roadtripper5291431

What we loved: Being able to walk out our door and take some nice hikes. This is a small state park. The terrain was somewhat challenging so that made up for the shortness of the trails. The walk to the Falling Waters was shorter than we were used to, and was on a board walk much of the way. So that made it safe for families. There is nice little beach. The sites were all flat. The camp hosts were attentive and even offered to help change a tire. The bath houses were clean. We met some great people, as is typical of most campers!
What was lacking: We love long walks and hikes. We had to be very creative to get in a 3.6 mile hike. We had to drive to town to do laundry. We knew there were no sewer hook ups. The website warned they were working on the sewer system, so when we used the dump station, and even walking by it, the oder was a bit unpleasant. Hopefully, this will be taken care of soon. We wrote a blog with lots of pictures, which is uploaded.

This was just an overnight stay, but we stayed two nights only because of the trip there (see our blog). Here are our reasons for the low rating, which was good for the price:
-For a motor home, the sites were not level.
-We constantly were picking up trash as we walked around.
-When we took our trash to the receptacle, we were accosted by another campers dog, not on a leash.
-The road noise, which we new going in. We couldn't hear it in our motor home, but we sat outside and that's when it was a bit annoying.
-The bathrooms and showers in our area were closed. They did have port-a-potties there. We didn't need showers since we are self contained but that showed the park needed some maintenance.
-When we were leaving, we had to go to the "dump station" so it was a drive around the park. The county truck picking up the trash, using prisoners, did not yield to us as we were on the one way road.
-The on-site managers are a young couple with small children and we are sure they are doing a good job. They were always very helpful when we called, but the check-in was a bit awkward as the mom had to leave her children inside, while we were on the porch.

To make it better? Well, it is a county park so we are sure the funds are limited. But the sites could be improved and a better trash system. Just trash cans which seem to be hard for the trash to stay inside.....

The best thing was being on the water! It really was beautiful!

This is our first State Park experience and we are now spoiled! As soon as we set up, we both agreed this is one of the best parks ever! So maybe we are cut out for state parks.
What we loved: The site was level and very spacious! We have full hook-up which was a surprise, we didn't expect the sewer. The camp host was great - we thought the sewer needed a special collar, but someone had left theirs and it was stuck. She came right over to help. The greeting upon arriving was great and we learned more than we expected. For example, they normally don't give cavern tours on Mon-Wed. But upon arrival we learned they were giving tours on our arrival day, Monday. Clean and new bath house.
What we didn't like: NOTHING!
Now we don't have wifi or cable, antenna TV works and who needs it all in the forest?

We devoted nearly one blog post on the drive to this State Park and Campground. We were nervous it would be a terrible experience, but it turned out to be one of our favorite state parks! Our arrival onto the actual campground was a bit shaky as there was no one around, initially. We found our site and were about to pull onto it when not only the camp hosts pulled up in their golf cart, but so did the lawn maintenance man, who asked if he could mow it first! Now that was a reception. We ended up really enjoying the camp hosts and know they made our stay enjoyable. The only thing that could have made it better would be sign on the office door that they will return at XX time. It was a small campground and if one made a reservation, you'd know your site #, which we did.
This was an absolutely beautiful and VERY well-maintained State Park. Granted, it is small, so that may help. We just loved EVERYTHING! We do like to hike, and while the hiking was not challenging, we found great paths on hollowed grounds. I read reviews others wrote about the "hiking" and one has to be adventuresome to find a more challenging area than what is the most well known.
No negatives! Just loved everything. We wrote three blog posts, attached.

This is only our 4th Florida State Park and this one nearly has it all.
What we really liked: Arrival was smooth with the Ranger checking us in. Every campsite has full hook ups, level sites with small gravel (our preference), picnic table, clothes line, barbecue grill and most sites have enough shrubby to serve as a screen. The comfort station was clean and well maintained. We love nature walks and hiking and this park kept us on the go. There were two main hikes: one 16 miles round trip, Juniper Creek Trail and the second is about 4 1/2 miles from our campsite, Chain of Lakes Nature Trail. There were several smaller ones and just walking around the campground, to and from the beach areas is pleasant.
We only found two things that might hinder ones ability to enjoy this campground. First, as we are learning with all the Florida State Parks during peak season, it is hard to get reservations for the dates you want (like Friday and Saturday nights). But we have learned some ways to work around it: we wanted to stay an extra night, Friday night, so we just checked and there was a one night vacancy. So we booked it and then did have to move. It wasn't that difficult for us. And the next was the sound of freedom. This State Park is near Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting, one of the Navy’s two primary pilot training bases. We have both lived near military bases so the sound only makes us think of “freedom.”
I've uploaded a blog that has lots of pictures of the beautiful scenery and details on the hikes.

We just purchased our dream Class A from a private owner in Cocoa, Florida. We needed a park close by while we settled in and this was the closest one. We needed a refreshing oasis after a very rough two weeks as we went through the purchase process and settled an insurance claim as our Ford F-150 was rear-ended and a total economic loss.
This is a Passport America park and this is their "quiet" season. The park mainly had regular residents and lots of open sites. They are spacious.
Arrival: This is a sweet little family owned park and the service was warm, welcoming and much needed! This was our favorite part. It was our maiden voyage and they helped us back in and learned much from the owner!
Amentities: Full hook up, flat sites, but on dirt/grass with a concrete pad for picnic table; laundromat, and more. But we only used the laundromat, which had plenty of washers and dryers.
Tip for improvement: They dryers are in need of replacement as several were out of order and one tenant tipped me off to the "hottest" ones (there were only 2). The washers are $1.50 and dryers $.75. The room was spacious, lots of reading materials and baskets for your clothes.
Positives: Very convenient location, easy to get in and out, and lots of shopping nearby.
Negatives: As with any park right off I-95, you will hear the highway noise. We were so tired and ran our air conditioners, so it didn't bother us.
We hope to stay again one day!

This is a deluxe campground in a state park. Deluxe in that it has full hook-ups, concrete pads, wifi hotspot, laundry mat, camp store, fabulous nature hikes and the jewel is the beach! We don't eat out much so we can't comment about restaurants, but it looks like there are enough around and reasonable shopping areas. While the campground is "full" there are sites that are empty for a day or two so it never seems really crowded. It is easy to drive or walk around - you never feel like you are going to get hit like we have in other private RV Resorts here in Florida during peak season. But there is one road in our "loop" that is needs a face lift and a few sites where the concrete pad has been broken into multiple pieces. Sadly, ours is one of the worst.
We didn't see them, but there are cabins and tent sites.
What we liked the most: location location location! Easy to get to and virtually on the beach, although it is a good walk to it. Multiple nature walking trails. They offer a free tram ride hourly to and from it to a parking lot. It is wooded so that gives some privacy. And of course, all the above amenities.
What needs improvement: Just a few concrete pads need replaced and the one road needs resurfacing.
There really is nothing we don't like and we can't wait to return!

We stopped here once before for an overnight stop, but no sites left. We weren't very impressed, but the location was ideal, close to I-95. But the owner was very nice and tried to accommodate us. The price is right as a Passport America, $17.50. This time we called ahead and got the last site!
What we liked: full-hook up, isolated but Walmart wasn't too far, quiet and the surprise was a nice little nature trail-always a bonus for us, and very friendly owner.
What could be improved: sites are small and dirt/grass. The ground was a little muddy in spots. I didn't hear the traffic off I-95 until I woke up. The "Forest" provides some sound barrier.
There is wifi if you're close to the office. We saw one person using the swimming pool. It looked nice. There are a number of long term residents and they are friendly.
We didn't use any other amenities so can't comment on them.
We camped here in our 5th wheel and we will stay again as a stop over.

Yay! We needed a campground in this general area, off I-10. We searched Passport America and Good Sam and didn't like the choices, so tried Campendium! Just saw a blog post and could tell it would be perfect for us. We needed a big site for our new 40' rig, needed close to I-10 and we love hiking/walking trails. This had it all.
Arrival: Greeted at the Ranger Station by an enthusiastic volunteer. She provided all the info we needed for a great, but short, stay.
Tips: How do you add tips when you arrived in a heavenly location! This is our 8th State Park experience. We've never been disappointed. This one ranks up as one of the best (because of full hook ups and the trails).
Favorite things: Flat and large sites.
Any negatives: Little gnats. We should have used some bug spray but if you walk fast, they don't bother you!
We didn't check out the amenities as we are self contained.

This is an Army Corps of Engineers park. First of all, the price is the Senior rate under the "America the Beautiful" national park pass. So that is part of the 5 stars! Granted, we did not score a full hook up site, but we thought it was well worth the sacrifice of watching our water and using the bathhouses. This park is so easy to get into and to find now that we learned the area. We had a disaster when we stayed down the road at Hillman Ferry Campground. They didn't honor the America the Beautiful pass for some reason.
Anyway, we loved our reception, not only as we checked in, but the deer were out to great us as well! We commented we were so glad we had a sewered lot reserved - only to be told it wasn't sewered. Our initial site was #90. The sewered lots are 91-96. Long story short, she was so very helpful! We stayed on that site one night and then learned the "ropes" on how to get a better site, a walk on. Not all the sites are level, btw. But both of our were, which is mandatory in our 40' motor home.
These spots get booked up, so best to just get in the park for a few days on maybe a less than desirable site and then go on the hunt for a great walk on site. You have to be first come first serve there and it is a bit of a game. Possession is the law....you have to leave a chair, or in our case, we put our car on the site we wanted when we saw the people getting ready to vacate it.
There was so much to do and see! We wrote a few posts in our blog about it.
The only negative is that this is really more of a locals campground. Not every one was friendly and there is a bit of an attitude to outsiders.....but we still made friends there with other "outsiders!"
The only negatives are that it is a shame they didn't make more sewered lots. But the dump stations were easy access. And we couldn't get a satellite signal for our Direct TV. We had shows taped and just kept busy!