Al's Florida Campground Review

[Alistair Camelford]

Hi Eggers. Back in SNOWY Ontario after three months in Florida 6000 miles and CGs from the Keys through both coasts and Central Florida.
Mostly state parks and one county park..all good to Great

Here's my "2 thumbs up list"
Curry Hammock -new, nice, ocean shores, canoeing,small, nice level pads.
Long Key -60 sites on the Ocean (if you can get in!) They lost 10 sites in a huge Feb rainstorm,#s 41 to 50 may be gone for a while!
Fort Desoto County park- great park, lots of bike trails, beaches, canoe routes, shaded sites -many on water...one loop designated for tents and pop-ups but they allow eggs in there too. Cool web/booking site.
Tomoka &Gamble Rodgers SP's near Daytona. Both nice, Tomoka has lots of shade and privacy...canoe routes...Gamble has ocean and cool cycling routes up through Flagler beach.

One thumb up:
Lake Kissemmee: LOTS of wildlife but airboat noise from adjacent fish camp can be loud. Nice sites but MILES from town and stores. Canoeing limited (Lake can be rough)
Silver River : Pretty CG but the advertised access to the Silver River was a LONG walk , and without a canoe cart (not available at park!!!), pretty much a no-go for the average canoeist. That being said, the river is a superb trip once you have found the Wayside Park at the river's mouth.
Bahia Honda. Pretty but busy, and the noise off the bridge can be intrusive. Might be OK in the tent area but the clearances there are "iffy" for some eggs.
John Pennekamp: Small narrow sites, no restrictions on non-campers so lots of "looky-loos" driving by....and "no-see-ums"

No thumb Gold Branch SP. Long way off the road, the "branch" was virtually dried up, facilities were many decades old...we only stayed one night.

On the road. off I-75..Kudos to the KOA's at Cartersville GA and at Sweetwater TN...always clean and well maintained. And the best kept secret ...The Kentucky Horse Park Camp in Lexington. HUGE clean bathrooms security patrols, and paved sites.

We ended our trip with the Casita rally at Umatilla FL. Olde Mille Stream RV park is pretty, friendly, and there is a separate rally area. Met a lot of nice eggers...we were the only 13 footer and the only green egg in a sea of white fg.

There you have it...my totally unscientific and biased rating system. If I had any advice to give to those going south next year...BOOK EVERYTHING! March Break is from mid Feb thru to early April. Don't be dismayed by no vacancy in the sites in the Keys there are lots of cancellations in late Dec- early Jan (Don't get me started on "the sliders": those who manipulate the booking rules by starting their booking 14 &15 months in advance!!! ), and lastly, STAY OFF I-75 on weekends in March!!!

Glad to be home Aunt Em, the tornado warnings in the Horse Park last Tuesday scared the Wheee out of me, but we just got the thunder & lightning!
TTFN...Alistair

[David Schroeder]

Thanks Alistair for the reviews, I'm hoping to spend some time next season down there.

I wonder if your return was a bit premature though?
Regards Dave.

[BOBSMITH]

Thanks for the reviews!

We're heading down to Bahia Honda where we'll be staying for over a week. On the way back, we're going to stay at Anastasia State Park.

We've been to Tomoka State Park. Very nice there.

We decided not to haul our canoe with us this trip, and instead will rent kayaks at the parks this time. We've pretty much decided to trade in our canoe and buy two kayaks. We went kayaking several times last year, and found that we much prefer how kayaks handle.

Last year, we paddled the Silver River from a county park all the way to Silver Springs (even saw the wild rhesus monkeys along the river). We visited the Silver River State Park and noted how far it was from the parking area to the canoe launch. You'd definitely better have a cart for that haul! The water all along the Silver River looks inviting, but we were spooked by the alligators and didn't do any swimming.

[Alistair Camelford]

You are right Bob. We did Silver River from Ray's Wayside all the way up to the theme park and back. Alligators weren't bad but snakes and the Rhesus monkeys were of interest. We did share our displeasure with the park...they advertised a canoe shuttle but it had not yet been planned.
We took a canoe down Juniper Springs from the Ocala Forest launch. WILD RIDE!!! Lots of downed trees that you had to duck under or scrape over...all while turning thru "S' bends at the current speed of four mph.
Lake Kissemmee Park had a canoe launch where one had to wade in to mid thigh in an area frequented by four 'gators! Needless to say we got in and out real fast!
You'll enjoy the "Honda"...bring ear plugs if you're camped near the channel (bridge noise), and Anastasia is marvellous too! Happy camping...Alistair

[BOBSMITH]

You are right Bob. We did Silver River from Ray's Wayside all the way up to the theme park and back. Alligators weren't bad but snakes and the Rhesus monkeys were of interest. We did share our displeasure with the park...they advertised a canoe shuttle but it had not yet been planned.
We took a canoe down Juniper Springs from the Ocala Forest launch. WILD RIDE!!! Lots of downed trees that you had to duck under or scrape over...all while turning thru "S' bends at the current speed of four mph.
Lake Kissemmee Park had a canoe launch where one had to wade in to mid thigh in an area frequented by four 'gators! Needless to say we got in and out real fast!
You'll enjoy the "Honda"...bring ear plugs if you're camped near the channel (bridge noise), and Anastasia is marvellous too! Happy camping...Alistair

We did the Juniper Springs Run, too! Last year! It was tons of fun, and you're right about the logs! We also paddled up from Ray's Wayside Park.

The day we did the Juniper Springs Run, the ranger told us to keep an eye out for the sixteen-foot gator near the end of the run just before the takeout point. We saw his slide where he tended to lie, but he wasn't around. The ranger told us he was the biggest gator the park employees had ever seen. The week after we left, he killed a woman at the spring run just to the left before the takeout point. At the spring where you can stay only if your name is chosen in the lottery to rent the cabin there. She went down to swim and was attacked. The gator was destroyed, of course.