Long Pine Key Campground — Everglades National Park

Long Pine : Sites are more private here than the one other Everglades established campground (Flamingo). More trails here. Flamingo is closer to water activities. We saw a rattlesnake this trip. Previously, we had a water moccasin under our trailer I figure having been disoriented during a torrential downpour. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. A selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy and/or view from sites. Cleanliness of whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 3.5. Lower rating than the camping experience deserves. Reasons:? Poor cleanliness of facilities as is often my experience in concessionaire run campgrounds. The interagency pass only attains a 10% discount. Our stay and other retirees I have spoken with limit our stays. Note the campground was only full on weekdays! Price 2023: $ 34 w interagency pass Usage during visit: 1/2 to 3/4 mostly Site Privacy: Low growing shrubs give great privacy between most all RV sites Site Spacing: Good Site surface: Grass Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Inner loop roads are short with limited # of spaces in each. This coupled with dense foliage keeps the noise down. Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: Only the outer loop road because of campground traffic only. It’s not too bad Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: Near restroom facilities. Generators: Yes Bathroom: Flush toilets are kept clean. The ready of the facility boarders on disgusting.
Showers: Solar. Water temperature depends on sunshine, time of day, usage , and the length showers folks take.
Pull Throughs: Available. Cell Service (AT&T): Good, Flamingo is stronger. Setting: Carved into a dense palm shrub lower canopy. Recent Weather: Really varied during our stay. Solar: Good on the clear days. Host: Full time personnel

It is a beautiful campground. Each site is completely private due to dense vegetation. The bathroom and shower facilities were nice, and everyone is super friendly.

a quiet place, beautiful lake, what I didn't like is that the other campsites are very close and you can hear everything from the rest, everything is fine

Nice campground. Clean facilities. Not much shade. Look or ask for a site with shade. 24$ for a tent. Visited the NIKE site, cool. Hidden lake was beautiful. Lots and lots of Gators. No ground or tree animals at all. The Eco tour personnel said the pythons have eaten over 90% of animals in the Glades. Sad. Beautiful birds. Saw multiple owls.

I took my family for the first time car camping overnight with friends. We were assigned campsite #71. On top of renting the site for $35/night, you also have to pay the $30 park entrance fee. It was a great location, a short walk to the bathroom/showers, but far enough away that you didn't hear the hand drier in the bathroom turn on in the middle of the night. You are also close to the lake trail. Each site allows for two cars and two tents. There are no trees so expect to be under the sun all day. I brought a canopy which I keep over picnic table. It had a firepit and picnic bench. I wasn't able to get a signal on T-Mobile. Employees patrol the area all day until 8 pm. Firewood is scare in the area. As you can imagine it was picked clean by others. Either bring your own or they sell firewood and other supplies at the office. The bathroom building has a sink in the back for washing dishes.  Will definitely stay there again.

We camped here for 4 days with our dogs. The campground is in the Everglades National Park, so you have to pay an extra $30 for up to 7 days. Long Pine Key has spacious campsites with a picnic bench and a firepit but no electricity. The check in at the front provides firewood and ice. The showers (only cold water) are separate from the bathrooms. The were large but older. The toilets were very clean but very narrow. There is also a lake in the middle of the campground. Swimming is prohibited but it has a few walking trails around it. There were no "no dog signs", so we took them there for a nice walk. Be aware of wildlife - we saw a beautiful cottonmouth. It is about a 10min drive to the Anhinga trail. It is beautiful there. You can see alligators, turtles, birds, and fish. Unfortunately it is very hard to find spots to take your dogs. If you want to visit Biscayne National Park, it is about a 40 min drive. Don't forget bug spray and sunscreen!

General: 107-site developed campground in Everglades National Park that has been outsourced to Flamingo Adventures. Sites are assigned based on the length of your camper. No hookups at all. Pricing is based on weekdays/weekends and a 10% discount is available for seniors/military/park pass holders. You do have to pay the National Park entrance fee. 

Site Quality: Driveways are all paved. The sites are a generous size. Most of the sites on the perimeter best accommodate smaller rigs while larger ones are on the connector roads. All sites are flat and level. A picnic table and fire ring complete the site, which is grass. Some foliage provides privacy between sites. 

Bath/Shower: The showers are in separate buildings from the restrooms; there are three in the campground, each with eight showers. I didn’t use the shower so cannot comment on how well they worked. The restrooms were clean but there were no ADA-accessible stalls (a surprise to me, especially in a national park). I am 5 feet, 115 pounds, and the stalls were a tight fit for me; it would be a real challenge for a larger person. In my three times in the restroom after dark, the light was only on once. I could not see a light switch so have no idea what turns the light on. My last beef with the bathroom is that there is no paved or gravel path leading to the restrooms (and you are warned about snakes, scorpions, fire ants, and other wildlife) so this made no sense to me. 

Activities: There is an amphitheater but not sure when/if programs are offered (we were there at the very beginning of the season and just ahead of Hurricane Nicole). A nature trail but did not explore. You can fish in the small lake. Rainy day movies about the Everglades are available in the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center. 

Other: A major beef for me was that recycling bins were located throughout the camp for mixed recyclables, but they were all locked! We asked and were told that the bins were put there by the park service but the waste company the campground uses refuses to pick up the recycling! Three years later, the bins are still there! 

We arrived just ahead of a tropical storm that mostly affected areas north of the Everglades, but my estimation is that no more than a half dozen other sites were occupied when we were there so our stay was very quiet (generators are only allowed 8 am– 8 pm and we were told this upon arrival; we don’t have one so this was not a problem for us). 

This was just an overnight stop for us as we headed to the Keys but I’m not sure I’d want to spend longer than one night.

Booked 2 nights here for the car, loaded up our bikes at the picnic table, filled our water bottles, then booked a second site at Flamingo to sleep in our tents. Rode back the next day and re-loaded the car!

Beautiful location with no Hookups

The sites are huge, although the concrete pads are not. They let you park whatever way you want to maximize your experience. Although there are no hookups, the showers and bath houses were fine. We loved our time there. It’s quiet (when people aren’t running their generators), and wasn’t buggy for us. We were in site 92 and happy with it. We drove to Flamingo, 35 miles down the road, and there were tons of mosquitoes there. We were super happy we were at LPK.

First time dry camping. We were not prepared. But still had a blast biking and hiking trails and park.

Beautifully manicured park with blacktop pads spaced far enough apart for a fair amount of privacy. Beautiful scenery, great bird watching, lots of stars visible at night. Good Verizon cell service.

Be aware that the pads are small. Only a few sites will fit a large RV and you will have to park you car in overflow parking if the sites are full. Our 35’ class A fit nicely and we were able to park our tow vehicle in an adjacent site since the park was only about half full but we wouldn’t be able to do that during peak season.

Just a one night stay so a quick review: this place was spotless and perfectly managed. We expected far less than we got. Every site was manicured and clean which added to an already picturesque setting.

It helped that the weather was perfect (74 with breeze, 60 at night) so mosquito activity was low.

The proximity to Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails is a big win.

Despite the light pollution from Miami and Florida City the stars were gorgeous.

Friendly staff as well, though one didn’t know whether generators were allowed when I called ahead. That is a question that should have a ready answer… (yes, by the way)

One major flaw: they were under a Boil Water Order when we arrived due to fecal contamination in the water. This was not disclosed to us before arrival despite the fact that we booked the day before camping. Unacceptable oversight.

All in all this little gem is worth a stop.

Great place for beginner camping.

Great campground, warm showers, clean. Some sites don’t gave shade, some quite small. Lots to do in Park. Beware of mosquitoes. Don’t come in the summer.

Had a great time at this campsite! We were able to select our own site-which was pretty cool. We stayed for 4 nights. It was very buggy after a rain storm, but we were prepared for that prior to our stay. There is no electrical hook up, so be prepared with lights/batteries etc... It can also be very dark, so if you don’t have many flashlights or light functions, I recommend staying close to the bathrooms. It was quiet and the campsite was large. Would definitely go again!

DYRT IS WRONG, NO ELECTRIC AT ANY SITE and NO WATER AT SITES. If you are dry camping, go for it, IF your reservation exists when you arrive!  We booked a site, arrived and they did not have any record of our reservation.

The showers are solar and only hot in the middle of the day.  Forget a shower at night if you get in late.   NO Generators after 8 PM.

My wife and I spent 4 days at Long Pine Key Campground in December.  The weather was great.  Plenty to see and do in the Everglades National Park (hiking, kayaking, cycling, bird watching, etc).  There are no water, electric or sewer hookups so be prepared.  Homestead, FL is only about 30 minutes away. It is 38 miles from Long Pine Key Campground to Flamingo, but there are many sights to see along the way.

Great place to relax and enjoy the peace. Beautiful nights with the stars.

Campsites are generally good sized with both paved parking pads and green grass. Unlike the sites at Flamingo, there's more brush and trees providing an element of separation and privacy from other sites. There are flush toilets, showers, water fill, and a dump station, but no hookups. If you want electric, you should make reservations at Flamingo. Many of them have good vie of the sky, nice for solar charging your batteries or enjoying the stars. Insects can be be brutal, but they weren't too bad in January. Campground is open during the winter months/dry season, before the rain, insects, and heat keep most people away.

This is a nice location not too far into the park in case you want to explore another area, but it's remote enough that if you haven't picked up all you need by the time you reach Robert is Here Fruit Stand, you should go back to get it or plan to do without for a while. Speaking of Robert's, stop for a refreshing smoothie or shake and some fruits or vegetables on your way in or out of the park…or maybe each way!

 This campground and the one at Flamingo are operated by Flamingo Everglades concessionaire and they seem to be working to upgrade facilities. They're building a new station at the entrance. Reservations are available for RVs to try to ensure that those who need an RV site will be able to get one that fits their rig; tenters are asked to select their site upon arrival. 

Phone access spotty with Verizon; It was decent at Anhinga Trail, worse the farther down the road you get to Flamingo.

 I didn't happen across any gators in the campground while I was there, but they're definitely in the area. Didn't see a panther, either. Wildlife abounds, particularly the birds. An easy walk with great reward, especially early in the morning or in the evening is the Anhinga boardwalk. Keep your eyes peeled for the colorful purple gallinule darting across the lily pads and the anhinga spreading their wings to dry. I'm not much of a birder, but the challenge of distinguishing the ibis from the snow egret to the great egret is fun (Do you know which one has the golden slippers? The Merlin bird app is also a great tool to help you out.) 

Also nearby is the Nike MIssile Site, open for tours most days during the winter, but check at the visitors' center for details because the info on the website doesn't correspond with real life. Continue on down the road to Flamingo to catch a boat tour or rent a boat on your own; explore some hiking trails along the way. Bikes are a nice way to explore the campground or longer rides through the park. Stop at the visitor's center and pick up some guides or a Jr Ranger book for the kids.

We transferred our reservations from Flamingo Bayside to Long pine key after 1 night at Flamingo. Long Pine Key was so much better! Nice, clean, stocked bathrooms and large showers. Also have a dish sink by the bathhouse. Bugs are 10x better here than over at Flamingo. Staff was very friendly and allowed us to transfer our reservation easily.

Stayed here a few times and always have a good time! Campground is always kept clean and showers have hot water.

This seemed like the only option around for staying on the east side of everglades. It's a very large campground. We had no problem getting a site (apparently they are first come first serve but I've read reviews that there is a way to reserve sites) during "peak season". Some of the sites are fairly close to one another but we got one on the perimeter which was really nice and a little more private. The showers are huge plus (beware water only gets luke cold at best- no hot or warm water in the winter) and having flushing toilets are always nice. Tables and fire rings at each campground. I believe I read that you needed to bring your own wood but I think you could buy some. The campground is in a pretty ideal location. Close to a couple great trails (Anhinga and Long Pine Key). We were able to break up our 2 days in the everglades by splitting it with an day in Biscayne bay- driving too and from the campground to Biscayne NP was very reasonable from this "home base". The only down side to the campground is how close sites are to one another (again perimeter sites seem a little better). Additionally, walking around and seeing people sitting in their RVs watching TV kind of takes away from the camping experience (especially a NP). It's also pretty pricey for camping in a tent. Lastly, their staff is terrible. They're not bright (they'll have trouble figuring out which sites are open and then tell you sites that are obviously taken are actually open). They also lack any customer service skills and can be rude at times.

This campground is in the Everglades National Park but is managed by a third-party. That was good for us because we were able to stay here during the government shutdown. We stayed for 8 nights at the beginning of January 2019.

First, the website shows that sites are first-come, first-serve except for a limited number of sites that can be reserved. I called and was told reservations were not accepted so we took our chances on getting a spot. When we arrived, the agent stated that there were only 3 spots available for the 3 nights we were going to originally stay (we weren’t sure about connectivity). Needless to say, that was incorrect, there were tons of spots available for the time frame we were there. Anyway, we also found out that they do take reservations somewhere on-line, but I couldn’t find the website for it. We stayed three nights in spot #5. It was a good spot, but our solar was struggling because it was in shade most of the afternoon. We decided to stay a few extra days to explore more. Connectivity was not an issue – Verizon has 3-4 bars without booster. AT&T has no service though. With our booster, we were able to get about 1-2 bars of AT&T and thankfully one of our phones as Wi-Fi call capability, so we were able to make and receive calls. Keep that in mind if you are AT&T only. The campground Flamingo about 40 miles from this campground does have AT&T connectivity, but we didn’t explore the campground to see how it compared.

When we decided to stay longer, we were told we had to move because someone reserved spot #5. That was fine because we wanted to move spots for better solar anyway. The agent said she couldn’t look up which spots were available for the time frame we wanted, but we could drive around and find a few spots we wanted and then she could look it up. That seemed weird, but we did that. We found that spot #66 had great access to solar in the mid-late afternoon so chose it. Thankfully that spot was available. There was some confusion about whether we could reserve it or not. Each person we spoke to said something different, but after many tries, it ended up working out and we were able to stay longer. 

We stayed another 5 nights at our new spot #66. Solar was much better there, and we had a nice view of the lake. Both spots we were on were level and it seemed most in the park were level. The road coming in is paved so no issues with accessibility. Since the campground is in the park, you do have to pay the entrance fee, but we have the national park pass. Of course, because of the shutdown there was no one at the gate anyway.

We didn’t inspect the bathrooms or shower houses, but the park was clean and well-maintained. They have a camp host on-site and we did not see any issues that were seen in other parks because of the shutdown.  For some reason, the dumpsters were not emptied until our last day there so some people had put their trash next to the dumpsters, but it was otherwise clean. Very quiet and peaceful as well. 

The campground has a lot of slash pine trees which give some shade, but still allows some solar. There were not a ton of good spots for solar IMO (at least in the winter), but anything by the lake would be good. There are no hookups at this site, but they do have potable water and a dump station near the entrance to the campground.

Tons of things to do near this campground. There are trails and of course exploring the Everglades. Homestead/Florida City is about a 20 min drive and you can get groceries, gas and whatever you need there. Robert is Here is a nice fruit stand in Florida City you may want to check out. Worth a trip to the Flamingo visitor center to see crocodiles and manatees. I would also recommend the Royal Palm visitor center and the anhinga trail.

Overall, despite the confusion and frustration over the reservations, it was a nice place and we would stay again. It is closed in the summer months which makes sense, it would be way too hot, and mosquito infested for the summer. Mosquitos were tolerable when we were there, but you need bug spray.

We love to camp here! It' getting a bit better , some company got the ok to run them and now they are putting in vending machines and solar power.

Although in the northern end of the park, it's a great location to camp. Stayed in Site #70, which backs up to the lake with easy access to the trails and facilities. Quiet location.

No cell service, but the entrance to the campground gets good service and often has folks parked around the sign.

Each campsite has a little grassy area carved out of the forest. You’re right along the road but you’re surrounded by trees and underbrush for good privacy overall. Pros: excellent park to explore nature, grassy sites, good privacy, ranger talks, close to other activities in the park but not too far from civilization in Miami, clean. Cons: not so shady.

This is an awesome place for a serious hiker/camper. This is true camping, there aren't a ton of amenities so the more prepared you are the better.

The park is absolutely beautiful too. There are tons of gators, lizards, and other animals to find. But definitely be careful as well! This is a great place to go camping with a friend and get a real wilderness experience.

If you clamor to get out in the wild, then get your tail to the Everglades. Long Pine is one of my favorites, with lakes and endless trails. Just bring a friend! There are too many things that go 'bump in the night'. There are gators everywhere, as you can see in the pictures, video. Also, this is a habitat for the Florida Panther. So bring a friend! and make your presence known, you don't want to startle any of these big beasts.

Everglades is abound with adventures, you can see alligators performing strange mating rituals, rare birds, and really get a feel for what true wild nature is all about.

If you're crazy, bring a canoe and try out the lakes and rivers which have huts available for camping on your big journey into the glades. Any way about this one, bring a friend.

sites: private. no reservations accepted. limited/no cell phone reception. outside loop has more forest/trees. amenities: no showers. no firewood being sold- must have own/scavenge. other attractions: near hiking trail. I would go back again.