Best State Parks

We’ve visited a lot of state parks over the years, but these are the state parks that really stand out! Honorable mention goes to Myakka River State Park for the air plant trail, alligators, and eagles.

10. Pedernales Falls State Park - TX

The park has several hikes, but the Pedernales Falls hike is the most fun. Walk and climb over large river rocks.

9. Jonathan Dickinson State Park – FL

Near the park are several good places like the Blowing Rocks Preserve, Loggerhead Marine Life Center and Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. The park itself is great for biking. But the best part was canoeing to see Trapper Nelson’s former home. You share the river with birds, turtles, and alligators.

8. Kolomoki Mounds Historic Park– Blakely, GA

We’ve seen a lot of mounds, but these were some of the best plus there is a campground in the park. The mounds are big and the museum is excellent. Another good mound site to visit in Georgia is the Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site.

7. Petit Jean State Park - Morrilton, AR

This park is great for hiking. The park is full of waterfalls, Rock House Cave, pictographs, and turtle rocks. I don’t know if these turtle rock formations occur in other places, but I love the look of them. Both the rocks and the pictographs are disappearing over time so visit soon.

6. City of Rocks State Park – Faywood, NM

It was hard to decide between Rockhound State Park where you can collect different rocks and City of Rocks. You can’t collect rocks here but you can spend a day climbing among them. As you drive to the park, the rocks seem to come out of nowhere. These large rocks have all type of shapes. Part of the fun is trying to figure out what they look like. Is this a snail or a toilet?

5. Crater of Diamonds State Park – Murfreesboro, AR

There isn’t another park like this one. No camping. The only thing to do is look for diamonds. And it’s fun! You can walk, sift, and dig. All it looks like is a field of dirt but two diamonds are found every day on average. Every once in a while someone will be in the news for finding a bigger diamond. Chances are you won’t find a diamond, but there are agates, jasper, and other types of rocks. Once you pay an entry fee, you can take home whatever you find.

4. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park – McCalla, AL

Camping isn’t great here (very small sites), but there is a lot to see. Since I’m involved in metal production, the iron works was interesting. The slave cemetery and the pioneer village within the park are special too.

3. Choke Canyon State Park - TX

Don’t look for a canyon here (it’s the rivers that were choked off), but look for wildlife. During our time we saw deer, rabbits, turkey, coyote, bobcat, feral hogs, raccoon, armadillos, and all types of birds. The best parts for us were the amount of deer we saw, the family of javelinas that travel through the campground, and the bobcats that moved through our campsite.

2. Hocking Hills – OH

The caves in the area are not holes in the ground like Carlsbad or Mammoth Cave, but more rock formations or ledges. Yet the hikes through forests are fun. The caves and hikes are spread out enough that you get away from the crowds. The campground is great too.

1. Palo Duro Canyon State Park – Canyon, TX

The animals of Palo Duro seem friendly. Turkey and deer walk around the campsites. But, the hikes and views are why this is such a spectacular park. Lighthouse Trail is a great one to see the rock shapes. Givens, Spicer & Lowry Trail has just stunning views. Nearby Caprock Canyon is also a great park.