Carl Gray Park — Attraction in Panama City

Update:The construction is done. The picnic areas are covered with many picnic benches. The new restroom facilities look great from the outside. This has become a really nice park. An amazing transformation.

This is a very pretty park, under large oak trees, up against the bay. There is construction going on and will be very nice when it is completed. Over the past several years, the park has had some improvements, nothing I would consider substantial, but improvements.

Once Hurricane Michael hit on October 10, 2018, the park was left in pretty poor condition. Left behind were some playground items and new but broken and ugly light fixtures. Replacement Porta-poties were brought in, always nasty. To make the porta-poties even worse was someone living in an RV would empty their holding tank, then dump it into the porta-poties. At least they were not dumping on the ground.

More recently, the park has become home to truckers who are looking for a place to park their big-rigs to sleep in for the night. Often, these guys pee into a bottle and then dump it outside their semis in the morning, you cant miss the smell. There is also a guy who frequents the park overnight, presumably to sleep in a white pickup truck. The dilapidated old boat that had a resident blew away during a storm and sank out in the bay. That is one ugly item removed from the west end of the park.

Now, with the construction happening, the boat ramp has been replaced. The west end has a sidewalk going from the boat ramp to the Hathaway bridge. There are 2 bathroom facilities being built, along with some picnic pavilions. There is a new playground on the west edge of the grass by the boat ramp. The new boat ramp has a dock on either side for loading your boat.the park is becoming very nice.

What is left? Completing construction followed by an ordinance that prevents people from sleeping in the park or in a vehicle at the park. Perhaps no overnight parking. There needs to be an off-site location for RVers to dump so that does not become a part of the new bathrooms as it has with the porta-poties. Also, if nothing is provided, that RV wast will ultimately wind up in the bay.

Great job to the city for the recent and ongoing improvements. Whoever made this happen needs to be congratulated for the amazing improvements that...

Carl Gray Park doesn't off many amenities, but it's still a nice little park. There are covered picnic tables, grills, a sandy, shallow boat ramp, and beautiful, peaceful views of West Bay and the Hathaway Bridge.

There are shaded parking spaces and grassy areas along the water. With supervision, the younger kids will have a great time getting their feet wet and finding crabs and other small sea life.

Carl Gray is behind Gulf Coast State College and beside Florida State Panama...

It is right on the water and it has picnic tables with BBQ grills. It has benches to sit on ,including three sea creatures themed benches( the whale is actually a slide). There are live hermit crabs at the waterline,so leave them alone. The biggest drawback was lack of restroom facilities. I also found a spent gun shell near the sea creatures themed benches,which you'd rather not see in a public.park,where you take your family. The waterfront is...