Best Campgrounds near Bartow, FL

This Love’s RV Hook-up located off I4 just NW of Lakeland in the drive-by town of Auburndale is open 24 hours and has a number of dedicated slots for your overnight parking pleasure and if you are driving on 18 wheels and hauling freight, there’s a massive open parking area in the rear of the store just for you. In addition to providing about a dozen or so dedicated RV and 5th Wheeler slots with FHUs, there’s full fueling capacity in front of the store for cars and trucks as well as a much larger and taller fueling station along with CAT Scales in the rear for big rigs and RVs.

This pit stop has the typical roadside marketplace as well as an Arby’s embedded within the store along with a designated private shower area along with his / her restrooms that were just in marginal condition when we stopped by. There’s both a propane tank exchange as well as bulk propane for sale, RV dump service, WiFi, video gaming, Bulk DEF for sale and ATM onsite as well as a small doggie park in addition to offering laundry facilities. Should your RV need it, there’s a tire service here along with commercial truck oil change offering. As this spot is located right next to a very busy I4 heading out of Orlando towards Tampa, there’s a ton of traffic and the overnight parking for RVs is the closest to the highway, so filter in earbuds as a requirement if staying here.

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:

Convenience: 5 

Safety & Security: 3 

Quality: 2 

Peace & Quiet: 1 

Amenities: 2 

Overall, I scored this location a 3.

Happy Overnighting!

My experience was great with my pup! Primitive sites were $20 a night at time of writing.

We stayed in a primitive site(p14) with water. I was excited to discover all these primitive wites with water are right on the lake.

There’s no alcohol allowed which is a double edged sword, but I welcomed this rule as there always seems to be groups partying at public campsites. Not here.

Bathrooms are typical campsite bathroom. They have showers too for campers.

It’s a dirt road campsite, but they have water trucks that spray a few times a day to keep the dust down. So thankful for that!

RV pull sites and promote. campsites are far enough away from each other.

Nearest major grocery store is wal-mart about 15 minutes away.

Only iffy thing I’d call out is how tight the primitive campsites are to each other. It was dead when I came, but had my neighboring sites been occupied, I wouldn’t have enjoyed my time as much.

Let’s start by saying we were excited the first year we went to this campground back in 2021. It was our first experience at being a snowbird and we had a great time. However as each year passed and our fourth year came to an end for our 6/6 agreement the campground had lost its identity and an under current could be felt which lead to our reduced enjoyment, pleasure and clicks were a major part. As the park lost their good snowbirds they were replaced with a whole different type of person. The rec hall where many events are held turned from a discreet drinking scene to a drunk festival as every event was replaced with 40 oz bottles, moonshine, Jell-O shots and pudding shots leading to a quick deterioration. Watching a married women basically sitting on men laps feeding them shots was the new norm. During our last event a hillbilly theme party one person thought it would be cool to drop his pants three times and no one said anything even with management there. Frankly yes he had a bathing suit but seriously show some class it’s a family park not an adult club. The same person danced with a women who basically lost her pants to her ankles, It’s a shame a respectful park became this and most left events by 7 or 8 pm due to situations. In addition it you like the pool for swimming good luck the volleyball people called Bullyball by some young children took over the pool’s shallow end even when it was not scheduled they pushed their way into the pool setting up their net. This went on for a few years and resulted in several awkward moments at the pool in which management did nothing they allowed it to continue however this year was absolutely out of control. This caused many campers to leave the park as the pool kept being overrun during the prime time 3 pm even if it was not scheduled. By end March push back began and people intentionally loaded up the pool blocking the volleyball players when they tried to start a game during non scheduled times. The Landry areas are a joke they raised the price despite many machines not operating correctly including frying your clothes, not rinsing soap, no cold water only hot water. The washrooms in general are in a desperate need for a full gut and renovation. They are often dirty and not presentable for use. All the pictures you see are a far cry from the true reality and the condition of park today there are old outdated photos. Most of the grass is dead or killed off, most pads are all broken up this includes both the pad and patios. The dumpsters are constantly overflowing as 2 is not enough for the amount of lots, in addition there are rules however these rules are not enforced or for all. This includes drinking and driving golf carts there is even 1 golf cart that is literally a mobile bar. Evidently pot and medicinal pot smokers are a criteria at this campground as no matter where you are If you enjoy the smell of pot it is a multiple daily event this has degraded yearly. It is a shame that this park in a wonderful location has raised it rates$1500.00 per season over our time yet needs serious work. It appears that there is little direction by Management to lead its employees and organize a schedule of maintenance as well as impose the rules.