Campgrounds in Florida?
Frankly, remembering the camping experience of my school years (with dragging heavy blankets, washing dishes in cold water, and a toilet in the form of bushes, generously surrounded by nettles and burdocks), at first I was horrified by the idea of staying in the camp.
But my husband was able to convince me that school trips in the 1990s and modern American camping are two different things, and I agreed to try the “wild vacation”.
US national parks and campsites are things that are almost inseparable from each other.
If you want to see the parks, you can hardly avoid at least a couple of overnight stays at campsites.
The Best Private Campgrounds in Florida
The Best Private campgrounds in Florida are:
- Florida Caverns State Park
- Blue Spring State Park.
- Bluewater Key RV Resort, Key West
- Wekiva Falls RV Resort, Sorrento
- Lake Louisa State Park, Clermont
Most campsites, of course, are paid.
They are completely different: both semi-wild with minimal amenities, and equipped with showers, laundries and even houses.
You can find them in all national parks, state parks, and the same national forests.
Private campsites usually offer the most amenities, but everything comes at an additional cost.
Places like Kampgrounds of America (KOA) and other private places offer electricity, water, landfills, cable TV, showers, and Wi-Fi, so they’re very convenient.
Campgrounds are always a great idea because, firstly, you will be closer to nature.
Deer will not come to visit you at the hotel, but at the campsite.
Secondly, it is much cheaper than hotels.
Campsites cost about $10–20, and hotels in the parks and surrounding areas are much more expensive.
Thirdly, you sometimes just have no choice.
In some places, hotels can be either overcrowded, outrageously expensive, or nonexistent.
That is, they will be, but tens of miles from the place where you may want to meet the dawn.
Top 5 Private Campgrounds in Florida
Blackwater River State Park
This is a very popular camping spot in Florida.
It has over 30 campsites, all of which have all the necessary services, including maintenance, drinking water, RV sites, picnic tables, fire pits, grills, and, of course, security, to ensure the safety of every visitor during their stay in the park.
Some of the fun activities you can do in this park include canoeing, kayaking, picnicking, and, of course, camping.
Rainbow Springs State Park
Here you will camp with turquoise blue waters; this is one of the best options in Florida.
Clear turquoise waters make this campsite one of the best places to unwind after strenuous activities like hiking.
You can also enjoy several other activities, including tubing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, snorkeling, nature trail hiking, geocaching, and picnicking.
Canaveral National Seashore
Canaveral National Seashore is one of the most popular camping spots that any Florida resident should visit.
This park has over 12 island sites for you to choose from.
There are also plenty of fun activities you can take part in at any campsite you decide to visit.
Encore Riverside
It is a very beautiful place.
It has all the amenities you could ask for.
It is close to the city, yet peaceful and calm.
Great place to camp for the family.
Lots of activities.
Very friendly staff, lots of activities, swimming pool, fishing, cycling, etc.
Myakka River State Park
This park is one of the oldest and largest in Florida.
The Myakka River State Park is located along the Myakka River, which flows through 58 acres of wetlands, prairies, and pine forests.
In addition to camping, this park offers activities such as boating, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing.
Top 5 Private Campgrounds in the USA
Bradfield Campground
This campsite is located about 31 miles from the city of Cortes.
If you go there directly, then the road will take about 50 minutes.
No advance bookings are required here; camping operates on a first-come, first-served basis.
It costs $8 per seat, per night.
Payment is made independently: put money in an envelope, fill in all the necessary fields on it, and put it in a safe next to the information stand.
On our visit, there were no envelopes in the box, so we could not pay for the place, so we left because no one checked anything.
Location: The campsite itself is located on a lawn, sandwiched on both sides by hills.
On one side, there is a river where you can swim.
In total, there are about 20 places in the camp where you can camp with a tent or come by RV.
Places are equipped with tables with awnings and benches, as well as a place for a fire with a grate.
Lodgepole Campground
This campsite is located in the heart of Sequoia Park (in the Giant Forest area) and is the most popular among tourists.
It is very close to the Lodgepole Visitor Center and the benefits of civilization, which are rich in national parks.
It costs $ 22 per place (payment is made to the ranger at the entrance to the campsite; he decides which place you will get and only asks for a large tent or a small one).
There are 214 places in the camp.
In the summer, everything functions, but in the spring and autumn, there are only 16 tent sites and a few places for RVs.
All of them are standardly equipped with tables, benches, and places for a fire.
An additional option of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon is the iron box from bears.
There are a lot of trees around, and where we were, the places were located at different levels, which makes it seem that I got into some kind of large anthill or apartment building house.
Parking lots are quite isolated and cozy.
We liked the camping; however, it was a bit far to walk to the toilet, but these are trifles.
Lone Rock Beach Campground
Lone Rock Campground is a campsite located on a sandy beach on the shores of Powell Lake.
There are no designated places; you can come and stand wherever you like.
Basically, people are located along the coast, especially those who come to PV for the purpose of swimming and fishing.
However, it is far from the coast to walk to toilets with wash basins, so some people pitch tents closer to them.
The campsite welcomes guests all year round; you can stay here with a tent or RV.
There are no advance bookings; seating seems to be unlimited.
It costs $10 per car, per night.
Payment is provided specifically for spending the night, i.e., if you stay at the campsite from 8 p.m.
to 6 a.m.
There is no charge for a day’s stay on the beach.
Payment is made to the ranger in the booth at the entrance.
Watchman Campground
The campsite accepts guests for individual places all year round.
Group places are available only by advance booking from March to early November.
These are the prices: $16 (individual tent site), $18 (electric site), and $20 (electric site by the river).
For group places, it is $3 per person.
Prices are per night.
Payment is made to the ranger at the entrance to the campsite if there is no prior reservation.
North Campground
Within the park itself, there are as many as two organized paid campsites, and in addition, there are quite a few campsites in the backcountry.
The latter will come in handy if you are planning to go camping with a backpack on your back and a tent under your arm.
I suggest you take a closer look at all the options.
The campsite is open all year round (only one of the four parts of the campsite is available in winter).
And it costs $15 per seat (self-payment in an envelope).
There are 101 places in the camp.
Loops A and B are for RV guests, and C and D are for campers.
All of them are equipped with tables, benches, and places for a fire.
There are many trees around.
There are 13 RV spaces available to book in advance here (from early May to late September).
This must be done a maximum of six months and at least two days before arrival.
The rest of the places are first-come, first-served.
How Much Does It Cost to Stay at a Campground in Florida?
For convenience, I would divide campgrounds into the following types:
- Only for tents (+ car space), cost 10-30$
- For RVs (motorhomes), it costs $10–80.
In all the paid campsites that we visited, at least there was a table, a flat area for a tent, an equipped place for a fire, and a toilet.
Often, there is water, at least technically, for washing hands and dishes.
Some campsites can be booked in advance, and in some, you can only take and pay for a place upon arrival (first-come, first-served system).
The second option can be interpreted as “The early bird gets the worm.”
Mixed-type campsites are often found; half of the places in them can be booked in advance, and the rest are intended for those who cannot plan a trip in advance.
How Do I find a Campground?
Our methodology for finding campsites was pretty simple: we had a paper map of the state and looked at it; then we checked the data on the OSM map; if nothing really was found (which was extremely rare), we searched the Internet and continued the search already on other sites.
Tourists are often scared that there are no campsites in some popular parks, so everything needs to be booked in advance.
In fact, we have not seen this.
If the place is popular, then there will be more than one or even two campsites, so there will certainly be a place.
However, if you absolutely do not have time to look for a campsite and do not need any surprises, it is better to book everything in advance.
Given that a number of parks are extremely popular with tourists, some campsites in them are fully booked several months in advance.
This must be taken into account; either book quite in advance or look for it already on the spot.
In two months of traveling, we only once encountered a shortage of places, and it was in Zion Park, but there we just had to watch for departing people in the morning.
As practice has shown, people in campsites actively come on Friday, and many leave on Sunday.
If suddenly a miracle happened and you did not have enough space at the campsite where you planned to stay, there is always something else nearby.
Near any park, somewhere at the entrance, there are usually other campsites.
For example, we spent several days at Capitol Reef in one of these, free of charge.
Besides, we were the only guests there.
