Larry and Penny Thompson Park

Everything was great! Beautiful sights really. Playground looking great, Not enough barbecue stations though.

They have trails to walk or run, big grass areas, kids park beautiful lake, water slide during the summer and a family friendly pavilion you can rent for a barbecue or birthday party! Very different then your normal park so much to do! As well they have a Rv park community that you rent out as well!! A beautiful park to have a picnic date!!

This is a huge 270 acre park adjacent to Zoo Miami. The park is named in honor of Larry Thompson who wrote a daily humor column, called "Life With Larry Thompson," which ran in the Comics Section of The Miami Herald for more than two decades until his death on February 18, 1973. He also authored three books. In 1953 Thompson married aviator Gladys "Penny" Rhodes. He met Penny when he interviewed her for a story about women pilots and her involvement promoting international women's air races in South Florida. She was a pioneer in women's aviation in the 1940's and 50's and she is in the Florida Aviation Hall of Fame. She was the Florida chapter president of the Ninety-Nines, the women's pilot organization founded by Amelia Earhart who took off for her final flight from Hialeah. While Penny was a member of the Civil Air Patrol she flew over the Gulf of Mexico looking for German U Boats. On April Fool's Day in 1954, Penny gave birth to the couples twins, Carl and Evellen. For the twins first birthday, Penny invited all twins to come. More than 200 came and Life Magazine covered the party. Gladys "Penny" Thompson passed away on September 22, 1975 at the age of 57 in 1976.

After the couple passed away, their son Carl Thompson lobbied the Miami-Dade County Commission to name the park after his parents which they unanimously voted to do on November 17, 1975. The couple had a connection to parks because they loved to camp and Larry would chronicle their trips in his column. They both advocated for more parks and trees in Miami.

Larry and Penny Thompson Memorial Park and Zoo Miami are located on part of the former Richmond Naval Lighter Than Air Station which was a blimp air base used during WWII. Pilots from the base would patrol for German U boats off the coast of Florida. In 1945 a fire caused by a hurricane destroyed the hangers, blimps, 150 vehicles, and 366 planes including the one owned by Penny Thompson. If you go to the south entrance of the park you can still see the concrete arrow that used to guide the pilots landing at the base.

After the war the land was used by the University of Miami as a campus and research area for trees. In 1974 the United States government transferred the land to the county for the creation of the park. The next year it was named in honor of the Thompson's. In 1992 the park suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Andrew but has since recovered.

Today this is the largest campground/ park in Miami. The park contains a 22 acre lake with beach, picnic tables, playground, and bike, horse, and hiking trail. There are also three water slides that were not open when I visited. I am not sure if they are closed permanently. The 60 acre campground has 240 sites and a pool. During my visit there looked like a lot of construction was going on but it was open. The campground office has a historical display relating to Larry Thompson and his column. This large park has something for everyone. It is worth visiting if you find yourself in south Miami.

I love this park!
It's super huge, spacious, and covered in green and shade provided trees. There are Pavillion rentals available for rental for all festivities. There are also hiking and bike trails and let's not forget the campgrounds also available for a small fee and playgrounds for the kiddos.
Back in the day they use to have 2 water slides but that's been closed for some time. They do have beaches to keep you cool and there are bathroom facilities on site.
Also, they say pets aren't allowed but I do know on the campsite they are.
On this particular day we rented a pavillion(#2 to be exact which is one of the first pavillions upon entering)for a family fun day of kickball. It came with a big bbq and we were in close proximity to the bathrooms (perfect for the little ones). It was a hot day but the trees provided great shading. The field we played in was huge and catered to 60 of us, yeah, I said 60. All in all we had a great day in a perfect location.
I highly recommend this park for all festivities but especially family gatherings. Go check it out!

The Larry and Penny Thompson Memorial Park has a great history it was originally part of the Richmond air station in 1942 it was commissioned as a base of the US navy blue in the world world II.
The parcel for that Larry and Penny Thompson memorial park and campground and Zoo Miami were acquired in 1974 as part of the 10,010 acre land transfer from the US government to Miami-Dade County.
It was then dedicated in 1974 to Larry and Penny Thompson after much Lobbying from their son!
Larry Thompson a journalist and Penny Thompson was in aviation

The park is a great park off of Eureka Drive and travel west about a mile.
The park features a lake, party area around the lake, campground and lots of trails to walk/jog and discover this park. The area is very well patrolled. Safely is important.

Great place to hang out with family and friends. Recommend.

Nice campground BUT the laundry room hours are a joke and the pool has one of the dumbest rules and hours.
Laundry closes at 6pm, so if you work or out enjoying the local entertainment better be home by 6 to do your laundry. Pool Hours 11-4pm (stupid) AND If you have a 3 and under year old child/grandchild they can't swim in the pool. And there's a Beautiful lake that you can't use at all! Miami DADE COUNTY Florida is a disappointment in many ways! Even though It does Have the best beaches!!

Always a great place for fun !

I have been coming to this park for 15yrs off and on for many different reasons such as..
camping
Running
Swimming
Boating
Pickup soccer and football games
Parties
And bbq'z

No matter the reason it's always a great place to come visit. It is our little piece of wilderness in the middle of suburbia.

Plenty of space for runners and cyclists to get along here lol. Also great place to bring the family for a change of scenery. This park has always been kept nice and clean so please keep it this way during your visit. :)

RENTERS BEWARE!! I spent 4 months at LARRY and PENNY during a family emergency in a brand new camper that I rented from RVSHARE.com. One day, for no reason, Marc Burgos decided it was time to ask us to leave. His reason for this was "If you're not the registered owner you're not allowed to stay anymore." After much argument he threatened to call the Police. My two young boys and our dogs were illegally ejected from this campground. I even tried to get a notarized power of attorney from the rental company and it was not accepted. I sure hope this review doesn't yield the same generic response as the other reviews. This illegal ejection was harsh and extremely stressful. Shame on you, Marc Burgos.

My second time here this year. One of the best values in south Florida. Always clean and well maintained, great staff. Fully equipped, sewer, water, 50Amp, cable, and more not accessible because of COVID. Safe, quite, construction going on in some pods to add more sites. Nice coin laundry's near all sites. Would recommend if you need to be in Miami-Dade area. Well landscaped , sites shaded by numerous Black Olive trees. (Not edible). Remove from roof, stain like black walnuts if left. Numerous Avocado trees nearby-ripen about now. (Your not suppose to pick them, camped wait for them to fall" . Fresh Water beach, (not sure it's open due to COVID) nice facility all around, spaces available due to border closure. Great long term rates.

Decent sites. Some are a little crowded. The reservation system packed people into just a few loops. Some loops were being worked on. But 2 of them looked more spread out, and had 25% occupancy. Makes no sense.