Q: Your site is great, truly a blessed alternative to the standard Florida vacation planner. I'm unfortunately going to be stuck in Orlando in late August, but will be able to sneak away for a few days. I would love to do some beach-side camping, far from the maddening crowd, during that time. I'm a snorkeling freak who loves long, scenic hikes. Anything like that within a couple of hours' drive from Orlando? -- Hopefully, Greg Winter
A: Thanks, Greg, for your kind words about EcoFlorida magazine's site. We like to help people find beautiful places to go and things to do in Florida's great outdoors.
If you weren't going to be in Orlando in August, I'd recommend you go to Canaveral National Seashore in New Smyrna Beach. But the seashore closes beach camping in the summer because of sea turtle nesting season. It's still a good day trip, though.
So then my next thought is Gamble Rodgers Memorial State Recreation Area, which I don't think closes its campground during sea turtle nesting season. (But please call ahead and check when you make your reservation!) So you may get a chance to see turtle hatchlings, or at least sea turtle nests. (Again, ask the ranger when you call to make your reservation because some seaside parks offer turtle-watching programs to visitors.) Because it's on the beach, you can also snorkel there. You can easily get to the park by taking I-4 out of Orlando and then north on I-95 to Flagler Beach.
Gamble Rodgers isn't very big, so if you really want to hike, try the beautiful Wekiwa Spring State Park just north of Orlando in Apopka (where the "maddening crowd" stays concentrated around the spring, where you can be a snorkeling freak before or after your hike), or Tiger Bay State Forest, which is closer to Gamble Rodgers and west of Daytona Beach.
To anyone camping in the summer, I always mention the possibility of a hurricane or downpour that could close your campground. So be sure to have a back-up plan in mind if this happens.
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