List of Florida state parks

There are 161^[1] state parks and 10 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida. All the parks together are more than 800,000 acres (320,000 ha).^[2] People from anywhere can visit them. Between 2012 and 2013, more than 27,000 volunteers (people who are not paid money) worked to make the parks for better for the 25.2 million people who visit every year.^[2] There is a small fee to enter most of Florida's state parks. It costs more to use cabins, marinas, or campsites if the park has them. Florida's state parks together have 3,454 family campsites, 235 cabins, thousands of picnic tables, 100 miles (160 km) of beaches, and over 1,625 miles (2,616 km) of trails.^[3]

The Florida Park Service is the part of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. They operate the Florida State Parks. The National Recreation and Park Association gave them the Gold Medal honoring the best state park system in the country in 1999 and 2005. The parks are open all year. Some have many things to do other than fishing, hiking and camping. Many parks have facilities for bird watching or horseback riding; there are several battle reenactments; and freshwater (not salty) springs and beaches are some of Florida's very beautiful places.

Several state parks used to be private tourist attractions bought by the state of Florida to preserve (keep from changing) their natural environment. These parks include the Silver River State Park, Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Rainbow Springs State Park and Weeki Wachee Springs.

There are state parks in 58 of Florida's 67 counties.^[4] Nine of the 161 parks do not have "State Park" in their name. Four are "conservation areas" (reserve, preserve, or wildlife refuge); three are "Historical/Archaeological sites"; one is a fishing pier and one is a recreation area.^[5] Seven parks are mostly undeveloped (nothing built there) with few or no facilities (such as water or toilets); 10 parks are accessible only by private boat or ferry; and 13 parks contain National Natural Landmarks.^[5] There are also eleven national parks in Florida. The National Park Service controls those.^[6]

1. ↑ "About the Florida Park Service". Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Bray, Taryn (November 18, 2013). "Florida Parks Receive Record Number Of Gold Medals For Excellence". WUFT News. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
3. ↑ "About Florida State Parks and Trails". Florida State Parks. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
4. ↑ "The Goddard Era". Florida Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "National Natural Landmarks: Florida". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
6. ↑ "Find a Park Florida". National Park Service. Retrieved 2 June 2012.