GORGEOUS park!! Tons of shade, lots of room to run and…read moreplay, t's fantastic. We stayed for about 45mins and my toddlers didn't want to leave.

My kids are 11 & 14 and they still appreciate a good playground when they find it. They both jumped…read moreout of the car for this one. The answer is yes, if you have kids, then yes.

Plein Air painting event at The Lodge, Gulf State Park…read more... Hoping this will be an annual event, as the art community convened a plein air event, bringing together artists with the inspiration of Gulf State Park's many habitats. The result was a large number of paintings which were for purchase at the closing reception at the end of the week. The weather was mild, the food and drink at The Lodge was yummy (I had the steak and eggs for brunch), and it was so cool to watch the artists paint live.

Absolutely phenomenal park!!! I am blown away! Gorgeous landscape, beautiful sunsets, the flora and…read morefauna have me in awe. 28 miles of trails for biking and walking. I've spotted alligators, blue heron, turtles, lizards.. very cool! All the campsite hosts are friendly and our check-in was very easy and we were also greeted with welcoming service. We chose campsite number 479 right next to Mission Lake and the pedestrian bridge that takes you to the ocean. This campground is so clean, beautiful, and offers multiple bathrooms with showers and restrooms. The bathrooms are clean and the showers have enough space to shower and change. Each campsite I've seen has a dump station and water, which has come in handy. There's also Wi-Fi! There's also a restaurant on the campgrounds and tomorrow night we are going to listen to live music and have a few drinks. I've truly loved my stay here and would highly recommend it to anyone! We were only going to stay for four nights but we extended it to a week because we are having such a great time.

This was a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the daily grnd and just get back to…read morenature for a bit and clear my head. Graham Creek Nature Preserve is a great place in Foley, Alabama to get away from the asphalt and steel of modern life. I found it a great place to cleanse my soul and just relax. It is well-kept and definitely a place that I will return to. I will give it five stars.

We went by the Preserve to walk after Breakfast today and discovered they were decorating for their…read moreHaunted Forest. This looks like so much fun for the whole family! I can see teenagers having a blast with each other and siblings driving each other crazy. Support the Preserve and get your tickets on their page. Have fun!!!

Beautiful views, nice board walk, and a great covered pavilion area at the start. Great place for…read morephotos

Imagine this, you walk onto a beautiful white sand beach where waves of crystal clear water is…read morewashing across the shoreline and as far as the eye can see there are no other people in sight, the sun is out and the temps are in the low 80's this must be paradise or maybe a deserted island? This turned out to be quite the find especially in the off-season, it's rare to be able to enjoy such a place with an unobstructed view and isolation except for a few birds chasing sand crabs and bait fish. If you only focus on the beauty it hard to believe you're only a stone's throw from civilization. The only thing missing was a beach covered in beautiful shells and maybe a few well placed palm trees to add a little shade and some ambiance. Well there were some small shells and a slight breeze so I was happy happy happy to steal a line from Bob Ross, I think this is a scene he would of painted, maybe add a little "Yellow Ochre" and a touch of "Phthalo Blue" yeah I think those would complete the painting. There are a few amenities here, a restroom, a few pop machines and two extremely long board walks to get you from the parking lot to the sugar sand. I don't know if I've really ever experienced a perfect day I know I've been blessed to have had so many great ones but this is a bucket list place that I wasn't expecting. I think this is how everyday should be...

Nice park with beautiful mature oak trees! It has a nice playground and plenty of room for…read morepicnicking! Why did they stop their spring concerts?

It's a nice family park in gulf shores with great facilities. The city is always hosting events…read morehere.

What a treasure for hikers in the state of Florida. There are miles and miles of well maintained…read moretrails with multiple parking spots along the way. Some trails are concrete while others are wooden boardwalks so you are walking above the swamps. There are benches along the way and on one trail a playground with slides and a fort like structure. There are also bathrooms in some areas. Obviously it is Florida so all flat terrain. Some of the trails take you to the beach and others around a beautiful lake and campground. There were people around every time we hiked so felt pretty secure. There is also a resturant along the way but we did not make it there. Trails are for walkers and bikers so be cautious of the bicycles but almost all rides were courteous. I highly recommend taking a stroll or a bike ride in the park. There are bike rentals at the state park and if you stay there bikes are included.

This small beach area is found at the intersection of Highway 182 and Highway 161. Nestled between…read moresome of the most popular condominiums in the area. There's one wooden boardwalk that is approximately 100 feet long & then only another 100 feeto the shoreline. When you reach the end of the boardwalk, you are greeted by a large wooden turtle with a large wooden toy box. The turtle reads got a toy, leave a toy, need a toy, take a toy. So, if you forget sand pails, shovels, & other random tools for occupying the kids, it's there so they can create sand castle cities or to bury you in the sand for fun pics, very cool! Me & my honey go here regularly and find it normally less crowded than most other other beach access areas plus there's free parking, restrooms with showers and they have concessions like snow cones during the summer season. If you look to the right, you can see the beach for miles and miles if you look to the left you see the pier attached to the Four Seasons of Romar Beach.  One of the perks of staying at the hotel is having access to the pier for an even better view of the gulf wildlife that flies by or swims in water. The view is expansive, heck we could see the fireworks on July 4th all the way over in Florida and miles east past the big beach in Gulf Shores, majestic!! Restaurants nearby, for walking, include Cotton's (but they typically don't open until 4pm), Gilbey's Seafood & Steak.. There is also a Starbucks and Dairy Queen nearby if you are looking for something a little quicker. Bottom line: It's a nice piece of beach with most ammenities you need. Love it!!

Playground and obstacle course just to the right of gulf state park entrance. Great lol at ground…read morewith plenty of things to keeps kids entertained. Looks relatively new and well maintained. There is a little pond next to it that some people were fishing from. Across the drive is a very nice area that has picnic tables and grills. The dog pond dog playground is close by. There is a building that looks to rent bicycles, Segway, and kayaks as well. You can then walk the wooden bridge over the highway to the beach. This is a perfect little spot for a family to have picnic or playtime for a spell.

Not much luck fishing but great pier. It has a sign at the front which tells you what fish are…read morebiting daily. They updated it every hour or so. Pier has restrooms, hoses , cutting boards, bait shops, tackle shops. Ice cream bars and a restaurant. Although it is 10 dollars per fisherman and 3 dollars for sightseeing to enter the pier, it is worth it. There is also an15 dollar parking fee but it comes with a fishing pass for a day.

The Gulf State Park Pier has been seriously upgraded since my last visit. It had been damaged and…read morethey have done quite a lot of repairs and updates. I had no idea that they had started charging to go to the far end of the pier as that wasn't the case when I last visited. As a veteran I get free parking and also free entrance to the pier. I never saw any signage that indicated I had to pay to walk out to the pier but I did get yelled at for just walking out on the pier past the "commercial zone" and had to show my military veteran ID to proceed. I found it odd that I was somehow magically supposed to know that there was a fee or requirement to show my veteran ID when I never saw any sign to that effect. The lady that yelled at me came out of a door so she was inside where I couldn't have seen her so they should certainly add some signs that explain what they want more clearly to avoid weird situations like this. They also have a restaurant and bar here but I would suggest eating somewhere else. The pier does seem to be a decent place to fish and I saw several people bringing in some nice sized fish. Overall this seems like a good option if you want to fish off a pier or just enjoy the great view here. If I had to pay to just walk to the end of the pier I wouldn't have done that as you can get a good enough view from the "commercial zone" where the bar and restaurant are located. Overall this is an interesting spot to check out but I just heard they have raised the price of parking so that might make this area less attractive to visit.

We always have to stop and walk the wooden walkway. This year the water was up and the "gator…read moresunning areas" were flooded. Back in 2013 & 2014 there was a fairly large gator that was available for viewing. We always stop in and look for him.

This was a short walk, no gator sightings... I was bummed lol a couple locals said two lives there…read morebut had not been seen in a few days. We did see some small fish and a few crabs. A lot of trash has washed up into the grass or people have thrown items over the rails, either way it needs cleaning and the boards on the walk could use some replacements.