Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Hobe Sound, Florida

[Deb&Sam D.]

Camping weekend - Oct. 18 - 20, 2013

We camped in the Scamp last weekend at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound, Florida. This is the start of prime camping season in Florida...... We were located in the River Camp Loop. There were two other FG units in the loop; a Scamp 13' from Florida and a Casita from North Carolina. There was a Casita from Florida in the Pine Grove loop.

Weather was great-all 3 days were clear and dry. Temps: Mid 80-s during the day and Mid 70-s @ night. We ran the A/C at night. The Full Moon was quite bright and beautiful. Bugs were not a problem.

Jonathan Dickinson has been one of our favorite campgrounds since we first started tent camping over 30 years ago. We left the canoe and bicycles at home this weekend;mostly visited with friends at the campsite, viewed the sunrise over the Intracoastal Waterway from the observation tower and walked a few trails. It was a relaxing weekend in a beautiful area.

Deb

[ShawnKK]

What is that thing by your door? A step?

[Deb&Sam D.]

Shawn,

Yes, the red box is a step. It is a re-purposed aerobics step, repainted from the original aqua color. The two yellow items are wheel chocks. It may be that the angle of the pic makes it appear to be a single unit of some type of an odd, alien, contraption!!!

[Letitia]

We were there the weekend before, in our Eggcamper. Also stayed in the River Campground, site 114 which provided lots of privacy. Visited the Nature Conservancy Blowing Rocks Preserve at high tide. Beautiful!

[ShawnKK]

So your getting your work out. It seems to fit there very well. Good job!
Did you run into any snakes while you were there?

[Deb&Sam D.]

Campout

@ Letitia - Sorry we missed you ! I would have liked the opportunity to see an Eggcamper in person. You are right, site # 114 is a GREAT location. We visited Blowing Rocks on Sunday.

@ Shawn - we only saw a couple of the harmless baby black racer snakes. We were a little concerned there would be an exodus of snakes to our camp from the pinelands across the road after the Dept. of Forestry did a prescribed burn . The burn was part of a demo/educational day at the park.

Deb

[steve dunham]

It must be a very nice park . We tried to reserve a site for February or March 2014 and there was nothing available except for a few single days in the middle of the week .
I will have to learn to reserve a site 11 months in advance instead of waiting to the last minute (6 months in advance)

[Letitia]

Jonathan Dickinson State Park Campground - Photos, Information, and Reviews

This link shows photos of the campsites. The loop called Pine Grove has neither a "pine" nor a "grove". Avoid! The other loop is called River Camp, and that's where you want to go. Campsite photos will show you sites that look shady, have more vegetation for privacy and so on.

The beautiful Visitors Center sells a wonderful book about the Park, activities, and nearby points of interest...only $10.

Steve...hope this helps, and hope you get a site so that you can enjoy this Park!

[melissab]

Ya Steve we feel ya. Even though we live here we cant get a spot in our own state during the nice camping months unless we know a year in advance when/where we want to camp which is impossible with kids in school and their various activities I wish there was a program where they saved some sites for residents.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by melissab

Ya Steve we feel ya. Even though we live here we cant get a spot in our own state during the nice camping months unless we know a year in advance when/where we want to camp which is impossible with kids in school and their various activities I wish there was a program where they saved some sites for residents.

We have sort of the same problem in Wisconsin only it is perpetrated by the local residents . Approx 1/3 of the camping sites in Wisconsin SP are not reserveable (Walk in only) plus by camping in a walk in site you save the $10 reservation fees
The locals manage to tie up the drive in sites most of the Summer . The Park Rangers know they are doing it and how they are doing it but the locals know how to get around the law . The purpose of the walk in sites was to encourage tourism and to help people traveling through the states . The county parks are even worse . The Locals are convinced that the parks are their own private resort!

[Deb&Sam D.]

[QUOTE=steve dunham;427278]. We tried to reserve a site for February or March 2014 and there was nothing available except for a few single days in the middle of the week .

Steve,

Good news; park has blocks of open sites in March. I checked JDSP campsites on "Reserve America" using the search criteria of: trailer, 17', start dates Mar 2 and Mar 9, 7 day stay and then looked at "date availability". February is totally booked. Sites start to open up first week in March (one week period continuous stay) and second week in March (two week periods) in both loops. Give another look.

@ Letitia: I also prefer River Campground. Although some campers actually prefer Pine Grove for the quick access to the highway and the newer, improved amenities of the parking pads and modern bath-houses. I personally don't mind the scenic five mile drive from RC to the main highway and the single, older bath-house in order to have a more "natural" campsite.

Deb

[steve dunham]

[QUOTE=Deb&Sam D.;427379]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

. We tried to reserve a site for February or March 2014 and there was nothing available except for a few single days in the middle of the week .

Steve,

Good news; park has blocks of open sites in March. I checked JDSP campsites on "Reserve America" using the search criteria of: trailer, 17', start dates Mar 2 and Mar 9, 7 day stay and then looked at "date availability". February is totally booked. Sites start to open up first week in March (one week period continuous stay) and second week in March (two week periods) in both loops. Give another look.

@ Letitia: I also prefer River Campground. Although some campers actually prefer Pine Grove for the quick access to the highway and the newer, improved amenities of the parking pads and modern bath-houses. I personally don't mind the scenic five mile drive from RC to the main highway and the single, older bath-house in order to have a more "natural" campsite.

Deb

Thank you: I will check Reserve America again After 3 weeks of looking and checking twice a day for a campsite at Highland Hammock SP, we finally got a camp site for Scamp Camp (Feb 10 to Feb 14 ,2014) We were hoping to find a site in Southern Florida for the week before or after Scamp Camp but every State Park in Florida South of Orlando was completely
booked . Once I get to Florida I am in no hurry to return to Wisconsin in February . Last year we camped in Northern Florida after Scamp Camp and woke up to temps in the 30;s Thanks Again

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We have sort of the same problem in Wisconsin only it is perpetrated by the local residents . Approx 1/3 of the camping sites in Wisconsin SP are not reserveable (Walk in only) plus by camping in a walk in site you save the $10 reservation fees
The locals manage to tie up the drive in sites most of the Summer . The Park Rangers know they are doing it and how they are doing it but the locals know how to get around the law . The purpose of the walk in sites was to encourage tourism and to help people traveling through the states . The county parks are even worse . The Locals are convinced that the parks are their own private resort!

It's not a locals vs. travelers issue. Allowing campers to stay too long keeps more people from enjoying a spot. I like a system that keeps some sites open for locals or travelers who couldn't plan a year ahead for their stay. The state campground near my home is all reservation, making it near impossible to do any spontaneous camping.
Russ