Phipps Park Campground

This park is right next to the COE St Lucie Locks. The sites are huge! Some are electric w water and some are dry camping only. Most sites have a view of either the Locks or some big ponds. I think the ponds are stocked for fishing and they have nice boardwalks around them. There is also a free boat ramp to the river and a nice playground area in the park. The small restroom I used was functional but worn out and dirty. I didn't use the facilities in the main building. There was a laundry there. There was a free dump station for campers. Most of the inhabitants of the hookup sites were out of state seasonal visitors. The dry camping sites had a mix of tents and RVs. The host staff was friendly. The biggest problem is that the park is surrounded on the south and east sides by the Florida turnpike which has a steep bridge that goes over the river so you hear truck noises all night long no matter where you are in the park.

I really struggled with how to rate this campground. The proximity to the Florida Turnpike and I-95 make for near-constant road noise, and the 90-day stay limit means there is a large number of semi-permanent residents. Also, with a limited number of hookup sites, we experienced a lot of generator noise at times. But this campground ultimately won me over with its generous sites with great site locations at a bargain price. The sites located along the St. Lucie River (1-16 with electric and 17-31 dry) are all on a bluff overlooking the river, where we enjoyed watching steady boat traffic, birds and alligators. Most of the remaining sites back up to ponds and conservation areas which are also very nice. The sites are extremely spread out and large, so even with little shrubbery between sites there was plenty of privacy. Even the dry sites designed for tent camping (17-31) were large enough to pull our 25" trailer in as a pull-through, positioning our front porch side to the river. The water and electric sites are truly enormous, so you are only limited in location by the length of your hoses. Finally, the stormwater filtration area on the eastern end of the campground has really nice boardwalks and a thriving community of birds, fish, alligators and other inhabitants, so it was easy to engage with nature just outside our doorstep.

Joe, the campground manager, lives on site and maintains good control over everything happening in the campground. The main bath house is generously sized and acceptably clean, with free-flowing hot water (no annoying push buttons). There is also a laundry room with 1 washer and 1 dryer ($1.50 each). We are locals so paid the resident rates of $15.20 dry and $20 water/electric, which I think is an incredible bargain for direct waterfront sites in South Florida. Perhaps not surprisingly, internet seems to be strongest on the sites that are closer to the highway (such as 17-30) but it was acceptable throughout the campground.

The sites at the nearby Army Corps of Engineers campground are much quieter and nicer, but hard to snag in winter because there are only a few sites. Definitely take the time to visit the St. Lucie Locks and watch the "boat elevator" in action while in the area! There is also a set of two very short nature trails on the north side of the locks that we enjoyed walking in the mornings.

We checked in early evening so enjoyed the big flat sights. No leveling. We had to reserve and pay on
line as office was closed. Didn’t receive a gate code, with was concerning. Since we weren’t leaving til morning didn't really dwell on it. Walking along the water on paved path was great. One bathroom was closed. This is the off season , so I guess that’s the reason. I didn’t notice the noise as in previous comments. All in all would spend another night.

We stayed here a couple years ago and had a pretty good experience, but this visit wasn't quite as endearing. The plusses are the location - close to Jupiter and the fact that it is still possible to get a space at the last minute. Also, the park itself has some beauty with large trees in the middle, a canal to Lake Okeechobee on one side, a lake at one end, etc.

The negatives are the price - $37 for no hookups and the "vibe" of the campground. The office said the camping rates had gone up because they were adding a lot of amenities. The only thing I could see that was different was some really nice tents on platforms by the lake that were available for rent. The "vibe" was all over the place. Some campsites had multiple tents on them with half dressed people just hanging out. One site had 3 sheriffs cars dealing with the campers. The sites with hookups were very close together and not very attractive for the most part. The people who pulled in behind our campsite ran a generator all night, etc.

We didn't experience anything bad happen to us and the experience is probably dependent on who you are camped next to, but would stay here again only as an overnight option.

Strange layout. Few sites with electric. Too expensive for no hookups. Only one restroom and it is at the far end. Very little shade. Some traffic noise from 95.

Quiet park with all the campsites along the river and really close to town.

In all fairness the park is pretty and neat as a pin. As of 1/25/23 there are hookups but electric is not finished and is only in a few sites along the canal. Because of this, lots of generators, and therefore a few who run them all night. We neighbored one of these people who were there long-term. They left their dogs (4 or more) unattended and they barked all day. Asked them nicely several times but had to escalate to the campground. Rarely anyone on duty in kiosk, didn’t answer phones, and emails went unanswered for days. Even after I spoke with them, they did nothing in response. We finally just left two days early out of frustration.

I was a little apprehensive given the overall 3 star rating of this place but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good 1-night stop for me. I was by myself, SUV camping in my 4Runner so I can’t comment on the electrical hookups because I didn’t need them. I was in spot #78, which was located on the backside by the pond. I had a fire pit, water hose, and grill at my spot. I had some filtered shade from a few skinny trees. I didn’t have a problem with bugs. All spots looked very level. Even though there was a generator 2 spots down from me, it didn’t bother me and they turned it off at 10pm once “quiet time” started. I-95 is very close but I never felt like it was too loud. I could tell that many people there were long-term stays. This didn’t bother me and actually made it feel safer. The front gate is closed and keypad entry necessary after a certain time at night. I felt safe the entire time. No one bothered me. Since I didn’t have a toilet/shower of my own, I used the facilities for both. They were always clean looking and even smelled like cleaning products. I walked around the entire campground, including the tent area, early morning for exercise. The place is very well kept and everyone I passed was friendly. My one complaint may have been the fine gravel/sand that they used. I’m glad I had a rug to wipe my shoes off before getting in my car. Even still, it made a mess on my floorboards and where I keep my shoes underneath my bed platform. I understand that concrete pads are expensive but maybe they will move to that eventually. I never saw an attendant at the front gate but I did see someone with grounds tools and cleaning stuff riding around on a golf cart. This was a good stay and I’d happily stay again when passing through for a couple nights.

A just ok campground, poorly maintained, with only a few sites with power, and grossly overpriced for a municipal facility. They are totally dysfunctional with reservations. Most recently, in an attempt to stay a second time, nobody at the municipal office returned calls and neither did the on-site manager. A couple of months ago when we tried to reserve a spot, the municipal person (who answers the listed phone) said there were “no sites with power available”. We went there anyway and after tracking down the on-site manager, he said there were six sites available with power. How much money has this ineptitude cost the municipality? We will never stay there again.

This park has been renovated and is very well done. During our stay in late February’23 many sites still didn’t have electricity hookups completed due to supply chain issues. Because of this, generator use by many inconsiderate campers became an issue. Despite clearly stated rules that quiet hours are from 10:00pm to 7:00am (which is shorter than many campground rules) there were numerous RVs running large open frame generators well past quiet hours - a few all night during our first night. We spoke to the manager (Brian,) who was very nice, and said he would speak to the occupants of the sites we informed him about. That night there were still a few who did not respect his directive. We called him after 10:00 pm , he went out, located the sources and made them turn off the generators.
We don’t blame Phipps Park in any way for the inconsiderate behavior of guests, but it’s a reflection on all of us who are RV enthusiasts.
Subsequent nights, several times, we had to go knock on doors of those who continued to ignore the quiet hours.
This problem will go away once the electric connections are completed throughout the park.
We also experienced people cutting through our site- literally between our picnic table and fire ring to get to the bathrooms.
And- to our neighbor who decided he needed to use his pressure washer to clean his large boat after going out in salt water, despite rules against any vehicle washing, thank you for the drenching overspray of your nearly 2-hour cleaning endeavor.
This all boils down to one thing: We, as a community of RV/camping enthusiasts, need to get back to a more civil and considerate frame of mind.
We’ll all suffer if this continues to become a selfish world of doing whatever we want despite rules and common courtesy