Larry & Penny Thompson Park

In southern Florida, campgrounds don’t usually come cheap, but we found Larry &amp; Penny’s to be a great value with close access (30 minutes) to Biscayne National Park.

At $17/night for a tent site, we got wifi, access to laundry, great showers, and a perfectly adequate site. We weren’t spending much time at the actual campground, so we didn’t mind that it wasn’t the most scenic place we’d seen during our year on the road. Larry &amp; Penny’s was a perfect place to crash!

Visiting Biscayne National Park was a bit more frustrating. We knew going in that they had not been running regular tours out to the keys, the heart of the park, because of issues with switching to a new concessioner. We thought that our 10 days in southern Florida (visiting Biscayne and Everglades) would be plenty of time for us to figure out a way to get to the keys, but a private charter from Miami wasn’t worth it to us, so we disappointedly stuck to the mainland park.

Since we had our own kayak, we were able to skirt the shore and paddle through some of the mangrove forests in Biscayne. This was the highlight of our two short days at Biscayne, since the only other activity we could do was explore the visitor center and walk the very short boardwalk trail.

We’ll be back, Biscayne!

You can read much more about our two days in the park on our blog: [Switchback Kids (Biscayne)](http://switchbackkids.com/biscayne/)

Good amenities and close access to Biscayne National Park

I'm a tent camper and loved this area. Overall great value with a swimming pool and washer/dryers. Grounds mostly quiet with expected weekenders. Miami Zoo and groceries nearby and great location. Tent sites in open field setup with trees.

Amenities and near Miami

This campsite is a great central base camp for those visiting Biscayne NP/ Everglades NP and Miami. Clean and safe, with spots for both rv’s and tents. Bathrooms/showers/laundry facilities on site are well maintained.

Wish the website was clearer on length of stay - 30 days for RVs and 7 days for tent campers. After 7 days, you have to leave and can’t return for 30 days 😟. They do provide a list of other local campgrounds you can move to, though.

Near a major street, so it can get noisy - and on weekends you can hear the music from a local bar.

Great central location, clean and safe

We camped here for 6 nights as a home base while fishing the area. I would say 17 bucks a night is a little pricey for a tent site but not outrageous. The tent sites were well shaded. Bathrooms were clean and staff was friendly. Water access could have been better. Wifi would have been nice but is it really camping at that point. Fishing was good in the pond nearby. Beware of the feral cats and raccoons though. We spent an entire night fending them off with a slingshot and they didn’t bother us again.

Average

Fairly dispersed camping lots of grass, big park, gates locked at 8pm. Lots of trees scattered but ok shade.

Most Amenities closed due to COVID.
Lots of construction around the park, mostly away from sites.

No WiFi due to construction whilst we were there.

Verizon data slow even with booster.

Close to Everglades and Route 1.

Site pretty level good hookups.

Good staging location for Everglades, Key West

Very good rv camp ground. Easy access, good security, pretty surroundings. But pool it’s close. 


Clean, Organized and secure 

Good value, good location. Nice facility everything you need except Wifi

Nice Campground

This is a very nice campground which is part of the Miami-Dade County park system.  It is close to the Encore Everglades park (about 4 miles) so we stayed here after we departed.  The campground is divided into pods and each pod has about 15 or so sites.  We were in pod 4 site 20 (420 lol).  We booked this camp with the intent to stay for a month or longer as my husband had an opportunity to Captain boats in Miami.  

  

The park was very quiet.  Most of the campers were retirees, a few families with kids, but we were there in early January.  The grounds are nicely maintained with lots of places to walk and open space with trees.  They don't allow dogs off-leash and although it is adjacent to the rest of the Larry &amp; Penny park, dogs are not even allowed in the main park, at all.  We did however find a few dog parks within four miles or so which were nice.

  

They have a very nice pool which was open daily Wed- Sunday 11am - 5pm.  It was raining and rather dreary during our stay so we didn't use the pool.  They have a nice Clubhouse and it looked okay with tables, chairs, books, puzzles, but again very quiet.  Not many activities except for a few and we didn't stay long enough to participate.  After a week, we decided to make moves back home to Lake Tahoe.  It was unseasonably cold, raining so no boat work and not an ideal spot for the dogs.  They don't have WiFi and since we were planning a longer stay, purchased the Starlink system since I work remote during the winter.  Starlink worked great, but costs $500+ to get started and then $120 or so a month.  If you are looking for an affordable long term/monthly stay, it is great.  The rates were $850 a month for full hook-ups.  They had last minute space available, too.  

  

If you are in the area, check out the Miami Zoo.  We were there when they had the "Zoo Lights" a super fun evening event.  They have other events at the Zoo and lots to do nearby.  You are closer to town than Everglades Encore, but still close to the agricultural area.  I recommend but not as fun or as many activities as some other places.