State Parks – Page 11 – Wandering Dawgs

A Few of our Favorite State Park Campgrounds

September 16, 2014January 1, 2015Posted in Florida, Georgia, South Dakota, State Parks, Sunset, Washington, WildlifeTagged Cape Disappointment, Custer State Park, Floridas Forgotten Coast, Iron Mountain Road, lighthouses, Needles Highway, Okenefokee Swamp, St. Joseph Peninsula, Stephen C. Foster State Park12 Comments

We love camping in state parks. Most state parks we have found have big sites, beautiful surroundings, and wildlife.

We didn’t discover state park camping until the only place we could find to stay in Arkansas on our way home on our first RV trip was Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, Arkansas. Our site was big, we weren’t lined up like sardines next to our neighbors, and we had a nice lake near our site. From that night on, we have looked for state parks whenever we travel.

Here are just a few state parks we love.

Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota – the Black Hills, scenic drives and wildlife.

Mama bison with baby on Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road in June, 2011

Custer State Park Game Lodge Campground Site 12

Mount Rushmore as seen from Iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park

Along the Needle Highway in Custer State Park

Needle’s Eye on Needles Highway in Custer State Park

Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Washington – 2 lighthouses, a path to the beach behind our full hook up campsite, a dog friendly beach on the Pacific Ocean, and a Lewis and Clark museum. What’s not to love?

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, WA

North Head Lighthouse seen from beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington

Blondie enjoyed the beach at Cape Disappointment

A path to the beach was behind our site at Cape Disappointment State Park

Henry enjoying a beautiful sunset at Cape Disappointment

St. Joseph Peninsula, Port St. Joe, Florida in Florida’s Forgotten Coast – beautiful uncrowded white sandy beaches, nature trails, and sunsets.

Enjoying a January day at St. Joseph Peninsula

We could hear the waves from our campsite

We had the beach almost to ourselve

Deer at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

We watched the sunset every night

Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, Georgia – Huge sites in the middle of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Boat ride through the Okefenokee Swamp

Big Pull through site at Stephen C. Foster State Park, Georgia

Alligator in the Okefenokee Swamp

Other state parks that stand out are Itasca State Park in Minnesota, Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia, Beverly Beach and Humbug Mountain State Parks in Oregon, Kentucky Horse Park in Kentucky, and Cattail Cove State Park in Arizona. We’ve also camped in many Florida and Georgia state parks and love them all.

If you are an RV’er or tent camper and never stayed in a state park, give one a try on your next trip. And if you don’t camp, many state parks have cabins for rent and a few even have lodges.

Rainy days in South Carolina

April 21, 2014June 17, 2015Posted in Rainy Days, Road Trip, RVing, South Carolina, State ParksTagged Lake Wateree State Park4 Comments

On our way back to Georgia we ventured down 10 miles of country roads to Lake Wateree State Park near Winnsboro, South Carolina. Despite being rained on most of the time we enjoyed our stay. The campground was almost full with many families and boaters. All of the campsites had large paved pads and many of the campsites were large enough for an RV, vehicle, and boat. A nice place to kick back and relax before returning home.

Lake Wateree

Dock next to the boat ramp at Lake Wateree

Lake Wateree

Looking at the picnic area from the dock

Along the edges of Lake Wateree behind our campsite

Claytor Lake State Park, Virginia

April 16, 2014June 17, 2015Posted in Road Trip, RVing, State Parks, Virginia, WildflowersTagged Claytor Lake State Park, Redbuds

Our next stop was Claytor Lake State Park. We have camped there several times and enjoyed every one of our visits. On our last morning I saw about 8 deer running through the woods as Blondie and I walked on one of the several hiking trails.

Early morning at the Claytor Lake Marina

Claytor Lake Marina

Swimming beach at Claytor Lake State Park

Swim platform at Claytor Lake State Park

Moon rising through the trees

The Redbuds were blooming all through the woods in the park.

Redbuds were blooming all through the woods

Redbud blooms

Redbuds

You may also like my post about our 2013 visit to Claytor Lake State Park at the beginning of our journey to Alaska.

Wandering in South Carolina

March 23, 2014June 20, 2015Posted in Lighthouse, Road Trip, RVing, South Carolina, State ParksTagged beach, Hunting Island Lighthouse, Hunting Island State Park, Lighthouse, ocean6 Comments

After spending the winter catching up with chores at home and dreaming about wandering, we made our maiden voyage of 2014 just one state over from Georgia to South Carolina.

We started our short trip with 3 nights in Columbia watching our grandson play in a soccer tournament. It was so much fun to watch him play and cheer from the sidelines with his parents and sister.

On our way home we spent a rainy night at Hunting Island State Park. Our first visit there was over 30 years ago in our tent camping days when our kids were little. We have been wanting to return there ever since we got the fifth wheel. Hunting Island is located about 42 miles from I-95 at the end of Hwy 21. The drive takes you through beautiful salt marshes, across rivers and sounds, and through several towns including Beaufort (if you are driving a big rig, take the truck route instead of going through downtown Beaufort).

The campground has about 200 sites, some of them right next to the beach. Our site was located in a loop with the sites surrounded by tall trees and palmettos. A short walk from the RV took us to the dog friendly beach in front of the campground.

The rain let up a little so we drove to the lighthouse to explore. The Hunting Island Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in South Carolina accessible to the public. A short path in front of the lighthouse leads to the beach.

The Hunting Island, SC Lighthouse is the only lighthouse in South Carolina which is open to the public

Hunting Island, SC Lighthouse

Beach in front of the Hunting Island, SC Lighthouse

Dunes in front of the Hunting Island, SC Lighthouse

The Beach at Hunting Island State Park Campground, SC

A narrow paved road winds through the campground at Hunting Island State Park, SC

Remembering our 2013 Travels

December 31, 2013June 20, 2015Posted in Birds, Florida, Georgia, RVing, State Parks, Sunset, United States Forest ServiceTagged Egret, Little Ocmulge, Ocala National Forest, Salt Springs, Stephen Foster, Suwanee River5 Comments

Happy New Year!! 2013 was a great year for wandering!

This year we checked off one of the biggest items on our bucket list: from May to September we made the trip of a lifetime to Alaska and back in our RV. In the fall we visited a beautiful COE park in West Point, Georgia. I’ve already posted about those trips in previous posts on this blog so here are a few photos from our January 2013 journey to south Georgia and North Florida.

We started 2013 with a short trip to three different parks. The first was Little Ocmulgee State Park in Helena, Georgia.