Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park Campground

This park has a lot of hills so learn from my mistake and don't pick a site at the bottom of a hill near the lake or the rain just might take you with it! After a good hard rain, that left everything cool, we decided to explore the park and the ravine. It was absolutely incredible and made up for the terrible weather!!! Washer and dryer is a plus on the long camping trip... But there are not any trash cans in our campground area. Clean bathrooms and lots of trails.

We enjoyed our stay very much. The RV sites are spacious and spread out nicely. The main trail along the stream is highly unique terrain for an otherwise flat state. The bathrooms were clean and the park overall is nicely laid out with nice views of the lakes. The staff was nice and we will definitely stay here again.

Note that the rate listed is the Florida Senior rate. We enjoyed our stay in this quiet spot. We were in the Lakeview loop. After driving around, we agreed it was preferable to the Sandhill loop. Because of upcoming hip surgery, we were in a handicap site with a concrete pad, however all the sites appeared to be fairly level. Some had lots of shade (ours and 55 for sure) and some had none. The bathhouse was spotless and, though not air conditioned, had an overhead fan that kept it from being sultry. We didn't do any of the hiking trails due to my husband's hip issue, but I did some geocaching with our friends. All of us came back with numerous chigger bites, so if you wander off the paths, take chigger precautions. We were disappointed to discover that most of the lakes in the park are reduced to small ponds. We were told that this is because some major cities are tapping into the aquifer that feeds these lakes. There is still swimming in Little Lake Johnson, which was reported to be very refreshing, but again we didn't try it out. We did see lots of deer, some wild turkeys and rabbits. Since the lake at the campground wasn't suitable for kayaking, we found a public boat launch on Sante Fe Lake in Melrose just 15 miles south of the park. We also had a great Independence Day with a parade and fireworks in Keystone Heights just 7 miles south. The Verizon service at our site was limited to text and email, though the six minute drive to the ranger station allowed us to make phone calls. Our friends had better coverage with AT&T, enabling them to work online.

Clean, cared for. Rural Florida woods.

Our site was a pull thru with paryial shade. Very large.
Bath house was always immaculate - but not air conditioned!
Washer and dryers a plus. Cost is $2 per load
very nice staff

Each morning we were treated to numerous songbirds and an occasional hawk cry. Some nights we even heard a far off owl hooting. When we arrived on Thursday the campground was full of families with children camping and most of them stayed right through New Year's Day. But on the day after we had the entire campground loop almost to ourselves.

We hiked on some of the trails here, mostly down around the ravine area, to get in a little exercise. No wildlife sightings during our hiking but the mushrooms were abundant from the rains we had in the days before.

We stayed in the Lake View Loop campground at the very back edge of the park, 3 miles from the front gate. Some mornings we could hear the marching cadence from the National Guard soldiers who were somewhere on the other side of Big Lake Johnson. Not loud enough to make out the words or wake us up, but it was definitely a human chorus of voices.

We enjoyed our stay on Campsite #72 but would have preferred Campsite #71 for a little bit better view of the lake through the dense forest of trees at the back of the campsite. Campsite #4 in the Sandhill Loop was our preferred site for that loop.

We visited this campground from 12/27/18 until 01/03/19.

We enjoyed our two night stay at this peaceful state park. Easy to find. Large, level site with lots of trees and view of lake. Perfect place to learn our new rig.

Great park. Returning campers

Slightly dated park but well maintained. Great staff. Sites were mostly full but a very quiet crowd in winter. Connects to the Florida trail and other trails also. Gravel / sand sites that are fairly level. The dumpster was always overflowing but not near the campsites. We were in the mood to relax and hangout in the RV, and this was a great spot.

We have camped here many times & always happy with the stay. Bathrooms clean & staff friendly. Sites are a good distance apart.