Gamble Rogers — Attraction in Flagler Beach

I go to State Parks to hike, bike, and kayak or paddle board every month, mostly in north and Central Florida. I had just gotten back from a trip to Anastasia in St. Augustine a week prior but was disappointed the winds were too high to paddleboard, which was the main reason I went. I saw that the upcoming weather called for two days of very calm winds. I started looking around for somewhere I could paddle and camp overnight at least for a couple of nights. Gamble Rogers was the only one I found but there was only one tent site open for two nights during that time. I have a travel trailer that I camp in, but I decided to get these old bones going and camp in a tent so that I could get some paddling in with a friend who lives nearby. I was equally pleased because I had already booked five nights for later in the year in October and was happy to check it out beforehand. So glad I did. What a wonderful park. Wish I hadn’t waited this long to go there, since it’s only an hour and 20 minutes away. They had the best launch for kayaks and such I have ever seen at a park anywhere. And the places to paddle there are really incredible. Once you cross the intercoastal from the park, there are numerous estuaries that make a maze of opportunities. Make sure to get your bearings because you could possibly get lost… There’s that many little runs to paddle down and around. The water tower for Flagler Beach is a good marker to get back to the campground. The tent site was beautiful with a nice canopied area. The power station was unique and even lit up at night. There was a lot of attention to detail in so many areas throughout the park. I like the site that I’m going to have in October that backs up to the intercoastal, although you cannot see it from the site because of vegetation. All of the sites on the perimeter of the riverside loop are very nice looking. The interior campsites by the bathhouse area do not have any privacy, but the sites are nice as well. I did walk over to the beach side camp sites because I have a toy hauler with a patio and thought it would be nice to get a site with a view. But it was not my kind of camping where there is no real division between each site and they’re very close together. Maybe sometime I’ll give it a try when there’s an off-season time and it’s not so packed. Overall, this park is so well done. As other reviewers mentioned, the bathrooms are spotless. The camp hosts are all very friendly, as well as the Rangers. Can’t wait for my trip in October, unless a site comes open...

We did not stay there but visited the city beach of Flagler Beach because it was recommended by a friend that lives in the area to be pet friendly. We walked up the beach unknowingly onto the state park with our two leashed border collies. We were approached by the ranger and told that pets weren't allowed on the beach in state parks. We were very respectful and when we asked him if dogs were allowed in the RV park because we thought about reserving at a later time, we couldn't get a straight answer out of him and it was clear he just wanted us off the beach. Instead of simply asking us to go back the way we came (mind you we were only about a hundred yards into the state park boundary) he made us go off the beach and told us to walk down the sidewalk. We went to the road, but did not see a sidewalk and didn't want to walk our dogs on the 2 lane road close to cars or hot pavement, so we walked into the rv area to get back to Flagler Beach. He raced after us in his golf cart and told us we weren't allow in there and must walk down the sidewalk. There was only a sidewalk in the opposite side of the road which we hadn't seen. We td him we didn't want to cross the road with our dogs and make them walk on the hot pavement, but he didn't care about the safety of our pets. We will NEVER visit this park again and will make numerous social media posts regarding how we were treated disrespectfully by this ranger working around 2 PM on Wed, April 17th, 2019. So if you come to #flaglerbeach, make sure you don't enter the state park period. Hope you see the small sign posted up on the Dune 30 yards up from the water which is...

Spectacular camping. We had spot 31 and 33 on the beach Side. I would not camp on the river side personally we walked over there and it was very hot and there’s not any water access over there. Spot 13 seems to be the best for the lowest bushes so you could see the ocean from your site. You cannot see the ocean from our sites 31 and 33 so it doesn’t really matter what spot you get (unless it’s spot 13 which looks to be the best) as long as you’re on the water side loop. There were three board walks down to the ocean, the sand is a bit odd as it seems trucked in and steep at places. At high Tide it was very difficult to walk along the beach because of the angle of the sand however at low tide it was perfect. The facilities were absolutely spotless the volunteers doing very good job of keeping everything clean and well-maintained. There’s a dump station for campers on both the Riverside on the ocean side making it very convenient to dump when you leave in an RV. There’s fresh water electricity at every site. It’s walking distance along the beach to the local bar/restaurant. And if you walk south you walk to another state park and there’s literally no one on the beach. I walked for 90 minutes on a Saturday morning at 7 AM and did not see another human being besides the turtle patrol on their golf carts. I recommend this...