Florida Camping

[GatorBait]

Are there any other Florida Campers out there?  We are usually trying to get away on long weekends and drive about 5 hours north (from South Fla.)to camp.  Central and North Fla. have a lot of beautiful state parks with a lot to offer in the winter months.

[Papaso]

Welcome, We're in Kendall an have been to most of our wonderful State parks on both coasts of the peninsula over the last 18 years. We can't say enough good things about them. We like some more than others but they all offer something special. Five hours is a little long even for a three day weekend for us, we like to keep our weekend or 3 day trip time under 3.5 hours. One of my favorite SP's is also one of our closest, Long Key SP down on milemarker 67.5 in the key's about 1.5 hrs . Katrina & Wilma did major damage but they are hoping to reopen by mid December. A West coast favorite is Koreshan in Estero, it's near Sanibel/Captiva and it has wonderful hiking & canoeing along the Estero river about 2.5 hrs across Alligator Alley. A great mid State park is Lake Kissisimee, lot's of wildlife and great bass fishing about 3 hrs.
We're not into private campgrounds but we do Fort Wilderness at least once a year to do the Disney Marathon, after all it's Disney and you can't beat the use of all their facilities even if you don't visit the parks. You could spend all day using their transportation visiting the hotels and shops at Lake Buena Vista. It's nice to see someone new from South Florida, even with all the stress from the PITA hurricanes :eyecrazy:  :yikes: it sure is nice to be able to camp year round.

[Flacamper]

Yep.  There are lots of us.  Check us out.

http://www.sepuc.com

[GatorBait]

Flacamper, thank you for the local link.  This is great to chat with people about parks that are within our reasonable driving distance.  Now I will have another whole site to do my research on!


Papaso, we are almost neighbors.  Our camping buddies live in Kendall also.
We agree that the State Parks offer a much more pleasant experience, but do occasionally try private.  Fort Wilderness is one of the best places to stay in Disney.  We have been to Koreshan in Estero several times and do agree that it is nice  

We make the sacrafice of the 5 hour drive because it takes that long to reach a different climate from South Fla.  After you hit North of Orlando the ground starts to roll into hills, the trees have more variety, and the temperature is usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler.  It helps us feel like we are actually in a different state.  Ocala has some great camping with a lot of Springs (although cold to me constant 72 degrees- the kids dont mind).

We dont usually go South, but look forward to trying Long Key.  Our friends warn us of the bugs!  We don't have any "water toys".  Is there hiking and biking?  Or do you boat and ski?

Yes, the hurricanes have definetly hurt all of the parks up and down the entire state, but most are recovering and open.  We just escaped the Wilma devasted area for the Veterns Day weekend and camped at Wekiva SP.  It was beautiful with green trees and cool weather (60's in eve.).  We are planning a Highland Hammocks trip for new years eve.