Campground Review:

Description

Cypress Glen Campground is part of the Silver Lake Recreation Complex and is located within the Croom Tractof Withlacoochee State Forest (Hernando County), and a short 5-mile drive from I-75. On the shore of Silver Lake, which is part of the Withlacoochee River system. The Withlacoochee River, Little Withlacoochee River, and Jumper Creek have all been designated as Outstanding Florida Waters, and each meanders through this forest which spans across 5 counties and exceeds 165,000 acres. There are some great biking paths and trails between the campgrounds which give you a wonderful experience of the wilderness region through the open pine sand hills, dense woodlands, and canopied roads and trails and complementing the natural water features. Some of the tree species found on the forest include slash pine, longleaf pine, pond and bald cypress, maple, southern magnolia, hickory, and various species of oak. These natural features create excellent habitat for bald eagles, fox squirrels, gopher tortoise, white-tail deer, and turkeys. For additional information about Withlacoochee State Forest, pleaseClick Here

This is a RV-tent camping site with all sites being a reasonable walking distance from the facilities in the center. Drive around to find the site you like. Due to state budget cutbacks, the gatehouse is closed (so it's all self checkin and honor system). They request payment within 30 minutes of your “selection”. With the increase of the price because of the ability to book online it used to be $15-20 dollars, but now that you can reserve on line they’ve upped the rates to $25, which seems a bit much to me…

Payment is on the honor system, bring cash or check because that actually saves you money versus the tax and fees for using the online reservation portal. The gates are locked at night, but the camp host can give you a pass code.

Facilities:

There is 1 bathhouse at Cypress Glen. The toilet facilities in the loop were clean, but could have used a good once over. They seemed to have been maintained, just not super regularly and thankfully no guests had come in and destroyed them. This time there was no hand soap, hand dryers, or paper towels available and it looks like they permanently removed the paper towel holder that used to be there during my last stay.

For you folks in an RV, there is a dump station located in Silver Lake Campground. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring with grate and/or a grill. Cypress Glen contains 34 sites (#24-57)

Access to boat ramp and hiking trails including the Withlacoochee State Trail. Access to the lake for fishing, canoeing/kayaking from campground.

This is a great place to camp and lots of fun trails and exploring! River is easy to access and there are lots of areas to hang and picnic!

A rails to trails walking/bike path runs nearby. The biggest drawback is that it's located almost underneath I-75, so you do hear highway sounds all the time. It's not bad, but while it looks like nature surrounding you sometimes it definitely doesn't sound like it.

Facility

Bathhouse, Boating, Kayaking, Campground Host, Fire Rings, Fishing, Grills, Hiking Trail Kiosk, Parking, Picnic Tables, Restrooms, Showers, Potable Water Drinking, Pets Allowed.

Gear Review: As a Ranger for The Dyrt I sometimes get the opportunity to test out products and the highlight of my weekend at Cypress Glen Campground was playing around with the E.TUNES. “Where there is Sun, there is endless fun!” Renogy’s E.TUNES is a solar bluetooth speaker designed with portability and listening in mind. You’re able to stream your music seamlessly anywhere via Bluetooth or connect your phone to the E.TUNES by using the provided AUX cord. Weighing in at less than two pounds, this compact, splash proof speaker can be easily carried by the included strap or carried in your backpack. With a dynamic frequency range, an enhanced bass, and 10 hours of playtime, your ears are in for a treat with this powerful sound system. The E.TUNES also comes equipped with a built-in solar panel for charging convenience and a side light with SOS mode in case of emergencies. The E.TUNES also doubles as a 5000mah Li-ion power bank to charge your phone.

Pros:

• Layout of all of the options and the features themselves all easy to navigate.
• The sound quality is great, it amplifies loud, clear, and crisp. Even at the loudest volume, the sound is great.
• Seems like it’s well construction. Although I thankfully haven't dropped yet to know one way or the other.
• The battery lasts surprisingly long. We kept it going at medium volume for about 5-6 hours with battery to spare for the next day to play more podcasts.
• I love that it’s water resistant but haven’t left it out in a rainstorm to truly test it (and hopefully won’t).
• The flashlight on it is also super bright.

Cons:

• For backpacking it’s pretty large and not as mobile friendly as I’d thought.
• The strap is a cool, although, as you can see in my video one of the snap rivets that doesn't grab right and just comes off with virtually any weight on it.
• Only seems to seat well on its feet on very flat surfaces. The base speakers are located on the backside where you’d expect to lay it on a table and the grooves are large on that backside allowing dirt or sand in it.
• If you want to charge other devices (i.e. phone) don’t expect too much. It will drain the battery quickly to fully charge your phone.

Sorry folks, but I haven't sat there and watched it in order to tell how long it takes for the internal battery to charge on the integrated panel, but the indicator show that its doing its thing, flashing and lighting up more or less of them as it’s charging or being used. Having the charging input is neat although the battery pack isn’t sufficient for having a phone charging and the speaker going together for a very long time. If you personally have the option and can link to the alternative input with an addition solar charger panel that would definitely assist. (It worked for me!)

Overall, I like this speaker because the sound quality is good, and it does what it says so far. I like that unlike some of my other Bluetooth outdoor speakers I don’t need to bring an extra battery pack just to charge it, thus making it perfect for a basecamp or pullup campground.

One last thought, it wanted to let you know how to access the volume up/down options on the speaker. They are actually the "Next" and "Previous" buttons. These buttons serve double duty as the volume buttons, you just need to hold them down for another second to switch over to volume and you can then have full control of your speaker while storing your phone away.

I give Renogy’s E.TUNES 4.5/5 stars.