Boat Ramps in Perry, FL: 3 Public Put-Ins

Why Perry's Boat Ramps Are Worth the Trip

Perry sits nine miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and the town has never pretended otherwise. This is the Tree Capital of the South, where the economy runs on pine and cypress, not beach towels and souvenir shops. Here, water access serves a purpose: getting a boat into the Fenholloway River or out to the Gulf for a day of fishing. You won't find a waterfront promenade, a bait shop with a deli counter, or a marina doubling as a sunset bar. What you will find are three public ramps, each with its own character, and a town that knows exactly what it is.

Perry's 3 Public Boat Ramps: Which One to Choose

Perry's three public ramps are spread across the Fenholloway River and Yates Creek. None are fancy. All get you on the water. The highest-rated is Fenholloway Boat Ramp #2, sitting at 4.7 stars from 22 reviews. The original Fenholloway Boat Ramp on Old Club House Rd trails at 3.8 stars from 19 reviews, and Yates Creek Boat Landing holds the middle ground at 4.2 stars from 12 reviews. Best-reviewed launch? Head to Fenholloway Boat Ramp #2. Want to avoid company? Yates Creek is your bet.

Fenholloway River Boat Ramps: What to Know Before You Launch

The two Fenholloway ramps are the workhorses of Perry's water access. Fenholloway Boat Ramp #2, the better-rated of the pair, is the one locals tend to favor. It is a plain, functional concrete ramp with parking and direct river access. No fuel dock, no pump-out station, no attendant. You back your trailer down, launch, and go. The older Fenholloway Boat Ramp on Old Club House Rd has a lower rating; reviews reflect a more worn surface and tighter parking. Both ramps put you on the Fenholloway, which runs roughly nine miles from Perry to the Gulf. The river is tidal in its lower reaches, so watch the tide if you are running a shallow-draft boat.

Yates Creek Boat Landing: A Quiet Launch for Small Boats

Yates Creek Boat Landing, off Yates Creek Rd, is the least-used of the three. That is its strength. It gets you onto Yates Creek, a smaller tributary that suits jon boats, kayaks, and canoes better than the bigger river. The ramp is not heavily trafficked, so you are more likely to have the place to yourself on a weekday morning. Parking is limited, and there are no amenities beyond the ramp itself. If you are launching a skiff to poke around the creeks and marshes, this is the one.

Things to Do in Perry After You Dock: Timber Museum & Festival

A morning on the water pairs well with an afternoon at Forest Capital Museum State Park, a 13-acre park one mile south of Perry on US 19/US 98. The museum holds displays on the history of the forest industry and the wildlife of the forest, and a reconstructed Cracker homestead—house, barn, well, arbor, and garden—sits beside it, showing how a Florida homestead family lived. If you are in town in October, the Florida Forest Festival fills the weekend. It began in 1956 as the Pine Tree Festival, created to teach forestry heritage and fire safety at a time when forest fires were crippling the county's timber industry. The Saturday centrepiece is the King Tree Parade down Jefferson Street, followed by the World's Largest Free Fish Fry at Forest Capital Park from noon.

Boat Ramp Traffic During the Florida Forest Festival

The Florida Forest Festival draws visitors from across the region, and during that weekend the boat ramps can see extra traffic. Not because the festival is water-related—it is not—but because people come to Perry, and some of them bring boats. If you are launching during festival weekend, get to the ramp early or pick Yates Creek for solitude.

Perry is 32 miles from Steinhatchee, where the Fiddler Crab Festival runs each spring, and 76 miles from Cedar Key, but you do not have to leave town to get on the water. The ramps here are for the people who live in a working forest town and want to fish after the shift ends. They are not pretty, and they never claimed to be.