Kilpatrick Hammock Campground — Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

I only spent one night there, but it’s a small and peaceful campground with shaded spots. I lucked out with a good view of the nearby prairie, and woke up to a beautiful sunset with tall grasses and bird song. The listing says excellent coverage for T-Mobile but my phone alternated between one bar and no service at all.

Well maintained facilities and friendly rangers on-site. Numerous hiking trails with open Prarie landscape. Very limited light pollution at night so great Location to star gaze.

4 miles down washboard sand/gravel road will beat your truck and trailer to death. And the sites are small!! 18’ trailer in site #6 and had to unhitch the tow vehicle as it was sticking in the road. Barely fit 22’ trailer and tow vehicle in site #1 without unhitching. That aside, it is a beautiful quiet spot that is excellent for star gazing. Bath house is clean and lots of hot water. If you are car camping or tent camping or have a camper van, this might be a good spot for you. It is a dark zone, so no lights after dark - use red lights.

This is an amazing campground.  We stayed in the Astrological Pad so we can see the stars and oh my.. you can see them all!!!!  Bring your telescope.  The hiking trails are great!  Saw alot of Deer, boar and turkeys around the grounds.  I did not see any on the trails but that was ok. The campgrounds are clean and bathrooms are easily accessible. Most of the camp is red light only at night so please bring red light flashlights.

Such a beautiful park! We were greeted by deer, and turkey as soon as we drove in. The staff were all very helpful, and kind, and the premises were beautifully maintained. We stayed on the family side, and there wasn’t as much privacy between the sites as I would’ve liked, but it was still very quiet. The nights sky alone, was definitely worth the visit, the Milky Way stole the show amongst the spectacle of shooting stars and meteors

We had a wonderful time staying on our site specifically - there is a line of palms & bush separating the tent area from the parking area, so it felt more remote than it was. There is also such a lovely variety of birds to hear throughout the day, and loved setting up our Eno in the morning for coffee! Unfortunately it was cloudy during the night of our stay, but I would honestly still go back in the same conditions. Definitely check the weather before booking your stay though, because seeing the stars would have been the cherry on top. :)

Beautiful camping if you wanna see tons of wildlife and a clear view of the stars at night. Good facilities (a washing machine!!!). Saw my first bald eagle here

Came back a second time with a new moon. No buggy rides because of Covid. Stayed in horse camo loop. Bathrooms clean. Lots of wildlife. Huge storm blew in and had to leave early.

Our visit was relaxing and enjoyable. We visited in July and the shade from all the trees around our site helped keep the heat tolerable. The camp site’s aren’t dispersed and a little close together but we didn’t have any immediate neighbors around us so it was perfect. We stayed on site 008 and it was spacious enough for our large cabin tent, picnic table, additional table, dog pool, chairs, etc. Our site is conveniently close to the bathrooms. I liked that there is only one main dumpster and it’s kept a distance from the camp sites. I think this helped keep any raccoons that may have been around away from the campers. AMAZING star gazing location.

This state park is so amazing. There are so many trails to go on. The wildlife is absolutely amazing to see. We saw lightning bugs (we don’t see them at our house), wild turkeys, tons of butterflies, deer and birds. We were very fortunate with weather during our spring break week. The road was pleasant, compared to what it was like in the past. The night sky is definitely what draws people to this park. Absolutely beautiful and dark to see a million stars. The site was a great size, we had trees that kept our rig covered with shade and the site was dirt.

Small park, but lots of trails, and into the prairie. Many birds, deer, beautiful butterflies, snakes, and raccoons! Very peaceful quiet campground. Spectacular night sky. This is the place to stargaze. Many here taking pictures with their telescopes. We’ve been here four times, and definitely return. They definitely improved the road in!

Kissimmee prairie preserve is my favorite campground. It is a dark sky area, so the night sky is beautiful. Upon getting into the park, there was wildlife everywhere (turkey, deer, alligator, birds). The prairie is so open that you can see forever.

We had campsite 15 which had a great view of the prairie and backed up to the woods. The bathrooms were very clean with large shower areas and continuous hot water. Definitely go when there's no moon, as this is a dark sky area so you can see the milky way during the right time of year. We were there in mid October, so just right at the end of the milky way season.

I've already booked a return trip.

I stayed in late November of 2020 for two nights. All the sites were full during the first night and a little over half were full on the second night. The dirt road on the way to the campground was very smooth. Definitely bring everything that you need because there is nothing around for many miles. I brought my own firewood but they did have wood for sale at $7 per bundle. The night sky was pretty dark but I couldn’t see the Milky Way (there was a half moon during my stay). I must be spoiled by the night sky out west. Lots of wildlife around... deer, turkeys, gators, lots of birds and I could hear coyotes off in the distance at night. Bathrooms were very nice and cleaned daily. Parts of the hiking trails were flooded and muddy. Overall a very well maintained campground with lots of wildlife and a nice dark sky.

Great place to enjoy the sky at night with no outside lights to disturb the viewing of the stars. The camping area is nice and peaceful. Clean bathrooms. Hot showers.

My husband and I hiked eight days on the Florida trail halfway through we camped at this wonderful site. It was a sight for sore eyes and sore feet. The stars were so close at night I felt I could just reach out and touch them.

One of our favorite state parks in Florida. Quiet and remote. Be sure to fuel up and have plenty of groceries. Astronomers love this park. In fact, they have a designated campground just for them. Be sure to ONLY use flashlights with red lense so that you do not disrupt the star gazers.

Ranked as an International Dark Sky campsite, this is one of the few in Florida that have this recognition. We came during a cloudy weekend but it broke one night for us to catch a glimpse of the Milky Way-beautiful. The campground itself is well maintained and peaceful. There are three sections for campers here: a family campground, an astronomy pad, and an equestrian site. We stayed in the equestrian area (you don’t need to have a horse to do so). Site 24 is right next to a new shower and bathroom house they added not too long ago. The facility is clean, and has four bathroom/hot shower combo stalls. There are more in the family campsite area. Hiking trails run through the area. The campground is far removed from civilization, so make sure you come prepared. The campground office sells ice, but that’s about it. Firewood is also available. Staff is very helpful and friendly, and they run tours on swamp buggy style OHVs out of the area as well.

Very remote with thousands of acres of nature surrounding you. The sky at night is spectacular. The astronomers love this park. There are no stores close by so make sure that you have all of your supplies. They only sell ice & firewood at the ranger station. It’s also a bit hot in the summer. It is also an equestrian park.

KPPSP is a small park about 40 miles north of Okeechobee, FL. It is located along the Kissimmee River and is home to several endangered species including the Grasshopper Sparrow. The camp ground is small but includes areas dedicated to horses and astronomers as well as us regular folks. The astronomers enjoy some of the darkest skies on the east coast and the events surrounding a full moon (providing we have clear skies) are awesome. The park also hosts a long section of the Florida National Scenic Trail, a top notch backpacking venue. Check out www.floridatrail.org for more information. The park also offers swamp buggy rides with knowledgeable rangers accompanying to introduce campers to the prairie habitat and it's inhabitants. Spend a week or two here to enjoy a part of Florida you never knew existed!

This is a fairly new campground. I took my nephew who loved riding his bike and seeing the deer just outside out window every morning. The site had electric, water and a dump station on the way out. There were deer and turkey every morning and afternoon. they also made sure there was no lights showing after a certain hour so you could see the beautiful stars without any interruption. There was a gentleman there who would even let you look through is giant telescope to see the planets!! A great time!!

very nice, small campground. one handicap site, but too small for an rv. washboard road for miles to get to the hammock, and it was in bad shape. had fun at campground, even tho it poured the entire weekend! We’ve been there three times already.

Different from other areas of Florida the Prairie area is open and vast. I found it quiet, and enjoyable place to be alone with my thoughts and hiking. I was met with groups of wild turkeys and other animals and enjoyed peaceful wondering. Great set up for this tent camper and would love to go back again.

This is a really neat and unexpected gem. This park and the nearby Lake Kissimmee State Park are worthy of a full few days to explore, but it is also a good stopover on the way south to avoid the tourist traps and theme parks. There are three options for staying here: basic RV-friendly camping, a horse camp, and a few backcountry backpacking sites. We just did the standard camping, which was very clean with large sites, though open without much privacy. Enjoy boardwalk trails or hire a swamp boat tour within the park, and surprisingly good stargazing (the local astronomy club has events periodically). Great natural beauty.

I've been there several times with my friend bringing our horses along as well. Camp hosts were very nice and helpful, the paddocks for the horses were well laid out and spacious. Full hookups were available as well. The trails were well marked, and very easy to ride. At night, the entire sky was visible and a retired astronomer was there with his telescope and gave everyone a look while explaining what planets and constellations we were looking at. The restrooms and public facilities were well maintained and the park was quiet in the evening. I have enjoyed it each time we have gone and plan on returning soon.