Exploration stations along Choctawhatchee Bay are run by the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, including fish printing, hands-on water science, and the estuary explained by people who monitor it. The programme itself is funded and free, and the park gate is the only charge.
Before you go
- One $5 per car at the gate, not per person
- 10 AM to 2 PM. Fish printing is the one the kids remember
- Bring water; it is a September Florida bayou
What we checked, and when
Read off the venue's own page on 2026-08-08.
The programme is free. It is funded by the Mattie Kelly Environmental Initiative through the Northwest Florida State College Foundation. The $5 is the Florida State Parks day-use entrance fee. Florida State Parks charges per vehicle, covering two to eight occupants. A family of five pays $5 total, not $25. ⚠️ floridastateparks.org blocked automated reads on 08/08, so the per-vehicle unit is corroborated from that domain's own indexed text rather than a page we loaded ourselves. Re-check at the gate.
⚠️ THE $5 UNIT IS THE THING TO GET RIGHT. It is per vehicle. A card that showed it per person would turn $5 into $25 for a family of five.
⚠️ The venue linkage to Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park comes from event listings, not from the host's own page. Confirm the park before you drive.