Camp Helen keeps Panama City Beach's company resort story

Camp Helen is close to Panama City Beach, but it feels like a different chapter.

The park sits by Lake Powell and the Gulf. Florida State Parks traces its better-known modern story to Avondale Mills, an Alabama textile company that used the place as a vacation resort for employees from the 1940s into the 1980s. The old lodge, recreation hall, and cottages help explain why the park does not feel like a plain beach access point.

That is the fun part for a visitor: you can walk into a beach-area park and still notice the bones of an old company retreat. It gives Bay County a softer story behind the busy vacation map.

Before going, check the current park page for hours, fees, beach access, trails, and any work around the historic buildings. Then leave time for the Lake Powell side, not just the Gulf. Camp Helen makes more sense when you see both pieces together.