Highlands Hammock State Park Campground

Good place for gator viewing. Don't forget the bug repellent.

This is a hard campground to review. On one hand, the majority of sites are cramped with little or no separation between you and your neighbors. The facilities are old and in need of updating, and the sheer number of tent campers and their smoky fires gets a little out of control on the weekends. On the other hand, the campground is located in the most beautiful jungle-like setting with miles and miles of trails that wind through giant trees, dense ferns, and magical cypress swamps. The trails and the forest are what bumped my review up from a 3 to a 4.

This is an older park built by the CCC back in the 1930s, which accounts for the small sites and old bathroom buildings. While I would prefer a bigger campsite, I can appreciate the history and am happy that they are preserving what was built so long ago.

A few tips for getting the most out of your stay here. Try to get a site from 114 to 138. These sites are on the edge of the park with more space and a few trees and shrubs for separation. We thought site 126 where we stayed (after switching from a previously bad site) was one of the best. Avoid at all costs sites 10-33 and anything in the 50-60 range. These are all wide open with no separation. Also, be sure to use the one newer shower building. All the others are pretty old and scary. Finally, be sure to visit the onsite CCC museum, and if you don't have time to walk all the trails at least do the Cypress Swamp Trail.

This park is nestled along the western city limits of Sebring. It is just a few miles off u.s. 27 and is really quite the special place. The previous post listed all the wonderful things that this park has to offer. It is also a focal point for the Sebring community and many events are held here throughout the year. It is one of the campgrounds that is favored by snowbirds, who rotate thru our state parks in the winter and utilize the larger sites. It can be difficult to get a site in the winter. That being said, it had a very large area for small campers , pop ups and tents and is a huge magnet for young families to camp at on weekends. Yes, it can get smokey, a little loud at times and can be a nuisance to the many retirees who want quiet and solitude. But, who cares. It is great to see the young people enjoying themselves and children being able to ride bikes, run and play like so many of us could when we were younger. I have seen 4 or 5 families plan weekends with adjacent sites just so that the kids could play outdoors. And, who knows, maybe they will all learn a little of our great Florida history and the pioneers who blazed the trail thru the brush to eek out a living in such forbidding land. Take your kids, take your parents and see a part of the "real Florida" before it is all turned into condos.

Campground was pretty with live oak trees and Spanish moss. Sites were a little crowed together for a state campground, more like a KOA. They had a pot luck dinner on Wed night and breakfast and a dinner which you could join in on for a very reasonable fee. There where 3 restroom facilities and washer and dryers available.Friendly staff and camp host and volunteers. Take the back country tour if you can, very informative and you will see plenty of alligators.

I am new to this whole camping thing so take my review with a grain of salt. We camped in a tent on site 009 which has electricity. Well-kept park that is way off the main road, so you don't hear car noises. This was the first time we had not done primitive camping so being so close to neighbors took some getting used to. Quiet time is 11:00 pm and when people got up around 6:00 am everyone was making noise again haha. If you are in a tent, I would recommend some ear plugs.

Space 009 wasn't as shaded as the picture looked when booking. In the afternoon the sun hits pretty much all of the sites. They did have a hurricane come through so I can understand it is different than the photo. I would recommend getting a site more towards the center of the whole campsite. Like around space 120 or so. These are shaded all day.

The Rangers were very professional and made staying and leaving very easy.

Hiking trails are beautiful and plentiful. Camping sites are non-private. Our site was labeled on the inside of the site not visible from the road. Water service spigot is about 6” from the ground. Waaay too many children riding bikes everywhere.

The park staff were very friendly and helpful. The bathrooms and showers that I used were clean and there was plenty of hot water.
The campsites are close together and there is not really any privacy between them. It is hard to tell where one site ends and the next begins. We had to share water/ electric hook ups with our neighbors, but I'm not sure if all the sites share. I did notice that some of the hook ups seemed oddly placed, so you might need an extra long hose or cord to plug in. Many of the campsites were shaded.
The weekend that we stayed, the campground was full of families with kids riding bikes all over and playing on the playground. We don't mind that at all, but if you are looking for peace and quiet, this may not be ideal for you. It did get loud at times.
The nature trails were beautiful for hiking. If you bring bikes, you can ride the on the road around a big loop. There is also a museum and store.
Cell service was only 1- 2 bars (metro).

We love this place, but we work remotely and there is no cell service. There is WiFi "free" at the club house a half mile from the campground so bring a bike ;)

Stunning bike paths and great park to enjoy.

There are a few spacious campground sites but mostly it is very tight. There are cars and tents everywhere and lots of people. Our neighbor’s tent is 3 feet away from our picnic table. The bath houses are OK too and they have nice new slop sinks. When we were checking in the Ranger warned us about noise at night and explained that the weekends can be very hectic. She also said that the trash was full and wouldn’t be picked up until the next morning. It’s 11 AM the next day and the trash still hasn’t been picked up. It was really hard to get into our site because it was very tight. It was a little bit hard to find because the signage really should be better. The roads should be one way but they’re all two way. We got to our site and realized we couldn’t get in to it because we need to back in from the other direction. We went around the whole entire Campground and had to come in from the opposite side. When we hooked up and plugged in the 30 a.m., it wasn’t working. I let the Ranger know right away and she sent someone over to fix it immediately, which was great. Overall it was an OK experience. It’s a very diverse campground with lots of tent campers lots of midsize travel trailers and lots of really big rigs as well.

We enjoyed a little back to simplicity this place offers. While not boondocking out in the wild, it has access to some very nice natural sights. We took the Tram tour and saw some beautiful birds as well as a picturesque alligator with her little ones. We also walked several trails--just right for novices like ourselves. Nice to not have the smallest trailer in the complex as we often do in RV parks. Lots of small trailers and tents set up and some big rigs scattered about as well. Reasonable price for state park--though the $20 fee for wilderness camping seems a bit high. Overall, we enjoyed this park a great deal and plan to return.