Blackwater River State Park Campground

Our last stop on a nearly three month tour of Florida, Blackwater was surprising.

In some ways, it's much like the "springs" parks: Rainbow, Manatee, Silver, etc. and very similar to O'Leno. There's less of a jungle vibe though, and the sites are closer together than we've seen in the past. That said, there is brush and trees between every site so you're not jammed in and the site sizes are spacious.

The main draw of this state park is the river for which it's named. It was cold and rainy during most of our stay, so our experience with said Blackwater River was limited to playing on the sandy shores in hoodies. Longleaf pines stand as tall as you'd expect from lodgepoles or pondos out west, and the vibe of the forest is similar, of significantly more moist. The river is beautiful, if not spectacular. I imagine this park is a raging family and twenty-something party spot in the summer. All signs point to "hell yes" on that account. Our first weekend here it was absolutely quiet and empty, the second the place was completely full, active, but not particularly loud.

One item of note were the helicopters. All day long they buzz overhead, not particularly noisy or annoying, and our kids loved them. They land in a field just outside of the park and if your ins and outs come at the right time, you could see a dozen or so hummingbirding about in that area.

It felt all in all a bit anti-climactic, I guess my old habit of comparing places never dies, so put up against Rainbow Springs, Paynes Prairie or Big Cypress, it was somewhat of a let down. Then again, it's more natural than any RV park in the state, and I liked it better here than the more luxurious, resort-like Topsail Hill.

If you're not me, though, your opinion may vary. If you are me, on the other hand, you're very happy to be leaving Florida and heading back out West.

The end.

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.

There was nothing hugely negative about this park but I found it to be uneventful. It might be a future stopover but we will not make this park a destination.

Tam

This is a great park. The only downside is that you are close to a military flight school for helicopter pilots. They fly both day and night (though less so). We found it easy to ignor them, but if you are expecting a pristine camping experience, you will be disappointed.

The big draw for us was the kayaking on Blackwater River. We used a nearby outfitter for a shuttle and took an 6 hour, 11 mile paddle from Bryant Bridge to the take out at Deaton Bridge.

The campground also has access to beaches along the river, and nature trails for short hikes. You may even see an Alligator!

The hosts and staff are great!

The water here is beautiful and is the main attraction. The white sands under the black water is strikingly beautiful. Other than that there is not much to do here however we welcomed the nice and clean campground and immaculate camp sites after boon docking for a bit. There are some short nature walks that are nice. Dogs are not allowed on the river beaches.

Small, but well maintained campground! Lots to do! Great location for kayaking and canoeing. There are nature trails and places to bike.

There is easy access to Blackwater River and it's sandy beaches for those who want to enjoy a swim or an afternoon in the sun.

There is also access to the Florida Trail that passes near the park and a boat ramp for launching a small fishing boat or kayak/canoe.

For those who need or want to rent a kayak or canoe, there is an Outfitter about a mile south of the campground.

One thing I found disappointing was the number of reserved sites that were not occuppied! By our third night, about one third of the 30 sites had no occupants; even though they were reserved! Nice for us; however, there were probably people who were not able to take advantage of this nice state park.

Another thing, is that you will hear numerous US Navy training helicopters flying in the area. They generally fly high enough to not be a bother.

A surprising thing for a state park (that we've encountered) is that they pick up your trash at your site, between 8 and 11 AM daily.

This is the second time we have stayed overnight in this state park campground while traveling west on I-10. Last year we had site #2 and this year #18. Both sites were immaculate, with seemingly fresh gravel pads and level. Fire ring, picnic table, grill and a lantern hanging post in both, too. Since we are Florida residents over 65 we pay half price, so the site cost us $12, plus a $6.50 online booking fee to ReserveAmerica. The ranger and staff were very friendly and helpful. The campground is kept clean and neat and they even pick up your garbage! Water and Electric--good clean power according to our EMS. It was quiet and peaceful, too. They have some nice playground equipment for small children. We really like this campground and highly recommend it.

When we arrived there was no one at the office, but as long as there is no one in your site you can set-up and check-in later. They usually have a time when they will be in the office on the office door. There is also plenty of parking in the park if you had to park and wait. The woman that checked us in was extremely friendly as were the camp hosts. The camp hosts were extremely hard working and the place was immaculate. Our site was a back-in and with a 35 ft. airstream we had plenty of room. The site had a fire ring and grill. They have trash pick-up between 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM which was very convenient. There wasn't a site to the right of us and there was plenty of tree coverage between the site on the left. There was a smaller site in front of us. We felt pretty secluded.

We both work full-time remotely. We experienced dropped calls. The cell service (Verizon) was not the greatest, but was manageable. We have found our Coverage App is not always dependable.

There are lots of nature trails around the area and sandy beaches. We were here in December so it was a little too chilly for swimming. We imagine it must be busy during the warmer months. There are tons of alligator signs around, but the park ranger stated they usually don't come this far down the river. We also saw a black bear sign, but no sightings. We did see a few deer early in the morning.

The town of Milton is about 25 minutes away. Milton has all your amenities such as Wal-Mart, grocery stores, Laundromat and restaurants.

Overall we loved our stay here. We stayed 14 nights and it went by fast. The only reason we didn't rate it a 5 is because of the cell service. We would, however, stay here again.

~$21/night for an improved tent site is a bit steep in my book, but they are nice sites, right on the water, and the bathhouse is nice and appears to be cleaned daily - individual lockable toilet-and-shower rooms are pretty comfortable. trails for hiking and mountain biking around the lake are appreciated! --the mountain biking is basic, but pleasant enough (good for beginners).

Nice state park . Clean rv sites. Just be sure to check your dog after walks found a few ticks on ours after walks. Helped to spay vinager and water mix on her before walks. Had full hook ups.