Need campgrond suggestions - Florida

May have the opportunity to head south from NC in early January and am looking for suggestions of campgrounds in the Florida area. I have never camped in Florida and am looking for somewhere warm either near the gulf or somewhere interesting. I have a 15 month old daughter and think it would be too early for a disney trip. Suggestions?

We stay at Daytona Beach Campground when we are there. Of course we are there for Bikeweek and do not need much more than a sleeping place. Pretty basic but the people who own the place are very nice.

Plenty to do in the town and if you are into motorcycles , the largest Harley dealership in the world is off 95. The beaches are good and there is plenty of restaurants, family and fancier.

Destin, FL this campground is right on the Gulf of Mexico. Camping on the Gulf sites 230 70 paves, 45 gravel, 115 grass. Learn more www.bcrv.net
They have lots of snow bird at this place. Very close buy to a very large shopping center Panama City, FL is another place www.rvresort.com they also have a state park in Panama City that is on the Gulf of Mexico also. The weather is 65 to 69 in day time and cool at night. Also go to florida state parks and look at them lots of them in Central FLa that is warmer and some are on the Gulf side also. At the state parks elec and water only. Good luck and have fun in the Sunshine state.

Florida is one long state. It is a minimum of 850 miles from Pensacola to Key West alone. Very different at the two ends (and in-between). What area are you interested in? What do you like to do? Rural or urban areas? Do you speak spanish?

FL is a long State

You are right about FL being a long state. We drove from Missouri and stayed in Northern GA at Fort Mt. State Park which was in the Smokies. Then to Atlanta Ga (six flaggs over Ga), and then stayed in Orlando FL and went to the Epcot Center at Disney. We then drove...and drove and stayed the night at a state park in central FL, then went down through Miami and all the way to Key West and stayed a few nights a a KOA on about mile 14. We drove back through the Everglades and back home.

Last weekend I went bow hunting at Mark Twain State Park, MO and we are getting ready to visit friends and relatives at Pittsburg, KS and Cathage MO. We have been camping in low 30 degrees and the camper stays warm at 68.

Just an hour north of Tampa Bay

Greetings:

We are leaving the day after New Years for our winter home in Port Richey, Florida. We stay at Ja-Mar North Travel Park, right on US 19. We are about an hour away from St. Pete's and Tampa Bay, about 45 minutes from Clearwater and Tarpon Springs. It is far enough away from the big centers to be beyond the bedroom communities, but close enough to have everything you want or need.

There are two Ja-Mar Travel Parks (check out their website) in the area as well as several other parks. We like it there!!!!! (and there is a Heartland dealer about five minutes away)

Best regards,
Bopper

2 Adults and 2 spoiled Cocker Spaniels
2006 Bighorn 3500RL

Jim 1899 The Marl Twain State Park is really beautiful.. I wish I could went with you on the hunting trip. Did you get any deer? My sister had a farm in southern IL that I went hunting before they wold it and now I need to find a place to go hunting with out paying the big $$$ You are right about the state of Florida being long and it takes me two days to drive down to Key West. I only live two miles from AL state line so I really should say I live in AL not FL.

Rugrat, last year we spent four weeks touring the state and 30 days at a campground in Lakeland.

We started off at a great campground just north of Jacksonville in Atlantic Beach FL - Hanna Park. Spacious sites, lots of trees and reasonably priced.

Won't mention all of the campgrounds that we visited as they were only for two-night stops, but besides the one in Lakeland, the best two that we found were:

Everglades National Park (if you are at least 62, get a golden age passport for $10 lifetime and the park entrances are free and camping is half-price) - Long Pine Key Campground (was the only campground open last year, due to hurricane damage at the other one). Only problem is that there is no power and water and sewage is available only at the sanitation station. Sites are huge and they have fire rings at each site (rare for many Florida campgrounds). Great interpretative center a couple of miles away - saw about 200 gators plus a lot of other wildlife in the evening and daytime visits to it.

Fort DeSoto Park, near Clearwater - absolutely beautiful, but it may be too late to get reservations. One of the best beaches I've been on and the sunsets are among the best. You've got to see this park to believe it.

Finally, in Lakeland, we stayed 30 days at Tiki Village, right at exit 32 on I-4. Even though we were close to the expressway, the park was quiet. I believe the price this year is $475/month for stays of at least two months. Park is four blocks from the Lakeland Square Mall, lots of eating places nearby and about two miles from Joker Marchant Stadium where the Detroit Tigers train in late February and March. That's where we are headed for 2 1/2 months this year.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

I would head for the Salt Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, located north of Orlando in the center of the state. Great campground, many natural springs nearby including Silver Springs where some of the early Tarzan movies were filmed. Blue Springs is a short drive to the south and many manatees winter in the relatively warm spring waters there.

The Salt Springs area is nice, a little rural, and you miss all the touristy areas there. Silver Springs (Ocala) was another old Tarzan area. I was born there and it is changing a lot in the National Forest.

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions. I will be sure to check them out. I am switching jobs and giving notice next week. If they let me go the same day, then we are heading south. Otherwise, I will have to work the 3 weeks and will not have the opportunity.

ct0218 said:

Florida is one long state. It is a minimum of 850 miles from Pensacola to Key West alone. Very different at the two ends (and in-between). What area are you interested in? What do you like to do? Rural or urban areas? Do you speak spanish?

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I may have misunderstood but I thought Florida was an English speaking State. How foolish of me.None

Yup, HappyRover - just try to get anything in English in the Little Havana section of Miami, or in Florida City or Homestead.

Yeh, I understand Chuck, but I guess I am just one of those hard core Americans, if you don't speak my lingo, you are not entitled to my money.
Just to clear the air before someone is offended, I am not against ANYONE being in OUR country legally. None

happyrover I understand Spanish a lot and the only thing I found good in Little Havana is the food. I due enjoy the music also but I am like you we speak English. Have a great time when you visit Florida. Lots of nice fun places to have fun. That is the one thing I do enjoy about RVing is see new place and learning new things.... Going to visit the NC this summer again the Outer Banks and always enjoyed it. I love Charleston, S.C. and visit market place downtown...

The further south you go in FL the more spanish you hear, especially from the central area south. Most of the people there are legal, but choose not to learn english. There are pockets of no english speaking people even though some can speak, and many treat south FL as if it were another country, or part of their native country. It's a little frustrating but the retailers seem happy to have us as a dual language country since it seems every sign and label has to be in english and spanish. The result will be that english will really not be necessary for them for the rest of their life. My last visit in south FL found a minority of native US citizens working in hotels, restaurants and stores--it was like a tour of the world and carrying on a conversation was difficult at best. Changing, and fast.

That is true and we are starting to get a lot of them in the Panhandle area now and you can jear them speaking spanish more and more. But one thing for sure in order to get around this place with sure does help with a little southern draw y'all....