Consistently voted one of the world’s most beautiful and pristine beaches (and frequently hailed as the #1 beach in America), Grayton Beach State Park is a 2,000-acre national treasure that features camping, hiking, various YOLO board and eco-tour activities, biking trails through sand dunes and pine Flatwoods, a rare coastal dune lake, a boat ramp, and, of course, Grayton’s stunning white-sand beaches.

Grayton Beach State Park features a campground loop with 34 rustic sites, and while Grayton’s campground is perhaps not quite as refined as Topsail Hill State Preserve’s RV facility further west on Scenic Highway 30A, hey, isn’t that the whole point?

Visitors can paddle a canoe, paddleboard or kayak on scenic Western Lake to get a closer look at a salt marsh ecosystem. A nature trail winds through a coastal forest where scrub oaks and magnolias stand, bent and twisted by the salt winds. Hikers and bicyclists can enjoy more than four miles of trails throughout the pine Flatwoods. A boat ramp provides access to the lake’s brackish waters for both freshwater and saltwater fishing.

Don’t own a million-dollar RV? A two-person pup-tent just isn’t your idea of paradise? No worries. Grayton Beach State Park has it covered. The park features 30 very nice two-bedroom, one-bath cabins (they’re more like nice duplex apartments) for rent, each with central heating and cooling and a full kitchen, and a full-facility campground.

Grayton Beach State Park features sugar-white sand and emerald-green water where development has been restrained so big sand dunes still dominate the landscape. At the same time, all the amenities of great restaurants and accommodations are close by in the old town of Grayton Beach or bustling Seaside.  Many people choose to camp in this wonderful state park that also features tidal lakes and freshwater ponds.

For official state park info, visit www.floridastateparks.org/park/Grayton-Beach.