Beachside Camping — Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach

This is less an actual campground than it is a single gravel lane that runs parallel to A1A to the west and the white caps crashing down along a pretty spectacular piece of sand to the east where you’ll be treated to unbridled views of the Atlantic Ocean. So, technically I guess you could call this a CG, because there’s a designated place to park your RV or 5th Wheel (no, this is not a place for mi tent-pitchin’ bredren unless you like setting up camp on gravel with RVs on either side of you, and even then, I don't think they'll let you camp here in a tent), there’s a restroom / shower facility with a single coin-operated washer & dryer set and a perimeter complete with a key-coded security gate (which is pretty much open during the whole day), but other than the standard issued picnic table and fire ring at each site, there’s not much more to this place.

Oh, but hey, you have DIRECT access to the Atlantic Ocean on a pretty decent beach (albeit that had just been nearly completely wiped out recently courtesy of Hurricanes Ian and Milton).

The one thing I will say about this particular location – if you actually want to camp (er, park your RV) as close to the beach and ocean as possible, this is one of the very few places up and down the eastern Florida coastline that you can do this, while still having a fairly intimate, enjoyable experience. Add to this all of the other abundant natural amenities available in the other half of the park (just across the street, mind you), combined with being just a short drive to civilization back at Flagler Beach, and this spot is pretty difficult to pass up. Downsides? Sites are pretty close to one another and while there is decent brush-like perimeter that blocks you from seeing all the traffic passing by A1A, you will have next to no privacy between you and your neighbors here at this roadside CG.

Finding Gamble Rogers Memorial SRA couldn’t be easier, and if you’re heading to this CG, you’ll just want to turn towards the beach from A1A, where the entrance to the CG is immediately on your right. You need only drive down the single gravel lane until you find your spot among the 34 or so slots that exist after first checking in at the Ranger Station that sits opposite this location on the other side of A1A. Apart from the massive attraction that is the beachhead itself, for the most part, all of the other amenities that you’ll want to take advantage of here at Gamble Rogers will be found on the Intracoastal side of the SRA where you’ll find hiking paths, 6 different sized covered pavilions that are perfect for a small family of 4 or can fit a BBQing family reunion of 100 or so – but I would highly recommend for the larger sized planned group events to reserve well in advance. This entire SRA is pet-friendly and there is a sanitary disposal for RVs and 5th Wheels along with standard water & electric hook-ups.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you come toting a kayak or canoe, there is an excellent launch near the first set of covered pavilions on the Intracoastal, and if you don’t have your own, the good folks here at Gamble Rogers will gladly rent you one of theirs; (2) Whether you are staying beachside or riverfront, if you’ve got swimming on your mind, you’ll want to avoid going for a dip in the alligator-infested frackish waters of the Intracoastal and instead fare better in the ocean’s sea salt, but do beware of the warning flags as rip currents in this area can be quite unpredictable and thus dangerous; (3) There’s an excellent boat launch on the Intracoastal side with fairly wide access and a very minimal decline into the water, but you’ll want to motor slow given all of the manatees in the area;(4) The restroom facilities beachside are just mediocre and will certainly get the job done, but I found the bath house back on the Intracoastal side to be nothing short of spectacular, especially with the turbine-like ceiling fans that keep the place fresh and dry – not a bad place to hang wet clothes to let them dry; (5) When you grow weary of rummaging through your RV mini-fridge and wanna check out some local fare, while fairly touristy, we tried out the Funky Pelican, which has the long pier that was nearly destroyed from the last Hurricane that ripped through here, and have to admit that the seafood combination plate for $20 was most excellent; and (6) IMHO the best sites on the beachside are those located furthest south(#25-#34) as they are further away from the entrance and seem better shrouded from the traffic noise.

Happy Camping!

General: We are planners but trying to reserve a site in the popular Florida state parks is challenging to say the least so we were pleasantly surprised when we could snag two nights here. There are 68 sites in two loops – 34 sites on the Atlantic coast and the remainder across the highway near the Intracoastal waterway. I believe all have electric and water hookups, a picnic table, and a fire ring. 

Site Quality: All sites are level; driveways on the Atlantic side are sand while the ones on the riverside are gravel. The sites on the ocean side are shorter; while larger RVs would likely fit better in the riverside sites, we did see some larger rigs squeeze into the smaller sites. Our site, while on the coast side, backed up to A1A, a busy road, so the soothing sounds of the ocean waves competed with road noise. Minimal separation/privacy between sites but since ours was at the end of the loop, we had privacy on one side (with the exception that the vehicle turnaround was just beyond our site).

Bathhouse: Was reasonably clean considering it is right next to the ocean. In addition to the men’s and women's bathrooms, there is also a family restroom which also has a shower. 

Activities/Amenities: Sadly, due to storm damage, access to the beach from the campground was closed but we were told of available access points in the town of Flagler Beach. There is a nature trail on the river side. There are also kayak rentals available at the Ranger Station (open 8 am– sunset) and there is an ADA-accessible kayak launch. There is a boat ramp on the Intracoastal waterway and fishing is permitted on both sides of the park. Laundry facilities are available in both campgrounds. 

Lucky to have snagged a spot, we chose to relax and not spend time in town until on our way out of town (while you could walk, it is a couple of miles away). It was also interesting to learn how the park got its name. The name was changed in the early 1990s to memorialize Gamble Rogers, a beloved folk singer, who drowned nearby while trying to rescue a swimmer in distress. 

Note: As this is an extremely popular state park, it seems odd that I could not find this on The Dyrt but I searched both by name and location and could not find it.

We were only able to get one night in the Beachside loop at Gamble Rogers, site 20. The views from some of these sites are amazing! Our site was not on the water side, but we could see the ocean through the sites across from us. Note that the odd numbered sites are the ones on the water side, and at least 19, 21 and 23 have great views (they were across from us). The higher number sites on that side have too much vegetation behind the site to have a view - but you’d still get the sound from the waves. (We didn’t look at sites before 19, so not sure on vegetation there. ). The sites don’t have much separation and the sites aren’t very big. The biggest selling point for me on this campground was that they actually have a dog gate - a gate at the southern end of the campground - accessed by a code they give you - that you can WALK to a dog friendly section of Flagler Beach (the beach right in front of the campground does not allow dogs). This may seem minor to some of you, but if you’re familiar with FL beaches, you’ll know that the majority of the beaches don’t allow dogs. And definitely all the beaches in the state parks don’t allow dogs. So normally, if you’re camping in a state park, you’ll need to drive many miles to get to a beach you can enjoy with your dog. We weren’t impressed with the Riverside campsites at this park. We would definitely return to the Beachside loop of this campground to enjoy the beach with our pup. Hopefully next time we can score a site on the water side!