thefotoman

I agree with the review of kmaroney. I only write to add that there are some companion sites here and this is one of them. Super convenient with each camper having w/s/e on a long drive through site. Great spacing from others. Surprising distance to rest room for some campers, but not from this site. By observation 30 was an awesome site. Used campground to visit Nashville conveniently.

My main purpose in writing this review is to validate the continuing applicability and accuracy of the two excellent reviews previously posted here in recent years for this campground.

Our site on the water is full service and fantastic.. what beats looking out the rear dinette window and seeing a river going by? Phone service for AT&T was serviceable. They have a weak but present Wi-Fi. The owners are very nice. Good access to Asheville. The train on the opposite bank was infrequent and cool!

On the negative side, the sole bathroom is small and not as clean as one might like.

There are no laundry facilities, but a very clean and large laundromat (from where I write) is nearby in Weaverville. All sorts of stores are a short drive away.

My initial reaction was not positive, in that we were directed to a site the lovely owner had to know was flooded, but said nothing, so we had to back in only to find it unuseable, then get him. He was great about showing us other sites, and I highly recommend the site we ended up on -21- because it was next to the cute little lake referenced elsewhere. However, the site had not been checked for litter and we had to begin by removing a flattened beer can and plastic debris. There was also one large piece of debris in the pond that could have been easily removed.

With those caveats, the site was lovely, the owner has a free dvd lending library, he offered to loan me a power cable and hose because the connections on 21 are on the passenger side, the rest rooms were clean and the location relative to Mammoth Park was superb. Wifi and cell signal were weak but present.

I dealt with Eldon, a very nice fellow. Our overall experience here was very good, but forgive me a few minor complaints. We arrived after an extremely heavy rain storm, after days of rain. He had to have known that the site he was sending us to was flooded, but sent us there anyway. It was only after partially backing in and checking the site - which we should have done fully before backing- that we realized it was untenable. He did readily agree to move us to a different site, but that should have been proactive in such a small campground. When we got to the new site we found a crushed beer can and minor plastic refuse on this site. While the campground is generally clean, site inspection before the next arrival is standard practice. The site we ended up on, 21, is next to a pond and is a lovely site, although the hook ups are on the wrong side of the trailer. Eldon was very generous in offering any extra hoses or cables we needed to finalize the set up. There is weak Wi-Fi and only one bar for att. Proximity to Mammoth Cave could not be better. He kindly gives out a list of things to do in the area, and maintains a free lending library of DVDs!. The bathrooms are clean and are being updated now. I would definitely stay here again.

In the spirit of comparing this to other private campgrounds, I don't know what else you could want than this place. The key is that the new owners are in the process of rebuilding all the public structures, such that the rustic bathrooms, and pool cabana were all new and lovely, in a woodsy way, not in a JW Marriott way. They appear to be mostly done. There is a pool.
Connectivity was fine; they have wifi and there are plenty of tent sites, as well as large rig and RV sites, yet it is not a huge campground. Driving distance to Nubble Light was very good, but photographers, be aware: Nubble Light is being renovated, so there is an ugly cylindrical shroud around it! Staff was very friendly. There is a $10 refundable gate key.

This is a Florida Forest-maintained campground, not a Florida State Park. A Forest Service employee here told me that the Forest Service is primarily concerned with fire issues, such as controlled burns and fires, and that campgrounds come second. That may or may not be true, but look how many folks have commented on the fact that this isn't the best kept campground. There is no paid staff here - only the camp host of the moment, and the place isn't as spotless as the usual Florida State Park campground. Of course, the camp host could change tomorrow or wake up inspired and move this whole rating up to a five, because the campground is gorgeous. Only 20 sites, but many are on the water. It's not crowded. The sites are well spaced. I have no idea what the other commentator means by highway noise. There are 256 people living in the nearest town. The only thing I can hear are frogs. It's easy to get here on a short, packed-dirt road. The ATT signal is great. The trails are abundant and wonderful, and north Florida has pine trees that are so beautiful. There is a second pond a five minute walk from the sites which is loaded with cypress trees, and a wonderful long, newly refurbished elevated walkway takes you right through the pond. This is such an old forest that it really shows off how beautiful native Florida was and, in areas like this, still is. If you like primitive camping, ask for site one!

There are so many ways in which this park is superlative: the location, adjacent to the French Quarter and I10; the maintenance crew, which is readily available; the coffee; the rest rooms; the weight room, a real rarity on the road; an ice machine; the friendliness of the staff; the security in a dangerous town. In all those respects, this park deserves five stars, and that's without including the pool and sauna!

However, after 3 or 4 times staying there, I am so fed up with the absentee owners not committing to making the experience, at their astronomical pricing, as good as it can be. For me, this starts with wifi. As others have noted, it is so 2012 that there is only wifi at the pool area. The facility is not large and is bereft of trees. All they need are a few repeaters and everyone could have wifi. Every year; no improvement. I left there today and went to Indian Creek Recreation Area, which is a Louisiana forest service campground - and a beautiful one at that - with lots of trees - and free wifi that works.

After staying there for six nights we asked if we could have a slightly delayed check out. We needed maybe 30 minutes. Nope. We're fully booked! Maybe so, but when we left - on time as it turned out - most of the sites were empty.

In sum, for the reasons stated in the first paragraph there are a lot of good reasons to stay here. I do every year because I meet friends for Jazz Fest who are at a nearby hotel, making commuting easy.

But I really resent the lack of commitment to a superlative experience reflected by ownership, and I say to them: it would be so easy to take all these numbers to a five. Please read all these reviews and take action!

My main purpose in writing is to reaffirm that the pluses and minuses described by this community in older reviews - the last one is almost a year ago - still apply:

Pluses: friendly, helpful ownership; well-maintained campground; very clean public facilities (rest rooms/laundry); extremely convenient to Bozeman and surrounding areas; close to I-90 to jump on/off; level gravel sites; full hook ups; wifi.

Negatives: noise: next to I-90 and trains; some sites are very close together, but try to get this one - it's shaded and better than the average commercial RV site. Some of the sites have no shade and were closer (there is a mix of back-in and pull throughs like this one).

Full disclosure: no pets on board here.

I echo the comments of the other reviewers. This beautiful Park is clearly concerned with creating a top-drawer experience in every respect, which made the poor wi-fi reception at our site all the more disappointing. However, this was the only blemish in an otherwise first-class experience. The attitude of the staff is best exemplified by the fact that a staff member will escort you to your site with a golf cart and direct you until you are properly parked. We had an issue that arose while there through no fault of management and they could not have been more caring and attentive.

Here's a plan for a great day in southeastern Nebraska: visit the Homestead National Monument (https://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm) and learn the story of how the federal government successfully created legislation that turned over 10% of the nation's land in 160-acre plots for free to brave, resourceful folks from around the world - if they built a house on it, planted crops, and stayed for five years - all so as to fulfill the mandate of Manifest Destiny.

Then drive just a few miles to this campground, which is a real gem. Set in a city park, there is a playground and other park features, but what you care most about are the 8 paved pads, each with 50/30/20 amp service, water and sewer, all for just $18/night. The pads are well-separated, and the ATT signal was awesome.

There was only one other person here when we camped. There is a self-pay station, but no camp host today, and this is June, which is tourist season, so presumably there is no camp host. The City also runs another park, listed on Campendium, but since we didn't stay there I can't review it. Just know there are two options maintained by the City of Beatrice here.

I gave this site four stars for access because you have to drive on a dirt road for a short stretch, but it was not challenging. Cleanliness is not five stars because the rest rooms are for a park for general usage, and not a dedicated campground. There are no showers in the rest rooms.