”  As he responded, “No,” legs popped out.  The shell was occupied by a hermit crab!  We put the crab back in the water and watched it bury itself in the sand. 

Shelling

There were quite a few shells along the tide line on the beach.  My daughter and I walked out towards the end of the peninsula collecting shells.  We did not find anything spectacular, however, we found a few interesting shells and we enjoyed the walk along the natural beach.  The farther we walked, the fewer people we saw.  We came across a palm trunk that had washed up.  Hundreds of coquina clams attached themselves to the trunk. 

Beachcombers ID Hotline: if you find something on the beach and you want to know what it is, text the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve at 850-895-1519 to find out what it is!  Visit their website to see what people have been sending in. 

Beach Safety

Florida State Parks fly colored flags at their beaches to indicated the safety of the water. Visit this website to learn about what the colored flags indicate in the Gulf of Mexico.

To be extra safe in the water, learn more about Rip Current Awareness from Dr. Beach.

Maritime Forest Nature Trailhead

There is a trail with a small parking lot just outside the gate to TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.  To access the trail, you must pay park admission in advance of your hike. 

Lunch at the Bad Mamma Jamma Food Truck Outside the Park

We found the Bad Mamma Jamma food truck parked just outside the State Park in the Cone Heads parking lot. They offered a delicious menu including appetizers, soups & salads, wings & nachos, various sandwiches, and a kid’s menu.  We started with the mozzarella sticks, which looked more like half-moons of fresh mozzarella that were breaded and fried.  They were gobbled down immediately!  My family ordered a burger, the Taco Tuesday special with grilled shrimp, a grouper basket, and I ordered the Florida salad. 

This lunch was the best meal that we had during our trip to Florida’s Forgotten Coast!  I highly recommend that you eat here.  They had a water cooler available on the outdoor deck where we ate.  A word of caution – this is a food truck and it does not have a restroom available.  A woman inquired about a restroom and she was advised that there is a public restroom a quarter mile down the road.  Make sure that you use the facilities before you leave the park!

I believe that Bad Mamma Jamma is open from 11am-3pm during the week.  Their hours and location may change based on the season, so please check the Facebook page for the most current information.

St. Joseph Bay Side: Eagle Harbor Day Use Area

We caught a glimpse of the bay side as we entered and exited the park and it looked spectacular.  The bay side was closed according to the gate attendant, but we saw kayakers on the water and families out on a small beach.  We decided to see if we could explore the bay after lunch.  We found a parking spot in the small parking area across the street from Beach Access #1.  The Scallop Cove Too general store/concession was right here along with a boat ramp, which was under construction at that time. 

St. Joseph’s Bay

We ventured out to the small beach.  The bay water was shallower, calmer, and extremely clear.  Wwe found significant plant and marine life in the bay.  We saw a young man who caught a puffer fish with his fishing pole!  I am not sure how he managed to get the prickly fish off the hook and back in the water, but he did.  There was a family playing in the water nearby.  They had a variety of nets and bucks – they were on the hunt for marine animals themselves.  When the puffer fish swam near them, they all yelped and jumped back. 

My son saw a pretty conch shell in the water.  When he leaned down to pick it up, it walked away.  There was a hermit crab in that one too!  A small boy found a large shell with some sort of greenish snail inside it.  He brought it over to show it off to us.  His mother assured us that they would put it back in the water before they left.  The bay side teemed with marine life.  I think that kayaking out in the bay would be a lot of fun.  I could see that kayakers in the distance were exploring other areas of the island that were off limits to vehicles at that time. 

Cape San Blas

Around 2:30 in the afternoon, we decided that we’d had enough sun for the day and that it was time to return to our rental house in Mexico Beach.  After we exited the TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, we passed a Public Beach Access Point on Dunes Drive.  If you are interested in going to Cape San Blas, you can access the beach from here, but there are no facilities available. 

We stopped at the Scallop Cove General Store & Bait Shop to pick up a local beverage.  This shop was rather expensive, but they did appear to have everything that you would need in a pinch if you were staying out on Cape San Blas.  They offered bike, kayak, and boat rentals in addition to groceries. 

Planning Your Trip to TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

Who Would Enjoy the State Park?

A visit to this Florida state park makes for a fun day for families, couples, and friends! Really anyone who enjoys the beach, outdoors, and nature. In addition to beach activities, the park offers access to the bay for watersports including paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing, and boating. The park also offers hiking, biking, birding and wildlife viewing.

If you are a camper, TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park offer sites for RVs, car campers in tents, and primitive tent sites. Plus the state park offers bayside cabins for those who are less outdoorsy, but who want to spend then night in this spectacular place. Reserve your overnight accommodation with Florida State Parks.

What to Know Before You Go

Visit the TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park website for the current hours and fees. For our day trip, we spent 4:30 at the park including lunch. On a busy day, the park may be at capacity, so you should pack a picnic as you will not be able to return if you exit. Purchasing a day pass online does not reserve a spot for you at the park, if the park is at capacity when you arrive, you will be turned away. I recommend that you arrive early and purchase your pass at the gate.

Pets are not allowed on the beach. For more information, see Florida State Park’s Pet Policy. If you are hiking or camping during warm months, be sure to bring bug spray!

What to Pack

If you are planning for a beach day, bring your beach chairs, umbrellas, beach towels, beach toys, a picnic blanket, and plenty of sunscreen. There was no shade when we visited. The park offers water stations where you can rinse the sand off as you leave the beach.

TH Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

My family – including the kids – immensely enjoyed our day at this Florida State Park.  As the park continues to make improvements and recover from Hurricane Michael, this stunning destination can only get better.  If you are looking to spend your time at a spectacularly natural beach, visit a bay teeming with wildlife, and enjoy a delicious lunch, then I highly recommend visiting this Florida State Park.  If you visit, let me know how they are coming along with the improvements in the comments!