A Visit to Florida's Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area

 

Located in Flagler Beach, this park is a memorial to Gamble Rogers, a Florida troubadour, guitarist, storyteller.  There are now two loops for rv camping. Very good facilities and great staff.  The sites differ widely as the older loop is on the beach and the newer loop is across A1A on the Inter-coastal Waterway.

 

Our site, #62, is on the Riverside Loop and is partial hard paved for the vehicle and loose gravel for the "yard" area. Nice. 50/30/20 amp electric and water. The sites inside the loop have sewage.  There are only two drive-throughs.

The arrangement of the sites gives privacy advantage to those on the outside.  There is no foliage between the sites, but the outside sites face a barrier of palmettos and trees, a good angle and space between sites.  The inside sites are less private.  A trade-off for the sewage, I guess.  I'll take the outside site.

 

The Riverside Loop has four dedicated tent sites and have electric and water hook-ups.  There is no group or primitive tenting at this park.

The original loop, really not a loop, has back-in sites bordering the packed sand road.  Facilities are nice and each site has 50/30/20 electric and water.  The higher numbered sites seem to be smaller.  More suited for tents and shorter RVs.  At one time one side of the "loop" provided a nice beach view, but the foliage has long grown too high.  But, you can still hear the ocean.  One of the campers told of seeing a pretty good sized rattlesnake disappear into the palmetto.  Common among palmettos.

From all the reviews, past and present, the beach is the main attraction for most all visitors.  A combination of white and orange sand it stretches for miles.  While not private the beach contained within the boundaries of the state park have more stringent rules. 

Sunbathing, swimming, fishing and bird watching are enjoyed by many on the beach.  In the distance either direction signs of tourism begin at the state park boundary.

  

Crossing the dunes.

Besides two protected turtle nests there are many crab holes ranging in size from 1 inch to three inches, and maybe bigger. Ghost crabs?

Shelling is another past time on the beach.  One can find many shapes, sizes and colors.

But the most abundant on the beach is the coquina clam shell.

  

They come in many colors.  A favorite meal of many a shore bird.

The rains yesterday were devastating to someone's castles in the sand.  But, today is another day...and a sunny one.

Across A1A is the Riverside Loop.  A whole different picture.  Besides the Ranger Station, this side has a day park with several pavilions, picnic tables, game area and access to the Inter-coastal Waterway.

  

  

The boat ramp leading to the river.  As a camper or day visitor you can put your boat in here and rent kayaks from the rangers. Travel the river.

Looking out toward the river from the dock.  The dock also affords very good fishing.  No swimming though.  Alligators and snakes.  Sound like Florida?

 

Some nice boats sail the river. 

  
A short distance from the boat ramp and day park is a small, but very nice butterfly garden.

Some of the varieties we saw:

Great Southern White

  

Cloudless Sulpher

  

Gulf Frillary

Zebra Longwing (Heliconian)

The Butterfly Lady......Jodie.  Keeper of the garden.  Keeps it looking a-one.  Wealth of information.  Say "hi" to Jodie when you are in the garden.

  

Near the butterfly garden is the beginning of the Joe Kenner Nature Trail.  Hiking only, this loop trail is about a mile long.

The trail is shaded, easy going, but does have a short section with roots....

....and, gets narrow on occasion with a few twists and turns, and slight elevation changes.  But, it's a very enjoyable walk.  Oh, and an occasional spider web if you are the first hiker of the day.  I spotted nothing dangerous though.

  

Signage on the trail is real good.  Information as to what you are looking at and should know about things along the trail.  Besides many different trees you will see more butterflies.  Most of the birds seen were around the boat ramp.

If you are compelled to bike somewhere other than the paved roads in the park or along A1A, there is a service road trail that runs between the loop of the nature trail and along the park boundary.  Saw a large red corn snake, but didn't get stopped in time to take a photo.  He disappeared into the woods.

A few extra's:

Great Southern White
 

Zebra Longwing

Florida Tropical Sage 

New benches waiting to be placed in the park and campground.

A little gopher tortoise hoping to remain unseen.  About the size of a child's fist.

A big one getting off the road into the woods.

  

A protected turtle nest on the beach. 

A bee doing its job along the trail. 

 

Our backyard.  Just beyond the palmetto is the river.  We could hear the powerboats slowly cruise by and see the sailboats' masts as they made their way up and down the river. This is a nice site.

  

Our campground neighbors fishing the river and waiting for the sunset.

A sailboat presumably heading for the Flagler Beach marina as the sun sets.

And, the setting sun across the river.

Which begs the question...