Kilpatrick Hammock Campground, near Okeechobee, Florida, is a fantastic spot for those who love nature and stargazing. With clean facilities and friendly staff, it’s a place where you can truly unwind and soak in the beauty of the outdoors.

The campground is known for its excellent hiking trails that wind through open prairie landscapes, making it a great place to spot wildlife like deer and wild turkeys. Visitors rave about the dark skies at night, perfect for stargazing; one camper even mentioned, “You can see them all!” So, if you’re into astronomy, don’t forget your telescope.

Amenities include clean bathrooms with hot showers and electric hookups for RVs, ensuring a comfortable stay. Some campers have noted that the sites can be a bit snug, but the peaceful atmosphere and stunning surroundings more than make up for it. Plus, the lack of light pollution means you’ll get a spectacular view of the Milky Way on clear nights.

Kilpatrick Hammock is also a great base for exploring the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, where you can enjoy more hiking and wildlife watching. Whether you’re tent camping or bringing an RV, this campground offers a serene escape into nature that you won’t want to miss.

Kilpatrick Hammock Campground — Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Kenansville. Kenansville is filled with the activities, sights, and experiences to make everyone in your crew a happy camper. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Florida camping adventure.

Kenansville

The Best Camping Near Kenansville, Florida

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.

Kissimmee Prairie

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. 


Exceptional flora and fauna 

 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. 

Interior Florida open landscapes

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.  

quiet


This campground is about 45 minutes from the main highway. When they say in the middle of no where, they aren’t kidding. There are no gas stations, restaurants or any kind of industrial feel around here. There is a market on the way in for snacks, beer, and ice but it’s still about 15 minutes from the campground so be prepared out there. Also I’d suggest bug spray to deter ticks, fleas and mosquitoes there are plenty depending on the time of year you go. There are walking trails located in the state park all over, even a couple that start at the back of the campground. Beware of wildlife in the area we saw an alligator on the way to the bathroom from the primitive site, also panthers are indigenous to this area;perfect hunting grounds for them in the tall grass and plenty of deer nearby. If you’re looking for a wilderness experience in the middle of no where, this is it. At night they have an area for you to star gaze you can camp there or walk/ drive over. You see every star due to the fact your so seculeded the only lights come from other campers nearby and the bathhouse. The bathhouses are some of the best I’ve seen very clean and regularly maintained. There is a camp host on the grounds, he was very helpful and even dropped ice off to our site. They also offer electric sites or rv sites. They also have an area to allow your horses to run, trails and stay at night if you bring them. Also if you’re looking for something adventurous there is Fort Drum Crystal Mine where you can dig for Calcite Clam shells that are over 400 million years ago.

Loved This Campground!!!

If you love camping, wildlife, and stargazing but still want the convenience of amenities (i.e electricity, running water, bathroom, shower) then this is the place for you.

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park is part of IDA International Dark-Sky Places. The park has little light pollution and also a stargazing pad where you can also camp on.

The campgrounds aren't large but the campsites are good for tents and RVs. The one site we stayed at had water and electric hook-ups and a firepit. We were close to very clean restroom area that also had showers, washer and dryer. They do have primitive campsites for the more rustic individuals. The campgrounds are about 45 minutes from town, but the ranger station sells ice for $2.50 and firewood purchase is by honor system. We also saw other campers with their dogs so pet-friendly as well.

Lots of hiking trails and so much wildlife. We saw deer grazing near our campsite!

Make sure to bring lots of mosquito repellent, especially in the summer months. Otherwise you'll get bit...a lot! But it is Florida after all.

Awesome stargazing and wildlife

We first stumbled upon Kissimmee Prairie because we wanted to camp someplace where we could see really stunning stars at night and boy were we surprised. Having been here multiple times since, we are never disappointed with the starry views. We stayed in the equestrian campgrounds twice. The equestrian sites have hook ups similar to the regular campground sites and there is also primitive camping as well as sites for astronomy. There are miles of trails going through the beautiful prairie landscapes and we saw a lot of wildlife as well. We've seen wild turkeys, deer, and even heard wild boars at night going through the campground. The equestrian sites are shaded by large lovely trees. There are no showers here but you can drive over to the regular campsites and use their shower. There is only a composting toilet. Each site has hookups and a fire ring and picnic table.

Please note that this campground is very far from the closest stores. You can buy firewood from the camp office but it is definitely worth the drive.

Certified Dark Sky viewing and lots of beautiful trails & wildlife

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!!


Deep in the woods

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](http://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!

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, the Florida prairie at its best!

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 &amp; firewood at the ranger station. It’s also a bit hot in the summer. It is also an equestrian park.

This is a very remote but beautiful park

Expect a long travel to this remote site.   It’s a couple miles of reasonably decent dirt roads to get there, after several miles of remote highways. The only designated dark sky site in Florida.   It does not disappoint for night sky viewing.   If you’re camping here, please be courteous and keep your outdoor lights to a minimum.  The night sky’s are just breathtaking.   Check www.spotthestation.nasa.gov to see if you’ll get a glimpse of the space station while your there.   Hiking/biking trails are plentiful.   Be aware that there’s a LOT of loose sand.   So even on a mountain bike you’ll have to walk now and then.   Great birding.  Crested cara cara are frequent as are flocks of turkey strolling through the campsites.   Be sure to head out the road you came in back to the first turn and take the trail to the left (as you’re leaving).   There’s a gator hole just 1/4 mile down the trail.  Nature trail is a nice hammock view.  No pets on that particular trail.   

There are 2 camp loops only the first camp loop has a bath house, which is very nice.   The equestrian camp has porta potties.  Many of those folks drive over to the bathhouse.  Even the bathhouse has outdoor red lights.

Long way from nowhere

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.

Great place in the middle of nowhere

The Florida Trail is a foot trail that carries hikers and backpackers from Big Cypress to Gulf Shores near Pensacola Florida. It is built and maintained by volunteers in 19 chapters across the state and supported by public and private partners throughout the state. Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP hosts the trail for over twenty miles in Okeechobee County, Fl. The Tropical Trekkers Chapter of the Florida Trail Association maintains close to 80 miles of the trail in Okeechobee County including the portion of the trail that transverses KPPSP. Once a year (usually in November) the park becomes our host as 50 or more FTA members gather for an annual work week to get our section of the trail in shape for the winter Florida hiking season. We reserve six to ten campsites for the week and the park provides additional overflow sites as needed. Not all our volunteers are there for the entire week nor do they all camp at the park but those that do are treated to great facilities (clean bath house and campsites), friendly park staff who share their knowledge of the park and the prairie and frequently provide tours of the park in their awesome swamp buggies, great views of Florida's darkest skies, prairie vistas and the wildlife (typically deer, racoons and wild turkeys) who frequent the campground. I hope the park staff knows how much the FTA and all our volunteers appreciate the work they do to preserve the prairie and promote the Florida Trail and the hiking public. Thank you!!!

Florida Trail and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP Partnership

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. 

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

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.

Amazing star gazing. Just follow the Florida scenic Trail and you’ll find the most beautiful campsite with a romantic view of the stars.

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.

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve

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. 

Nice site 

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.

My favorite campground 

All around a great location to get away and explore. This is one of the most comfortable and well-kept campgrounds I've found in FL. The staff and volunteers were very attentive and accommodating. The other campers were friendly and enthusiastic. We tent camped in the Equestrian loop, and the sites were decently spaced with plenty of room for our two tents, two cars, and 8 campers to spread out without bothering the neighbors. There are no stores or restaurants nearby, so pack well. These sites have water, electric, grill, and a table. Firewood is available for $7 cash per bundle (honor system). The dumpster is by the firewood. You can buy ice from the rangers for $2.50 during business hours. Showers are hot. Bathrooms are spacious. 

I should probably mention that I'm camping spoiled. I traveled for a year or so around the country tent camping, and lived in Colorado for 10 years camping at least once a month out west. I'm from Florida, and I really didn't think there was much worth seeing here, so I stopped looking. It turns out I was wrong. 

The air was so clean that we felt like we were on oxygen! The night sky was absolutely breathtaking, but catching dawn and dusk over the landscape is really nice too. The trails were well maintained and clearly planned to create a unique experience, while being just challenging enough to feel like a real adventure. 

The animals just weren't afraid of humans. Our 6 teenagers were so excited to stand face-to-face, only a few feet from gentle deer, bunnies, and turkeys. We even saw some lazy baby alligators sunning on the Military Trail.

The Prairie Loop Trail took much longer than we anticipated, and the wind pushing us back was insane, but it was gorgeous and we had a lot of fun. I'll just plan better for that next time. And, the whole family agrees there will be a next time, soon!

If you are looking for a place in FL where you really feel "out in it", away from absolutely everything, while still having what you need to be comfortable, this is it. 

Incredible for FL Camping

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!

Peaceful

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. 

Amazing!

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. 


Simple and well maintained 

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.  

Love This Park

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 

Dark park right here in FL

We had a wonderful time staying on our site specifically - there is a line of palms &amp; 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, relaxing, and clean!

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 

All the way to the Milky Way 

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.

Amazing weekend

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. 

Beautiful

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.

Photos of Kilpatrick Hammock Campground — Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park

Real photos from real campers