"Effective May 13, 2026: Kayaks are not offered for rent at Camp Helen State Park." That's the whole notice, sitting at the top of the park's page on the Florida State Parks website, no explanation attached. For anyone in Inlet Beach who has spent a Saturday morning walking down the stairs by the old lodge, picking out a single or a tandem, and paddling out onto Lake Powell before the heat sets in, that one sentence ended a routine.
For Inlet Beach paddlers, the change leaves a practical question: where else can you launch?
What actually stopped in May
The rentals at Camp Helen weren't run by the state. They were run by Friends of Camp Helen, the nonprofit Citizen Support Organization that started renting kayaks and paddleboards back in 2015 as a way to fund projects inside the park. The kiosk sat down the stairs in front of the historic lodge, rentals were good for the lake only, not the Gulf side, and the money went straight back into trail work, interpretive programs, and the kind of upkeep a 180-acre day-use park needs. It was the only outfit renting kayaks directly on Lake Powell, an easy walk from the Phillips Inlet channel where the lake meets the Gulf.
That arrangement is gone for now. A beach guide updated in late July 2026 confirms the kiosk is still closed months after the May notice, so this isn't a brief seasonal gap. If you want to paddle Lake Powell through Camp Helen today, you bring your own boat.
Where Camp Helen sits relative to Inlet Beach
Here's the part that changes how you should think about your options. Camp Helen sits right at the line between Bay and Walton counties, and most descriptions of the park place its entrance and historic lodge just inside Bay County, on the far side of the Phillips Inlet bridge from Inlet Beach. Walton County's own planning documents draw Inlet Beach's boundary at the Gulf to the south, Lake Powell to the north, and the county line to the east, which puts Camp Helen just outside the neighborhood you actually live in.
Camp Helen charges $4 per vehicle at the honor box (walkers and cyclists pay $2) and sits just over the county line. Lake Powell also has a public access point inside Inlet Beach: a dock and launch for canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards on North Walton Lakeshore Drive, a street the county's own Inlet Beach Neighborhood Plan lists as part of the community. Camp Helen has a well-marked entrance and a visitor center; the North Walton Lakeshore Drive dock is another way onto the same lake.
Two ways onto the same water
| Camp Helen (Bay County side) | Lake Powell Access, N. Walton Lakeshore Dr. | |
|---|---|---|
| Location relative to Inlet Beach | Just over the county line, west of the Phillips Inlet bridge | Inside the Inlet Beach neighborhood boundary |
| Entry fee | $4 per vehicle, $2 per cyclist or walker, paid at an honor box | No posted vehicle fee at the dock itself |
| What's there | Visitor center, historic lodge, two lake-access launch points off the Lake Powell Trail | A dock and direct launch for canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards |
| Rentals | None as of this year | None. Bring your own gear either way |
| Best for | Trail time, history, wildlife viewing along the way | A quick, close launch with less walking |
Neither spot rents equipment right now. The difference is how far you have to travel and whether you pay an entrance fee.
If you're launching your own gear
The two designated kayak launch points inside Camp Helen sit along the Lake Powell Trail, south of US 98, and they're worth the walk if you want the fuller experience: the trail runs along the bluffs, passes the old kayak launch and pier, and eventually connects to the Inlet Beach Trail, which crosses a marshy arm of the lake on a causeway before climbing through the dunes into Inlet Beach itself. It's a reminder that the park and the neighborhood were always connected on foot, even with a county line running through the middle.
Lake Powell itself is brackish, tea-colored from the cypress and pine along its banks, and it periodically trades water with the Gulf when the Phillips Inlet outfall opens. That mix is why you can pull redfish, speckled trout, flounder, and largemouth bass out of the same lake depending on the season and how recently the inlet has been open. Early morning, before wind picks up, is when the water sits flattest and the wading birds are out along the margins, which makes it the best window for a short paddle before work or before the day gets busy.
There are no lifeguards at either access point, so check conditions yourself and give the inlet channel a wide berth if you're paddling near it. The water there moves with the tide in ways the rest of the lake doesn't.
If you don't own a kayak
Not everyone in Inlet Beach owns a boat, and that's the gap the old Camp Helen kiosk used to fill for locals as much as visitors. With that option gone, outfitters like 30A Beach Paddle Surf, which already serves the Inlet Beach area, are the more practical route if you want to get on the water without buying gear. It won't put you inside Camp Helen's boundaries, but it solves the same problem: a kayak or paddleboard for a morning, without a purchase or a rack in your garage.
Before you head out
- Confirm current rental status before driving anywhere. Friends of Camp Helen posts updates through its own site, and rental service has come and gone before during off seasons.
- If you're launching your own kayak or paddleboard, decide in advance whether you're using the Lake Powell Access dock in Inlet Beach or one of the two launch points inside Camp Helen. They're both on the same lake, but one keeps you closer to home.
- Bring a fishing license if you plan to cast a line. Lake Powell's mixed water means either a saltwater or freshwater license applies depending on what you're after.
- Watch the tide and the inlet. When the outfall is open, current runs through that channel in a way the rest of the lake doesn't show.
What this means for a Saturday morning
The loss of a rental kiosk sounds small until it's your Saturday routine. But it's also a chance to notice another local option: Inlet Beach has a quiet launch onto one of the rarest kinds of lake in the country, alongside the access at Camp Helen. The neighborhood dock offers a convenient route to the water. You just need your own kayak and a few minutes to find North Walton Lakeshore Drive.
If you're weighing a move to this stretch of the coast, or you already call Inlet Beach home and want a team that pays attention to details like this one, Bode at the Beach can help you get to know the neighborhood the way people who actually live here do. Start Your Beach Search whenever you're ready.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
