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Monday, November 9, 2015

Oz's Big Adventure: Little Talbot State Park

My big, 11-day camping adventure started at Little Talbot State Park.  Little Talbot State Park encompasses Little Talbot Island, one of the few undeveloped barrier islands in Northeast Florida.  The park boasts almost five miles of beautiful, white sand beaches as well as maritime forests, desert-like dunes and undisturbed salt marshes.

Beach view at Little Talbot State Park in Jacksonville, FL

There are a lot of activities to participate in at Little Talbot State Park including fishing, surfing, beachcombing, hiking and kayaking.  There is also a really nice bike trail that goes in and out of the park.  I rode in my Solvit Products HoundAbout II trailer most of the time but Ma and Daddy-dog let me out to see the sights including the beach.  (Note:  Beaches in all Florida State Parks are protected so dogs are not allowed on the beach.  I viewed the beach from a portion of the bike trail.)

Oz the Terrier enjoys the beach view at Little Talbot State Park in Jacksonville, FL

The campground, where we were set to stay three nights, is located along the eastern salt marshes of Myrtle Creek.  Our campsite was a couple hundred yards from the Myrtle Creek salt marsh; every day we could see people fishing off the small dock or heading off for a kayaking adventure.

Little did we know it would be a full moon when we made our reservations to stay at Little Talbot State Park nor did we realize that the moon would bring in what The Weather Channel considered "an astronomical high tide".  On Monday morning, the high tide came in so much that our campsite would have been considered "waterfront property".  We felt bad for the RV campers whose sites were flooded with about a foot of water.

Oz the Terrier's campsite at Little Talbot State Park gets flooded by the astronomical high tide October 2015

However, Tuesday morning brought two surprises to us.  The first was once again the "astronomical high tide" which on this day invaded our campsite.  The water stopped coming in right before it met up with our campfire ring.  We couldn't get out of our campsite for about an hour as the campground road was flooded as well.

Oz the Terrier meets up with friends, CowSpotDogs, to go hiking in Little Talbot State Park in Jacksonville, Florida

Once the tide ebbed, I got a second surprise.  We headed over to the hiking trail and met up with blog friends Reilly and Denny, the CowSpotDogs.  We hiked for about two miles; I lead the pack with Daddy-dog for most of the trail though Reilly and I did stop together to sniff some interesting spots.  Reilly and Denny are such cool dogs and we had a great time together.

Oz the Terrier takes a break on the Little Talbot State Park bike trail in Jacksonville, Florida

We really liked Little Talbot State Park, despite the fact that it rained at some point every day we were there.  It is one of the smaller parks in the Florida State Parks system but it is definitely worth a trip the next time you are in the Jacksonville, FL area.  If you go, maybe you can meet up with Reilly and Denny too!


29 comments:

  1. How cool is that Oz! We go every year in the spring time and Little Talbot is one of our favorite places! We always stay at Flamingo Lake RV Resort before heading south. We had no idea that the Cowspot Dogs lived there! Who knew that you guys were so close to where we hang out in the spring? It is a beautiful place! So glad you got to meet your friends and enjoy your hike!

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  2. That beach looks soooo beautiful. Shame you got wetted butts you got to meet Reilly and Denny IN THE FURS!!!!!
    Wow, yous one lucky pup Oz!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx
    PeeS Are those fella just as handsome in the furs?????

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  3. it is a good thing you didn't come this weekend - we had 11 inches of rain yesterday and every where is flooded :) It was such meeting you all.

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  4. It's sad when a campsite turns into venice over night :o( but you met Reilly and Denny and you had a great time together... (and you as the leader, yay!)

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  5. Beautiful spot, sorry about the bad timing. What fun that you got to meet Reilly and Denny.

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  6. Oh wow, you got to meet Reilly and Denny in the furs?! How exciting! Sounds like a fun, if soggy, trip!

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  7. It looks like bad flying weather to me.

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  8. You met Cowspots in the furs???? Oh wow, that would be so cool!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  9. OH my stars that is a lot of high tide waters. You needed hip boots in that mess. AND YOU MET the CowSpots in the furs it looks like you 3 were furiends from at first glance!!
    It is raining here so Mom hopes it stops in time to get Casey out late afternoon
    Hugs madi your bfff

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  10. Super cool you got to meet Reilly and Denny.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  11. We are glad you enjoyed your camping after all :)

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  12. What a beautiful park!! We are so happy you got to meet Reilly and Denny in the furs!!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  13. What a pawesome trip and it is beyond cool that you got to meet Reilly and Denny!!!!! I would have LOVED to have met them! DakotasDen

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  14. Bummer with the rain and flooding. Mom would pack up and leave.Good you stuck it out and had a good time anyway, and got to meet friends too.

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  15. That is a big adventure for such a little guy! So cool about meeting the Cowspotdogs, I would love to meet them someday. But mom is so off Florida not looking good. But the beach looked wonderful, too bad about the tide. Love Dolly

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  16. Well the flooded campsite was worth it if you got to meet Reilly & Denny in the furs!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  17. OMD! I would love to meet Reilly and Denny. Those two know some really great places along the beach. It looks like a wonderful campsite except for the waterfront property part. ☺

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  18. Too bad about the rain. But getting to meet Reilly and Denny....that's just magic. Sounds like a great hike, too.

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  19. That little park looks ginormous! How exciting to meet our friends in the furs
    Lily & Edward

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  20. Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Oz High tide why you could have been washed out to the sharks house. Guess if that happened then Florida would let you on the beach. Or maybe the beach was trying to come to you The Great and Powerful Oz. It is fun to meet up with others who blog.
    Thanks for being a friend
    Sweet William The Scot

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  21. How cool you got to do a blogger meetup! You should come visit here, Oz. I think almost all the beaches are dog friendly.

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  22. How fun! Ya know we has never been there even though we live so close.

    xoxo,
    Ginger, Matt & Matilda

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  23. Looks like you had lots of fun despite the high tide! Dogs can run on our beaches here in Oregon so come on over! :)

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  24. Looks like fun even wif da super-high tide.

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  25. looks like a great adventure, I love the picture of you and dog daddy hand on you!

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  26. Bad timing sucks, but wow, so gorgeous there!!!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  27. Lots of surprises. I would like to see a salt marsh.

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Thank you for stopping by and leaving a pawprint. I enjoy reading each and every one!
Cairn cuddles,
Oz the Terrier