Here you will find the park’s main visitor center plus an extensive network of hiking trails. Naval Live Oaks is located on the mainland. It is the least developed area of the park, offering only bay-side swimming, a restroom, and a few picnic tables. The Okaloosa Area is a small beach located near Fort Walton. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer on the Gulf-side beaches. Opal Beach has covered picnic pavilions, restrooms, and outdoor showers on both the Gulf and the Santa Rosa Sound-side of the island. The Santa Rosa Area is an undeveloped stretch of beach situated between Pensacola and Navarre Beaches. The area also hosts the only developed campground, plus there plenty of places to picnic and approximately fifteen miles of Gulf and Pensacola Bay beaches to enjoy. Fort Pickens has the largest collection of 1800s forts and batteries open to the public of any of the National Parks (San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area has many as well, but most were built in the early 1900s). The Fort Pickens Area offers opportunities for those interested in both recreation and history. At the far east end of the island is a World War II-era battery. This is also the only place in the Florida unit where backcountry camping on the beach is allowed. Perdido Key is mainly a recreational area with a lifeguarded beach and opportunities for kayaking and canoeing in Big Lagoon. Fort Barrancas lies within the Penascola Naval Air Station and Naval Live Oaks is near Gulf Breeze, Florida. The other two sections are located on the mainland. ![]() Four sections of the park are located on these islands-Johnson Beach on Perdido Key, the forts and beaches of Fort Pickens, and the beaches at the Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Areas. Unlike the Mississippi unit where access to all islands in the park requires a boat, here at the Florida unit the two islands, Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island, are accessible by vehicle thanks to bridges connecting them to the mainland. The Florida unit consists of six different areas. I am a writer and photographer for National Park Planner () and I visited the Florida unit of Gulf Islands National Park in April 2015.
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