We rate Highlands Hammock 4 starts because of the park not the campgrounds
Located nearly dead center in the middle of Florida, and equidistant between Fort Pierce and Bradenton is Highlands Hammock State Park. This lush& alluring park has a lot to offer the hiker, the biker, the kayaker,& the boater. However, there’s no better way to describe the campground inside the park but old and worn. Nonetheless, Highlands Hammock is a very popular campground for tent campers, RVers,& everything in between.
Google Maps and perhaps other direction apps want to bring you in from the west on County Road 634. If you go this way the road becomes a very bumpy dirt road once you enter the state park. It’s Ok for a car but perhaps not for a trailer or RV and everything you have inside it. Instead, come in from the west on route 66 and then go north on County Road 635 that will lead you into the front entrance of the park and the Ranger Station.
One of the oldest state park campgrounds in the Florida State Park system, these sites were designed for a time void of 30-foot RV’s. Most of these sites are either narrow, short, or both. And, with few exceptions, there is no vegetation or other type of barrier between them. You better hope for nice and respectful neighbors, which we had.
Most of the campsites have slopes and stumps. Many campers had to get creative in how they angled their trailer or RV into their site to get a level spot. The hookups are shared between sites which means you may have to run your water hose and electrical line a long way in 50% of the sites. And very strangely the fire rings are placed in the middle of a lot of the sites. That’s fine for tent camping but not necessary for a larger trailer or RV.
All the bathroom and shower facilities are in need of modernization with the exception of one that we saw. Faucets dripped and didn’t completely shut off. While using the men’s room the toilet paper dispenser fell off the wall into my lap.
The campground consists of 138 sites that are accessed from 8 different roads once inside the campground. There are ample bathrooms, dumpsters, and the dumping station is conveniently located on the way out of the campground.
We had site#71 which was next to the very nice campground host. We did have ample room for our pop up camper and awning, our privacy tent, and a screen tent because the site was long. But it definitely was narrow. Our neighbor’s trailer was not more than 25 feet from us.
To see our entire review of Highlands Hammock State Park visit https://lifestyleover50.com/highlands-hammock-state-park-campground-review/