Renamed for a beloved Florida folksinger who gave his life trying to rescue a drowning man at Flagler Beach State Park, the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area stretches from the orange sand beaches of the Atlantic Ocean to the windswept oak hammocks along the Intracoastal Waterway.
Resources
Overview
Location: Flagler Beach
Lat-Long: 29.438962,-81.108542
Fees: $4-5 per vehicle
Open: 8 AM until sunset daily
Leashed pets welcome except on beach
Location
Details
Gamble Rogers, a folksy Florida folk singer, was a storyteller extraordinaire who captivated audiences with his retellings of Florida history, and a fixture of the Florida Folk Festival held at Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park.
He was camping at Flagler Beach State Park in October 1991 when a young girl begged his help to save her father, who was caught in rough surf.
Not much of a swimmer himself, Gamble grabbed an air mattress and tried to save the man, and drowned too.
It’s still the same beach as it was back then, with thick orange coquina sand and rollicking surf and a campground within earshot of the melodic waves.
Nature trails wind under the thicket of windswept oaks, and you can drop a line in the Intracoastal or watch ibises pecking across the mud flats.
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Trail Map
