Crooked River Campground — Withlacoochee State Forest

My boyfriend, myself, and 3 kids (7-8y/o) spent 4th of July weekend here and LOVED it! He has camped a few times, but for the rest of us, this was our first time!

The spacious, private campsites were a plus. It truly felt like we were camping alone in the forest and the kids loved getting to explore. The walk to the river from our site was so worth it. We loved exploring the trail and then letting the kids play in the water while we tried to catch some bass... no luck there. But we should have known. The kids really loved cooling off in the river and catching frogs, they all agree that this was there favorite part. We didn’t see any gators, which was disappointing but I’ll survive.

We will definitely be back to camp here again! We even wrote down our favorite sites with close walks to the river. 62-64!

We had site 74 and really enjoyed it. It was huge and secluded! Our kids were able to run around and be noisy and we weren’t worried about annoying our neighbors. My only “complaints” are that it flooded very quickly during the few thunderstorms we experienced and there was some poison ivy in an easy to run into area. Worth noting.

Nice spot for drive-in tent camping. Our site (most sites seemed relatively similar) had a fire ring with an adjustable grill-grate, a picnic table, room for 2-3 tents, enough parking for 2 cars, and a water spigot nearby. We even had an armadillo stroll by on his way through the woods, but he kept his distance. The sites have a little separation with shrubbery and trees scattered between neighbors, overall not too bad as I despise open field camping. The other two campground areas at this park were much more open lawn type layouts and seemed geared more towards RV and campers. There are plenty of drop-off points for trash. There is a bathroom, but don’t expect them to be clean. The men’s room had no paper towels. The toilet and shower stalls were dirty. But hey, this is camping! We didn’t get around to asking about firewood on-site, and the closest place we found in the area was Lowe’s which was about 20min away, so planning ahead and getting some on your way to the campground is your best bet. There was a place to launch kayaks/canoes on the river right by the sites, and it seemed like there was hiking along the river right there, but I don’t know how far along it went, and as always I would be careful to watch out for gators. Hiking trails can be found within a 5 minute drive (definitely ask the rangers at the entrance for hiking trail maps), and a paved bike trail is right at the entrance to the campground. If you go towards the end of spring, I would recommend that you bring sunscreen, bug spray, and lots of water with you. We also encountered a swarm of mildly annoying love bugs one afternoon at the site, but that can’t be helped this time of season. I believe Silver Lake is right inside the entrance but we were busy enough with our other activities that we didn’t really check it out. We will next time though! Just a heads up, they lock the park gates at 8pm and the rangers leave, so make sure to ask about that ahead of time if you think you will need to leave or return after 8pm.

Crooked River Campground is located within the Croom Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest (Hernando County), and a short 5-mile drive from I-75. Thankfully the furthest away from the interstate which remains busy 24/7. The complex is on the shore of Silver Lake, which is part of the Withlacoochee River system, this campground is part of the Silver Lake Recreation Complex. The Withlacoochee travels around the different campgrounds here and there is a large day use boat ramp onto the lake away from the campgrounds.

At Crooked River (The Native American name for the Withlacoochee) it seemed like every site was surrounded by dense undergrowth which really added more privacy. You can see from my campground and another random site I took a photo of that you are really nestled into the underbrush. If you want to get to the water there is a staircase which provides access to the Withlacoochee River for small boats. I took my folding kayak out and the water was very nice and refreshing against the unbearable heat of Florida. I think there was only 1 maybe 2 other campers while I was there and saw more people on mountain bikes going around the roads than anyone else.

Local Features and Activities

· Nature trail and boardwalk.

· Fishing

· Canoe trail

· Sorry, no pets allowed

Facilities

• These are tent only primitive campsites with the standard uncovered picnic table and fire ring with a grate and/or a grill.
• Flush restrooms and warm/hot water showers
• The campground also is available for organized youth groups, but requires a reservation. You can’t do this online (at ReserveAmerica) like the normal sites. For reservations call (352) 797-4140.

Directions: Take I-75 Exit 301 onto US98/SR50. You'll then turn east (away from Brooksville) and go about 1 mile until you reach the second stoplight at Croom Rital Road. Turn left and proceed north. Follow the signs to the Withlacoochee State Forest Silver Lake Recreation Area and turn right into the complex and follow the signs to the campground.