Fort Pickens. Gulf Islands National Seashore Entry Gate. Editorial Photo

This is the entry gate to get into the Gulf Islands National Seashore located in the Florida Panhandle in Escambia County just south of Pensacola. Fees are collected at the gate. Inside the gate are beautiful white sandy beaches, Fort Pickens Campground, and Fort Pickens, a military fort constructed in 1834 to protect the Pensacola Bay and named after an American Revolutionary War hero named Andrew Pickens. Taken on a cloudy day, the park is sometimes closed due to flooding.