Honeymoon Island Ranks 3rd On Best State Parks List

The Tampa Bay area is home to some of the most scenic state parks in the state. Countless state parks and national preserves dot coastal areas from Hillsborough County down to Sarasota. The editors of HomeToGo took a look at the state parks around the country and ranked Honeymoon Island State Park at 3rd on their national list of 18 "Most Extraordinary Parks."

Out of the 18 parks listed, four are in Florida, with three ranking in the top 10. Along with Honeymoon Island, the other parks listed (with national ranking) were: Cayo Costa State Park (ranked 5th) near Fort Myers, Blue Spring State Park (7th) near Orange City and Rainbow Springs State Park (12th) near Dunnellon.

Florida was represented by more state parks than any other state. New York and Utah each had three parks on the list. There are 8,565 state parks in operation nationwide.

HomeToGo first identified the top 100 most popular state parks across the country for 2018, and then researched five categories — average visitor rating, affordability, number of activities, diversity of bird species and availability of accommodations — to come up with the top 18.

Honeymoon Island is a barrier island across St. Joseph's Sound from Palm Harbor and located at the western end of the Dunedin Causeway. The park also includes the 3-mile Osprey Trail, where visitors can spot eagles and osprey. There also are two restaurants in the park. The park service charges $8 per vehicle and $2 for pedestrians and bicyclists to enter the park. The park also has a dog beach.

To see all 18 state parks that made the list, go here.

Image via VisitStPeteClearwater.com