St Lucie South

I stopped here because I needed a place to sleep and the nearby campgrounds were full. I was pleased to find that St. Lucie South was not only a good place to spend the night, but an enjoyable experience in its own right. This is a COE campground built adjacent to a lock. The waterway is a canal that connects Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic. The campground isn't particularly large, but it is very nicely landscaped. Plenty of grass and tall trees.

I stayed in one of the three primitive tent sites. Each of these comes with a tree, a gravel tent pad, and a small picnic shelter. There is a water spigot nearby, and bathrooms with flushing toilets, hot and cold running water, and showers are located up the road a ways. These were fairly clean when I visited.

There were lots of interesting animals to observe here, including flying fish, big tree lizards, big frogs that hopped out of the canal and onto my tent at night, and something that I'm fairly certain was a gator but never got a good look at. Unfortunately, there was also a large mosquito population that made things not so fun after nightfall.

My neighbors here were also a bit distracting. They were a very loud family who appeared to be living at the tent site next to mine.

St. Lucie South is a small campground run by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Located just outside Stuart, FL. the site is located on the St. Lucie lock and dam.

The park is small with only 3 primitive tent sites and maybe 10 RV sites.

The tent sites all are on the St. Lucie canal and do not have water to the sites although, water is available from the tap just across the street.

The RV sites feature water and electric hookups but no site septic. The septic dump is located close to the bathhouse and trash dumpster.

The hosts keep the grounds and bathhouse spotless and noise after hours was never an issue for us. The location lends itself to Stuart, FL and any type of food choices you may want. The park is located close to Interstate 95 and the Florida Turnpike for easy access.

The tent sites are on the canal and watching the boats come in to use the lock is nice however, we were warned against paddle boarding the canal due to alligators. Swimming is not permitted. Out last morning at the site, we saw a 3-5 foot alligator trolling around just off our site.

We used the park as a stop off on our way to a week long camping trip to the Florida Keys, (a straight through drive would have been close to 13 hours for us). We stayed for 2 nights going down and 1 night coming home.

The staff at check-in was the best. I talk with several over my 5 day stay sharing ideas and stories. Very helpful. The spots are laid out perfect. Easy to backend. Concert pads, gravel fire pit and covered picnic tables. No bad views i was in 3 different sites during my stay. Grounds are kept clean, cut, trim and edged. Reception good on t.v. Antenna and dish satellite. No wifi on sites but free wifi at reception area. Great river views. 3 bars on T-mobile. Your right at the locks so watch the boats pass from the gulf to the Ocean. Horseshoe pits. Clean showerhouse. Tent camping is primitive m. All RV sites have water 30 and 50 amp service. Sites on river will hold 45’ class A. Close to shopping. All sites have 30/50 amp service and water. Sewer is not available. Dump station near exit on way out,  Because of the cleanest of the campground and the friendly staff I rate this a five. they make up for the only downfall of being allowed to dump once per week or there is a fee of $20.00.  there is no charge for a honey wagon dump.  I would assume the extra fee is to encourage water management since there has been issues with algae growth in the waterways. 

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