Salt Springs Campground

We have camped here a total of 3 times now. Located in the Ocala National Forest, this is the only campground within the National Forest to feature full hookups both 30 & 50 amp.

We have enjoyed our time here. The sites are spaced out fairly well, with fully paved pads. And there are restrooms and showers distributed throughout.

The sites are not as wooded as some might like, but for a park in Florida, it's hard to bet. We've found it to be very quite and clean, with a friendly staff of camp hosts.

It does tend to be away from things, but outside of the Camp entrance their is a small local Grocery store and Laundry mat.

You can swim at the springs and there is plenty of hiking in the area, along with a lot of good hiking. Ocala is also Florida's Jeep/Off-Road vehicle mecca, and you will see a lot of ORV trails in the area if you are into that short of thing. Just be aware, it's mostly mud and sand.

The cell coverage is acceptable, but with our Wilson booster we had 4 bars full LTE and no problem with internet speeds.

We have camped here several times in a 35 foot fifth wheel. Our most recent visit was in January, 2013. The rate shown reflects the discount rate with our national senior pass. This is a popular snowbird destination. The camp hosts are very helpful and friendly.

There are two camping areas at Salt Springs. One is a more primitive area for smaller RV's and tents. We camped in one of the full hookup sites with a paved pad, picnic table, lantern hook, and grill. The sites are separated by grass and trees and many of the sites have large grassy areas behind the site. There are clean restrooms conveniently located throughout the the campground.

The campground is in a remote area in the Ocala National Forest but it is a short drive to Ocala or Palatka for shopping. There is a big recreation hall where we enjoyed a pancake breakfast one morning. When we were there one of the volunteers had just finished setting up a WiFi hotspot in the recreation building. We could not get an AT&T signal when we were there although others with Verizon had a better signal and many people used a booster to get a good signal.

We enjoyed swimming in the Salt Springs and renting a boat at the marina to ride through the Salt Springs Run. There were manatee sightings while we were there although we did not see any. This is a popular fishing destination.

On an earlier visit we enjoyed riding across the St. John's River on the Fort Gates Ferry. It is not always running so be sure to check the schedule. We enjoyed a day trip to Juniper Springs. There are many ATV trails in the Ocala National Forest.

All in all this is a great place and we would definitely return.

Nice campground that will allow you to get some out in the woods time in while in Florida. Situated in the middle of the Ocala NF it's not particularly close to anywhere. Bring groceries for your stay as there isn't anything available other than a small produce stand across the street. There is a nice ~1 mile trail right out of the campground, there is a boat dock for access to the river and of course the spring itself. There are lots of places to hike in the surrounding area including the Florida Trail. Verizon was 4G and usable for work but not rock star. We had no AT&T service.

Only real negative was the ticks which plentiful.

This was our second time camping here. As noted previously there is a lot to do in the Ocala National Forest and this campground is a great base. A stop at the Ranger Station at the south end of Route 19 or the west end of Route 40 will provide good information about what is available in the national forest. The other Salt Springs reviews describe the campground so I'll detail what we did this time. We went to Silver Glen Springs just 10 minutes south and rented a canoe to paddle that run, hiked the 1/2 mile to the "boiling sands", and cooled off in the spring there. In conversation with locals we learned that summer weekends and holidays at Silver Glen should be avoided because they are extremely crowded. Signs indicate that the parking lot closes when full. However we were there on a Wednesday with no problems. Just a note to UPDATE: there is now a small but complete grocery store just 2 minutes south of the campground. The prices seemed quite reasonable for the few items we bought. We also recommend the Square Meal restaurant across the highway for terrific omelettes and BELTs (bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich). Campground rate reflects senior pass.

Very nice full hook-up campground with hiking swimming and boating amenities. The sites are well laid out with plenty of room for an RV and screen room. Not much to see outside the campground. A Dollar General and a breakfast/lunch cafe we didn’t visit. The campground is close to a fairly busy highway. The price we paid was with a Lifetime Senior Pass.

Nice large campground with well spaced sites and trees. I will avoid site 23 in future though because of basketball court right across road. Great Verizon cell signal from newly upgraded cell tower.

We had a blast. Brought children and grand children and everyone enjoyed themselves. We spent most of time down at the springs, swimming and kayaking. One of the few National Parks in Florida with full hookup. Its nice in Florida to have AC in the summer. We highly recommend and going back again soon.

The price we reported is the full non-senior price. We paid $19.50 for our full hookup site with senior pass discount which gives you half off the camping fee of $25, but everyone pays full price ($9) for the electricity, water and sewer.

We have visited Salt Springs a have dozen times over the last decade or so, but back then we were tent camping in the summertime. The cool 72 degree spring is so nice to have for swimming and snorkeling when the temperatures are in the 90's. Now in the winter the campground is full of snowbirders and the spring is empty. During the week the campground is filled with mostly adult campers but you'll still see families arriving for the weekends.

Although our AT&T phone read no service we were able to get 2 bars of 4G/LTE with the Wilson Sleek booster.

We visited this campground from 01/07/19 until 01/13/19.

I stayed in the primitive camping area
The cost was $11.50 withe the Senior pass.
Campground pass is good for access to the Springs although they say you have to pay the daily admission if you stay past 1pm. I didn’t see anyone inforcing it.
It was realitivly quiet except from some road traffic nearby

The campground at Salt Springs has about 100 RV spaces with full hookups (unusual for a National Forest Campground). Access is from SR 19 as it passes through the small community of Salt Springs.

Operated by a concessionaire, the campsites are well maintained and serviced between departures and arrivals. The RV sites are in a wooded area with Spanish moss draped oak trees and maintained grassy areas between sites. Site 32 was level and easy to back into.It is a pleasant campground but lacks privacy between sites.

The $12.50 is the rate with a senior discount pass. In addition, $9/day is added to the camping rate for electricity. Worth noting is the lack of cell service not just in the campground but in the community of Salt Springs as well.

Earl and I stayed here for three nights as we were traveling to a festival located about 15 miles north. It was a relaxing 3 day stay on our trip. Earl and I would stay here again if traveling this route.