Florida's State Park attendance Reaches new heights

PANAMA CITY, FL — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida Park Service today announced a new record for state park attendance during the 2008-09 fiscal year. More than 21.4 million people visited a state park last fiscal year, an increase of approximately 700,000 people, or 3.5 percent, from the previous fiscal year.

St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach had 910,000 visitors the past year, behind Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin which welcomed more than 1.2 million visitors.

Other highly visited parks include:

The Florida Park Service, established by the Florida Legislature in 1935, will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010. Special events will be hosted statewide beginning in January and throughout 2010 to commemorate the diamond anniversary.

Since 1985, the National Recreation and Park Association has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month. This year, the Florida Park Service continues its Family. Friends. Fun. campaign which aims to reconnect children and families with nature by engaging them in outdoor activity.

Florida’s state parks provide many opportunities for friends and families to explore museums, forts, gardens, lakes, rivers, crystal clear springs and white sandy beaches. Visitors can hike, bicycle, paddle, dive fish, swim, ride horseback and view an abundance of wildlife; and more than 50 parks provide overnight accommodations via tent camping, RV camping or cabin rentals.

To learn more about Florida’s state parks, visit www.floridastateparks.org.