Best Tent Camping near Apalachicola National Forest

Lovely area, bring snorkels, kayaks, and bikes. Lots of wildlife. Really neat shorelines with sand and very tall trees, driftwood, dunes. Make sure to explore both sides of the peninsula. About 1.5 hours from Apalachicola National Forest, lots more to do in the area. Watch the sunset! Camp sites have nice privacy, some areas are wooded for shade. Some of my group stayed in the cabins and they were also nice (though sparcely stocked, call to know exactly what to expect). Very clean, great services as described.

If you’re tent camping, sites B64 and B65 are a bit isolated in their own area and right on the water. Not much shade (though 65 next door does have a tree) so better for the cooler months, but you can fish or kayak right from your spot! Tent sites are on $14/night, and usually have good availability, so a great deal.

I love this place. It’s located in a unmolested part of Florida. Clean bathrooms and friendly staff. We tent camped and had 3 tents on one spot without feeling cramped.

Very family friendly.

Staying 3 nights, very secluded lots of trails if you like hiking. Very nice people. I’m tent camping so probably a little different for RV’s

10 campsites all fairly spacious (too big for just me as I am solo tent camping). CG overlooks a small lake. Nice open day use waterfront area. Swimming area as well. The lake has a hiking trail encircling it. Showers had hot water, I was surprised. 2 mi dirt road to get to it. I recommend.

St Joseph Peninsula State Park on Cape San Blas is a great spot. We tent camped for 4 days and loved it! Bathhouse is air conditioned, sites are large and most have ample shade. Easy walk to the beach and the bay is also close for paddling and fishing! Wonderful very secluded beach and shells galore!

No complaints about this site; plenty of campsites to pick from even with about 6 other campers; space to spread out from others. Good for primitive tent camping. Had a fire pit with grill and picnic table. Right on the lake with pier access and boat ramp- pretty cool spot. Only lost a star because of previous campers leaving some trash behind.

4 stars for no water or electric hookups.. Also I don't do spiders and they are all over the place here.. And HUUUUGEEE at that. Fishing dock is nice and you can see lots of gators. I don't recommend swimming in the water, its pretty murky. Nice and shady spots and you can reserve ahead of time. Typically empty. We stayed a whole week and afew people came in and out to fish and tent camp. Stayed to ourselves.

I made the trip over from Panama City at the relative last minute for a quick night in the Apalachicola National Forest. Seeing that Wright Lake opened up recently, and with the majority of sites listed as First Come First Served, I figured I would make the drive and check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that only six sites were occupied and found myself Site 14 along the perimeter of the campground. Distance between the sites was pretty decent with at least some demarcation between each with vegetation. In the inner camp sites surrounding the bath house there however isn't anything that really breaks up one campsite to another. That being said, with most of the campground being empty, everyone had plenty of space. Things look a little refreshed with the grills and fire rings almost looking new, however some sites were missing grill plates for the fire ring. The lake itself isn't very big and there's an easy .25 mi trail that circles around it.

This camp ground was fantastic for our church group. They had electricity and water by the tent sites and also a shower facility that was very well kept. The water is a very short walk and the beach is beautiful. At night the stars are like nothing you have ever seen. A blanket above you for sure. The only downfall is that we could not have our hammocks hanging up. This was a few years ago and may have changed.

This is a pretty nice campground. It is flat and sandy, with lots of palms and shrubbery dividing most spaces. We tent camped, but there were hammock posts at our site, as well as the usual fire ring and picnic table, and a water spigot. Our site was very roomy. There are tons of sand squirrels here--as soon as we got in, we took to the bath house (nice); when we came back our neighbors had weighted down our food totes as those (really cute, white) squirrels (read: jerks) had already tried to get into our food. I appreciated that the tent camping sites were clumped together so there wasn't an RV right on top of us.

The campground is right next to the river, which is part of the Ochlockonee River Paddling Trail (the lower part, map 5 I think). There is a very flat walking/biking trail with historical facts posted periodically, which goes around the small park, a swimming area in the river, a playground. Nearby there is another walking trail, for birding. There are no real strenuous activities here, I would say. There is a lot of neat flora and fauna (white deer!). There is also less neat fauna--horse flies. They bite and it hurts like heck. Cover up, with clothing or spray. No sitings of those big reptiles with teeth and dino tails.

Sopchoppy is the nearest town. There isn't a lot to do here, it's pretty remote. There is at least one fish shack. Head into Apalachicola for oysters, craft beer, beaches, etc.

The RV and Campground is small with eight covered spaces and room for some limited tent camping. Four of the covered spaces are right on the bank of the river with fishing available as well as a boat ramp for smaller watercraft. The space is shared by several full-time residents but it’s not overly busy or noisy. Management is very friendly and accommodating, but the restroom and shower facility leaves a bit to be desired. Also part of the facility is subject to partial flooding during some parts of the year. A fairly busy road is within hearing distance but not a problem as I slept well. I stayed two nights.

At over 200,000 acres, Tate's Hell is the second largest State Forest in Florida, second only to Blackwater River State Forest in Santa Rose County. That's Hell is located off of U>S> Highway 98 in  Franklin County, between the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee rivers. Check out The Ledgend of Tate's Hell on the State Forest webpage, https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Tate-s-Hell-State-Forest.

For roughing it in the woods, nothing I have found beats Tate's Hell. With 36 primitive campgrounds (tent space, fire ring, and picnic table) with multiple campsites and 4 campgrounds with facilities (restrooms and some RV sites) there is plenty of room to camp and explore Tate's Hell.

The Womack Creek campground, where I spent one night, has both RV and tent campsites and a boat ramp with access to Womack Creek. 

Recreation opportunities include the High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail which is part of the Forest Service's Trailwalker Program.

Small, well maintained park and sites, with 30/50 amp and water hook ups. A pleasant surprise when we arrived, after miles of rural driving! GPS took us the correct way, but seemed we were lost! Staff greeted us at entrance, gave us a map and explained how to get to our site. It was raining, and our site was back-in and downhill, mostly level with gravel, a picnic table, has a fire-ring with grill grate. Bathhouse is clean and impressed how the trash area and dump station were placed away from campers. The dock/pier, and boat ramp, are at the back part of the campground, The amenities are nice and there is outdoor cleaning sink behind the bathhouse, sitting area overlooking the river, the fish cleaning station, fire pit area, trails, and canoe/kayak drying area. 3 concrete sites, as well as tent sites. Lots of spacing between most of the sites, some are waterfront. Wildlife is plentiful and the trails are a great way to enjoy it all! We will come back! And it’s only $20 a night!

These sites are really for RVs of every size and are truly all about the lake. Either for fishing or for a nice relaxing evening enjoying the sunsets. There are 3 loops with both restroom/shower/laundry facilities on the B loop and for some reason, it seemed that everyone really wanted to drive from the other loops to the facilities in the back which had knobs for the showers instead of short timed buttons. There are unfortunately only 2 dedicated tent sites which are off to the side a nice distance from the RV loops, but it's right by the boat ramp which also has a nice bright streetlamp so be prepared for people coming and going early and/or arriving late in the evening along with the ever present light. We camping in our tent at site 59 which is one of the few sites which has a nice stretch of open grass and tree coverage along with the either leveled concrete pad or gravel "driveway" surfaces at the sites. Each site had a nice grill, fire ring, picnic table, prep table and lantern/bag hook. We thankfully had the trees to partially obscure the streetlamp, but thankfully had brought eyemasks... If you're afraid of animals sneaking up on your tent at night, then this campground is definitely for you, as with all the extremely bright lights on all night long you won't have to worry about anything bothering you in the slightest... Overall, the camp host and the staff were incredibly nice and went out of their way to make sure we were in a nice spot for using our tent. Although there are some better sites on loops A and C because they are right on the water people tend to book those out for weekends way in advance.

This place is great! A beach within a short walk, palm trees,clean bathrooms, wildlife, sunsets………… And the Florida State Parks system is contactable and friendly!!! There are hike in spots for those with tents who want to. There are very nice screened in cabins available.

Let me say first that St. George Island State Park is perhaps the main reason we purchased our small travel trailer in the first place and found groups like The Dyrt for insight for other places to explore. We visited St. George Island in May on Florida’s“Forgotten Coast” but the State Park on the island really stole the show. 

The first thing you’ll notice about both the island and in particular the State Park is how remote it is. The beaches are seemingly empty even during busy seasons. It has one of the most beautiful beaches in the entire state of Florida and as Floridian’s we are pretty particular. The beach is lined with beautiful sand dunes from one end to the other. The island is narrow with a single road maybe 5 miles long. The road was closed after the camp ground as they are still repairing the park from the last hurricane that hammered The Panhandle area of Florida. Not sure what's taking so long as State Park HQ is in Tallahassee only an hour or so away. 

The park has one camp ground and sites are very hard to come by. One visit and you’ll see why. Facilities are very well maintained with a friendly staff which is true for most Florida State Parks. There was a good mix of people camping in tents, small trailers and big rigs which is nice as many places in Florida are dominated by people who camp with everything they own and have rigs bigger than our house. 

You bring your own fun here so just chill on the beach. If you have kayaks or paddle boards bring em. If you have bikes, those would be good too. Fishing(check). You could probably catch dinner as there is little pressure on these waters. There is some hiking but just walking on the beach is great. Nice flat beach at low tide with hard packed sand from the outgoing tide will make it a great walk. 

Be sure to visit Apalachicola across the bay. A really good place to eat is the Owl Cafe and if you can get there for a Sunday Brunch, all the better. Very local, very southern, very authentic. 

We will be back for sure whenever we can secure a camping spot that fits our schedule. Hope it won't be too long!

I arrived after lunchtime and set up my tent. There were two tent spaces all the way at the other end from the RVs on the water. They were large had picnic table, grills and fire rings. The bathrooms were a nice little walk and the water and the showers were hot. Nice place to break in my new tent. Oh I took her through a heck of a wind and rain storm. On my found it said the winds were over 60 miles an hour. But my Core tent held up fine.

Very nice and clean. Tent area has about 6 sites in a circle around a covered area giving each site shade, shelf, a light, electric and water. Sites have picnic table and fire ring. 6 private shower stalls, clean bathrooms, a clean pool, small playground and store. We have stayed here a few times in the tent area but they also have Rv sites and cabins.