Family Campground — Merchants Millpond State Park

We went for Valentine's Day weekend. Only a couple of other people were there, and we hardly saw them. We used site 11. I still think it's the best one, it's the largest, right next to the main trail head, & bath house trail right ahead of the site. The bath house was real nice. They had heaters running and they were so toasty, also very clean. Trails were nice too, we used our ebikes on the bike trail.

Stayed on Friday and Sat nights at family campground. Bathrooms ok but in need of maintenance. Park clean and well maintained. Biggest issue is the noise. Neighbors played music and were loud until well after midnight. Other neighbor had dog barking all night. Not a great campground for people with young kids like we have. We will be looking for campgrounds with onsite hosts in the future.

In the middle of nowhere, but it was peaceful and everyone was friendly. The trail system was magical. We hiked early in the am and it was such a therapeutic hike through the forest and swamp. Stayed in our Tepui tent and had a great time.

Stayed a few nights leading up to Memorial day. Our site was a good size, and tent pad was nice. Lovely shaded site, and large picnic table. Did not have to use our popup shade. Downside were the large gravel throughout the site - tough for small dogs and crawlers. Nice 0.7 walk from the campsite to the visitor center to rent canoes! Just a short drive to some other trails. Enjoyed the Cyprus Point trail which you access at the boat ramp section of the park. If you canoe long enough, you'll come across two alligators who live in the pond.

The campsites are great with ample room for privacy, and easily accessible to the restrooms and trails around the pond. The visitor center is fantastic and offers canoe rentals as well as a spot to unload your own canoe or kayak.

I would recommend visiting in the cooler months of spring or fall. In April, the site was probably only 25% occupied and it’s still cool enough not to be bothered by mosquitoes.

Taking a canoe or kayak out to explore the pond and swamps is a must and total unique experience. Turtles, birds, cypress trees, and alligators.

We tented here and really liked the campground. We stayed in the family campground since we had a vehicle. There are float-in and hike in spots we did not investigate. Our site was clean and separated well. The bathhouse was nice and warm and clean. The rangers were very nice. This has a much better swamp experience than the Great Dismal Swamp.

Great campground. Very quiet and each tent site is very far from one another. You could have music or a generator going and not disturb your neighbor

This is our go-to campground since it’s only a few miles from our house. Great park and nice campground with plenty to do. The only downside is that they don’t have any hook ups and it gets pretty hot in the summer months.

Campsites are nice but be careful the wooden borders is included in dimensions. Nice bathrooms with hot showers. Over 5 miles of easy hiking good for everyone. Gas station right outside visitor center entrance in case you forget anything. Not very many people here so its nice and quiet.

This cypress pond is a great place for anyone! They have a family campsite loop with a nice bathhouse in the middle, they have group walk-in and canoe in campsite and well as family canoe in. They have a fishing area and a on site canoe rental. The Millpond itself is huge!! They use a buoy navigational system on the water. No swimming though due to the huge Alligators that live there. Overall this is an affordable and momentous getaway that I visit every chance I get.

While this was quite a trek for us from Charlotte, it was worth it. We stayed five nights in March 2018 in the family campground. The site was clean and spacious, easy to maneuver our small (18ft) TT into. Although there are no hook ups, there are water points close to every site, and a centrally located bathhouse. We received enough sunlight during the day for our solar panels to keep any batteries that needed it (including the TT battery) charged up. The staff at the visitors center was incredibly friendly, including the rangers who were eager to answer any questions we may have had. We rented a canoe and toodled around the pond in search of the resident alligator which we found. They do advise of a known tick problem, but with taking the proper precautions we had no problem with us or the dogs. We will absolutely be back.

What a rare and beautiful eco-system the cypress swamp is! The state park offers several camping options: drive in, hike in and canoe in.

Each drive in site has a picnic table, fire ring/grill and tent pad. There are showers, spigots and restrooms for campers staying here. There are three canoe-in sites, two of them have pit toilets and the third requires you to pack out all waste. If you want to enjoy the amenities of the drive-in sites but want to spend time canoeing the pond (which I highly recommend) then that's certainly an option, too.

There aren't many eco-systems like this left so it's absolutely worth checking out.

I recently visit Merchants Millpond State Park! It was incredible beautiful expertise for me, since I not kayak in a swamp before.

Upon visiting this park, I arrived at the Visitor center with a warm welcome and smile. The lady was very helpful, since I not know the park. She help get me arrange into family campground. Beautiful shaded, spaceless with woods campground with nice hot showers and bathrooms to access to. There are primitive campgrounds, that you need to paddle to in the swamp. I think that be great for people who like to adventure out. I saw these camps, they are setup very nice.

My paddling expertise on the water was awesome, for 2 days. So much nature and wildlife to see! Got beautiful photos of my experience. I admit, this is a beautiful place and I will return again.

I recommend visiting place, is awesome experience!

The 12 trips in 12 months’ progress well. February’s outing was Merchants Mill Pond. What a great place. It probably helps that the bath house had just been redone with fresh paint. But that wasn’t the only thing. The park staff was friendly and the camp sites are nice and spaced well apart. Each site had a fire pit, tent site and picnic table. I am not sure that all the tent spaces were leveled, but if you pay attention when you set your tent up you should be fine.

I happened to be a glorious weekend in February and the temperatures were good enough for a hike in shorts and tee shirts. The trails were well maintained and it was a day well spent on the Lassiter Trail. The park also rents kayaks and there are marked water trails as well. Next trip will include a boat ride and a search for alligators (from a safe distance).

Good hikes, good campground and evenings by the campfire. Definitely on the places to return to list.

The sites are on the small side, especially the tent pad. The sites have good separation between them and don't feel crowded at all. Very well maintained. Very helpful rangers that stopped by daily to welcome us and to collect trash.