To begin with, Juniper Springs Rec Area, boasts not 1, not 2, but 3 individual campgrounds (Tropical, Sandpine and Fern Hammock Springs) to choose from. Recently having traveled here with a bunch of camping buddies, we were able to experience all 3 campgrounds, but for this review, I’ll focus on what I believe to be the best of the 3 campgrounds to choose from: Fern Hammock Spring Camp Area. This is the only of the 3 campgrounds where only tent camping is permitted, so if you’re looking to RV or trailer camp, then you’ll have to look at Tropical or Sandpine. And no, before you ask, not all of these campgrounds are created equal.
Here at Fern Hammock Springs, you are still within earshot of highway 40 (where all of the swooshing of passing by traffic comes from) and located the furthest east in the Juniper Springs campground area, but this is easily the most secluded of the 3 campgrounds. There are 18 campsites, with the least attractive sites being #61-63, #71-74 and #78 as they are connected to the main trail (and primary entrance road), which can be a bit busy with all of the hiker traffic and cars coming and going. If you have a good-sized group, I would recommend the end of the cul-de-sac here, which are sites #72-74, but hereto, the main trail passes right by these 3 sites and exits right in front of #74, which is completely oversized and can easily place 3-4 tents (although you are only supposed to have 2 tents per site – there were easily 4 when we hiked by) in this one site alone. To get away and be even more secluded, look at sites #64-70 that is made up of its own singular loop, but this area isn’t terribly private, although you will feel less like you are caught up in the ‘drive by’ hiking and driving traffic. The best area to choose from IMHO are sites #75-79, which are completely shrouded in privacy from the rest of this camp area. Our site, #78, was perfect as there is a tree line that creates privacy between its neighbor(#76), but has full open views with sites #77 and#79. Likely the very best site to book is site #75, which is completely shrouded in its very own blanket of shrubbery.
Being surrounded completely by either palms or mighty tall pines in the Ocala National Forest was absolutely wonderful and apart from just a few basic amenities: flat sandy floor campsite, fire ring w/ flip grill, standing grill, massive bear-proof safe boxes (honestly, the largest I have ever seen!) and lantern post / garbage hanger. The campground also provides a fairly nice (coin free) bathroom / shower facilities along with a single oversized kitchen sink for cleaning up dishes. There’s a community water spigot (no washing dishes here though) and a dilapidated shelter that is closed (again, due to ill repair) along with outdoor amphitheater seating and a small screen for viewing (all closed while we were there).
As for Juniper Springs itself, while most of the amazing natural springs scattered throughout central Florida are nothing short of fantastic attractions in their own right, I was quite disappointed to discover just how miniscule the natural springs were here at Juniper Springs Rec Area. The spring itself is really just an oversized pavilion pool with tons of seagrass apart from two very small outcrops beneath the crystal-clear water where you’ll see a bit of Sulphur bubbling to the surface. The nearby visitor center is brand-spanking-new, complete with a substantial outdoor seating and picnic area to utilize, and the spring pavilion itself is nice in that it offers up a few rows of concrete seating that surrounds the spring. Nevertheless, when compared to the many other springs in Florida, Juniper Springs is quite small and while nice with a recently refurbished old mill with a fully functioning water wheel that propels water downstream, I would easily recommend other more substantial springs like Rainbow and Wekiva Springs.
Further, while I normally bring my tandem kayak everywhere I go camping, we didn’t have the time or capacity to bring it this time – and we were in luck, because the canoe / kayak launch was closed. Additionally, there were numerous hiking pathways and boardwalks that were closed down having fallen apart due to lack of maintenance with no clear indicator that the State Park was working on fixing all of the amenities that are clearly falling in disrepair. On both fronts, I was quite bummed to discover so much of the park lacking proper access to enjoy the number of amenities that I thought my camping fee was paying for. The State Park should do a much better job of communicating what amenities are not available / closed and / or consider offering discounted fees to access their park or to camp.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) There are a ton of other springs in Florida to choose from that I would highly recommend (just check out my reviews for Rainbow and Wekiva Springs) as they offer MUCH more in the way of actual natural and man-made amenities;(2) Please note that you cannot bring inflatables here to Juniper Springs; (3) If you don’t really care about enjoying the springs or having any access to a proper river to kayak or fish in and are simply looking for a nice place to camp, then Juniper Springs wouldn’t necessarily be a bad decision as the campgrounds themselves here are so amazing; (4) If you do decide to come to Juniper Springs and want to camp in Fern Hammock, I highly recommend site #74 and #75 as well as, to a lesser degree, sites #65– 68; and (5) When you get tired of digging through your cooler to figure out what the next meal will be, I highly recommend a riverfront bar & grill called Drifters that is in nearby Astor and just a 20 minute drive due east from Juniper Springs – I recommend the deep fried shrimp, corned beef as well as the ice cold pints of Stella that they’re pouring.
Happy Camping!
