A SPARK FOR PARKS

A spark

for parks

‘We had an adventure’

Leslie K. Poole

When Rebecca Falkenberry and Bill Stokes moved to Florida, the Alabama natives wanted to immerse themselves in the Sunshine State’s natural beauty. They bought a much-coveted VW camper van, loaded it up, and headed out to learn about their new home state. Today, they are among the rare few who have seen all 175 state parks, an achievement that has rewarded them with rich experiences that included star gazing on a prairie and watching wild bison graze.

“We are both nature lovers, and we felt like that was the best way to see the real Florida,” said Stokes, 77, a retired Realtor. “We’re both tree huggers, and that’s a big part of our lives—a love for the environment.”

“We wanted to see this new state we’d moved into,” added Falkenberry, 75, a St. Petersburg travel adviser. “We thought state parks were a great way to do this. We’re kind of list-makers. We like to have goals, and a plan, and a way to do things. This fell into what we like to do.”

After experiencing a variety of sites, they bought a state parks passport book in 2007 as part of a program that lets visitors officially document their travels. That’s when the couple got serious, planning weekend and week-long expeditions in order to fill the book with stamps from across the peninsula. Eight years later, the book was full—one of only 64 to complete the list in the last 12 years.

“This is one of our treasured memories of Florida,” Falkenberry said, noting that they keep visiting newly created parks to keep up their goal. “It’s been great. We had a goal. We had a plan. We had an adventure.”

The couple excitedly recalled some extraordinary moments: watching shooting stars and listening to coyote howls during a dark night at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, kayaking on the sparkling waters of Rainbow Springs State Park, negotiating Suwannee River rapids at Big Shoals State Park, and enjoying the white sands of Bahia Honda State Park in the Keys.

Falkenberry and Stokes saw bison, alligators and wild horses at Paynes Prairie Preserve; learned about early park history at Highlands Hammock; and got their last passport stamp at the urban Ybor City Museum—all state parks with vastly different landscapes and offerings.

“I like to think that some people realize that Florida is much more than beaches and theme parks,” said Eric Draper, director of the Florida Park Service (FPS). “The passport inspires them to see really remarkable ecosystems, like the freshwater marshes of Fakahatchee and historic treasures like Plaza San Carlos. Some people just like a challenge. "

The state has many conservation lands for recreation, such as fishing and hunting, he said, but state parks have the added challenge of preserving “natural and cultural resources. So, beaches in state parks have a completely different look and feel—kelp stays on the beach, bird and sea turtle nests are guarded, and success is measured. Here are treasures found nowhere else in the nation.”

“Florida’s state parks provide a diversity of natural and cultural values unique in the United States,” said Jim Stevenson, former FPS naturalist. “A visit to all of these parks enhances one’s opportunity to explore a variety of terrain, from the coral reefs and tropical hammocks of the Keys to the high bluffs along the Apalachicola River in Torreya State Park. There are the dry caves of Florida Caverns, the longest and deepest underwater caves of Wakulla Spring, and Devil’s Millhopper, the state’s largest sinkhole. These state parks are also home to a variety of native wildlife, including the Florida panther, black bear, manatee, bison and wood stork.”

The parks also have been human refuges during the COVID pandemic, beckoning people who see “outdoor recreation and picnics as an alternative to gyms and restaurants,” said Draper, adding that the national award-winning FPS puts a “big emphasis on trails as safe and easy places to stay fit and healthy.”

He estimated that 30 million people visited Florida state parks in 2020—bigger attendance than at the theme parks.

Falkenberry and Stokes found camaraderie in their travels with a group of about 20 campers that call themselves the Pinellas Pine Cones. Some use tents, others use campers, but all enjoy traveling to natural spaces for recreation. The couple, in a normal year, would visit a half dozen parks in the brightly painted camper van; but that has been hampered recently because of closed facilities or other health concerns. When things return to “normal,” however, the couple plans to be back in the parks for hiking, biking and nature viewing.

A word of caution from Stokes for those who want to accomplish the passport program: Do your homework, investigate parks, and make reservations well in advance, especially in winter months when more than migratory birds flock to the state.

“There is a huge diversity of facilities in some of the parks—some are primitive. Find out before you go,” he said.

Their next challenge? They’ve been to three-quarters of the national parks, said Falkenberry. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get to all of them, but we are well on our way.”

I like to think that some people realize that Florida is much more than beaches and theme parks.

For more information about the FSP Passport Program, visit the website at floridastateparks.org/Passports