Camping at Little Talbot Island State Park, Florida

Camping at Little Talbot Island State Park

As we were planning our winter trip for the end of December 2025, we decided to get a camping site at Little Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville, Florida. We both wanted to go to this beautiful state park and were lucky enough to get a site. We reserved our site months ahead of time because it is hard to get in there. We booked our trip for late December 2025 through the first week of January 2026. This was the first time we stayed at this campground. This Florida State Park is a barrier island off the Northeast Coast of Florida.  You have to cross a bridge to get there.  It is open year round and we liked how nice it was. The beaches are beautiful and undeveloped.  You have to book your reservations way in advance because it fills up quickly.  The price to camp is $24 a night.  

View of Site 7 at campgroundAnother view of Site 7

Some of the sites are considered tent only, but you can get in a tent site if you have a small camper.  We contacted the ranger ahead of time before we booked our site to make sure it was OK to get our camper in a tent-only site. Since the camper is small, it was not a problem!

This picture is an overview of Site 7.  Very flat and very nice. That is the main road in the front.

Site 7Site 7 Little Talbot Island State Park

Our site was not available the first night we were there, so we had to stay in Site 11 for one night.  It was a nice site, but small. The site we moved to, Site 7, was nicer and a little larger.  Our site was still small because it was a tent only site, but was shaded with gorgeous Palm trees.  As you can see we had lots of beautiful trees around our site.  Here our dog, Archie, is taking in the fresh air.  Our camper is a Retro 135, 16 feet long, so we were able to get into the site with no problem.  Our door opens in the back, so we mostly got the view of the beautiful Florida palm and hardwood trees.  The front of the site faces the road. We had water and electric hookups and there is a dump station in the campground.

The only thing I missed by going to Florida this time of year is that I didn't see any critters.  We did see and hear some beautiful birds, but no other animals.  Even the alligators were hiding because the air was a bit chilly. This time of year, the entire East coast had a cold front come through and it brought cold temperatures to Florida.  It ranged in the 40's during the day for most of the week.  It was sunny, so we still got to enjoy the outdoors. 

We did drive around the campground and rated the sites, as we usually do, and we felt that site 1 and site 21 were the best sites as far as privacy and length. Site 1 is on the water, but it was very windy at that time.  Site 21 is the last site in the campground and is set off on its own.  It is near the hiking trails. There are only about 8 sites that are considered RV or tent sites.  That would be 13-21, with 15 being the camp host site, all the others are tent only.

There is a dump station near the entrance and a bathhouse at each end of the campground.  There are water and electric sites available.  Some sites have a maximum camper length because they are too small to accommodate larger rigs. The RV sites that could accommodate the larger rigs were all booked for that week. All sites can accommodate tents.  Pets are allowed in the campground, but not on the beaches, shorelines, boardwalks or buildings.  Pets must be controlled on a 6 foot lead.  The rules about pets are for all the Florida State Parks.

Visiting Amelia Island

One day we decided to visit nearby Amelia Island.  Very nice area, but mostly high end homes.  There are two campgrounds associated with the island, Fort Clinch State Park on the river side and Atlantic Campground on the ocean side.  We decided to drive through the two campgrounds.

Beach near Amelia Island View 2Amelia Island Beach Dunes
Beach near Amelia IslandAmelia Island Dunes Another View
Beach near Amelia Island View 3Amelia Island Walkway to beach

We thought the river sites at Fort Clinch State Park were much nicer than the sites on the Atlantic side.  The campground is called Amelia River Campground in Fort Clinch State Park.  The sites are numbered 22-63. The campground is on the western side of Amelia Island and is close to the historic Fort Clinch. We liked sites 40-46. They were the nicest.

The sites on the Atlantic side were much closer together.  This campground, Atlantic Beach Campground, is on the North Eastern side of Amelia Island. The sites are numbered 1-21, 21 being the nicest site in the campground.  We enjoy our privacy so that wouldn't work for us.  We would definitely consider staying at Fort Clinch State Park some time when we plan our next Florida trip. 

Dog Friendly Beaches

Dog friendly beachDog friendly beach North of Amelia Island

We wanted to explore the area so we looked for beaches that allowed dogs.  They are further north of Amelia Island. We saw people fishing out there.  A few people braved the water.  Mostly, the beach was pretty empty so we had no problem bringing Archie out there.  It was sunny the whole time, but cool.  I would imagine in the Spring, Summer and Fall months, the beaches get very crowded.  Beautiful area! Very pristine beaches!

Day Use Area Little Talbot State Park

One of our days at Little Talbot Island, we decided to ride our E-bikes through the day use section of the state park, which is across highway A1A from the campground.  The roads were nicely paved so we had no problem with that.  We attached Archie, our dog, to Wray's bike so he can run with us. We are trying to get him used to running with us while we are bike riding.  Of course, we had to stop a few times so he could sniff around like doggies like to do! We have had Archie for over three and a half years now and he has adapted very well to our travel adventures.  He enjoys the new places we go and does well in the camper.  We are very lucky!

The day use area of the park, where we were biking, was a good size park.  There was a picnic area, playground area, and hiking trails.  The large parking lot gives you access to the beach. There is a walkway that goes over the dunes onto the beach. Since we had Archie with us, we couldn't visit that beach. It was off limits to dogs.  The road was flat and paved.  It was very nice riding our E-bikes around the park.  

The air was cold for Florida.  We were there over New Years week.  The first day we got there it was very warm, then a cold snap came through and the temperatures dropped into the 30's and 40's.  There was plenty of sunshine. In spite of the cool weather, we did enjoy ourselves.  We did have to run our heater at night.  We love to explore places we have never been, so we had plenty to do at and around Little Talbot Island State Park.  We may go there again. It is beautiful and typical of old Florida!  If you get an opportunity, go visit Little Talbot Island!! Just remember to book in advance so you can get a spot!

Til next time!!