Magnolia Campground

Awesome! Saw over a hundred manatees just hanging out. Late December. Super cool

Absolutely loved kayaking here. Spotlessly maintained. Enjoyed exploring the area and hiking with the dogs! No cell service-if that’s necessary move on.

Quiet, remote, jungle like, and friendly! Spacious sites for all sizes of campers. Gravel/ sand pads. Magnolia loop 1 has full hook ups. We stayed on Magnolia loop 2. Chiefland is a small town about 8 miles away with a Winn Dixie and Walmart, a few car washes, restaurants and gas stations.
WiFi is non existent at the campground except at the concession stand. TV channels are very limited!
A nice swimming hole exists in the river near the concession. Canoes, kayaks are available for rent and a pontoon boat tour is also available.

We loved this park. Super cold, crystal clear water that my family really enjoyed snorkeling in. Lots of fish and wildlife, beautiful green canopy of trees. The spring gets very, very deep, so there is something for the young ones, and the more experienced swimmers.

I went here. The section of super clear aqua waters was pretty, however extremely small! It was probably like 10x8 feet is all. It would've been worth it if I had scooba gear with me.

Very magical springs and well landscaped site. We were there on April 10th. We could not stay more than one night because the campground was full. Next time we will do our reservation! So many deer, so many fireflies (lightning bug). The only bad thing is the really poor cellphone reception and no data.

We really enjoyed our visit and the campground! There are only a few downsides which is that we should have booked a site for a 35’ camper instead of 30’ since it was very difficult to turn our 28’ camper around on the Magnolia 2 loop. Once we were backed in, there was plenty of space. Also there is no cell service for about a mile prior to the entrance or any signal inside the park. Same goes for the antenna so it is very rural. We did enjoy this at times though because it gave us a chance to unplug. The entire place was beautiful and we even had deer outside our camper most days. We truly enjoyed our visit and hope to return again when the spring clears up.

Overall this is a great place to spend several days camping. Whether in tent or RV. Just remember that during the summer time or just when it's hot, there are plenty of mosquitoes and remember to use tick spray as there are deer that walk around and get close to campers. As always, keep food away and trash locked up due to armadillos and raccoons. But after all that the place is great. If you love nature you will love it. There are springs to swim in and several hiking trails that you can also bike through. There is a dock that you can enjoy and see manatees and several areas to stop and see the manatees on the way to the docks. Kayaking is great especially if you bring your own. The sites are well maintained but some may be hard to get to with a bigger RV and will require a skilled driver. I recommend reserving ahead of time especially during the cold months in November and December.
Overall if you love outdoors,kayaking and water activities this is a great place to be and it's a state park so pricing is not high.
Cell service is almost non existent unless you are near the front of the park. In some areas tmobile and verizon will have 1 bar with possibly some LTE coverage but it's very spotty. They have wifi at the restaurant area that they have but i recommend using a vpn as it is open to anyone.

Manatee Springs is a great state park with much to do. Spring is 72 degrees year round so swimming is an option. During winter there are manatees in the warm waters. Paddling is possible year round with rentals available. There are 8.5 mi of interconnected hiking trails so various combinations. Biking is possible but it’s double track and absolutely flat. Road biking out of park has a bike lane the 6 miles to 31-mile Nature Coast Bike path.

Hickory Loop is tent only. Magnolia 1 Loop has a much better bathhouse and sewer hookups. Magnolia 2 doesn’t have FHU and small bathhouse has two tiny showers. No ADA facilities in #2, and huge, loud fans run 24-7, so if you’re camped near #2 you hear the constant noise.

0-1 bars on Verizon at site. Concession has free strong WiFi. A few OTA tv stations.

We stayed mid November for 3 days (Magnolia 1 loop) in hopes of sighting the manatees coming into the warmer fresh water and we were not disappointed! Was able to view 10-11 manatees because of the cold snap that rolled through!

PROs
* nice helpful staff;
* good hiking trails right in the park;
* okay biking the loops or can also go out on the walking trails;
* nice dark nights;
* fabulous walking boardwalks to view the fresh water springs, all the way down to where it meets the Suwannnee River;
* nice cafe with delicious BBQ!
* close to the town of Chiefland which has everything you need;
* full hookups was very cost effective if you are a Florida resident!
* didn't check out the shower facilities but know that they are available in each loop.

CONs
* in the interior roads, the trees need to be trimmed back, if you are in a tall rig, you are going to get branch rub as you go to your site;
* LARGE pot holes on the interior roads so go slow;
* absolutely NO connectivity, either internet or over the air TV.