Best RV Parks & Resorts near Bartow, FL

I have to admit, when I first discovered Mill Creek RV Resort on our smartphone’s GPS, I had nothing but low expectations and when navigating to get to this seemingly RV road stand, all of the traffic and commercial real estate surrounding this place was just begging me to turn around and hightail it out of here. That was, until we decided to check out this RV parking spot. And we were somewhat pleasantly surprised by what we found. While easily not a destination, if your aim is to simply find comfortable, affordable and safe accommodations to roll up your mobile living room for the night, then (especially for the price), you won’t be disappointed. 

To begin with, the community and neighbors you will meet are incredibly welcoming and the owners / management couldn’t be more hospitable. This place on the one hand has a small neighborhood feel (because it is partly carved out of a residential area) and on the other, feels like a semi-decent nature preserve where RV’s aren’t jam packed next to one another. Sure, it’s tight in a few places, but all-in-all, one feels safe and secure here and offered a number of pretty great and new amenities. And if you don’t have an RV, no worries, the good folks at Mill Creek RV Resort will rent you one of their newly built park models. 

Mill Creek RV Resort offers a number of amenities, including: complete RV hook-ups (20 / 30 / 50 electric amp, water and sewage lines) with pull-through and back-in flat concrete slab sites, picnic tables, heated in-ground pool complete with lounge chairs and umbrellas, recreation hall with ping pong tables, coin-operated laundry facilities, very clean restroom and shower facilities, kid’s playground w/ slide, doggie park (one for small and another for large), mail center, cable TV access, free WiFi access (near the office only though) as well as indoor and outdoor games (e.g. horse shoes, shuffle board, corn hole), propane refill station, LP gas, cable TV access and even sheds for extra storage. 

Insider’s tips? Here’s a handful: (1) This location puts you within short driving distance to Walt Disney World, Universal, Seaworld and a bunch of other family-friendly entertainment options; (2) When you get tired of paying for overpriced amusement park food or can’t muster enough strength to plan your next meal from the confines of what might be available in your RV fridge, then venture out to one of these nearby eateries: Coqui Snacks, Sol de Borinquen Bakery Restaurant & Deli or Dolce Bakery and Café; and (3) If you brought a kayak or canoe, I highly recommend launching in nearby Kissimmee Lakefront Park, where if you go to the far eastern side, you can cast a line and catch some pretty good fish. 

Happy Camping!

The Orlando RV Resort(Thousand Trails) has over 1000 sites thanks to their newest section opening November 2020. To make reservations call 800-388-7788(TT members) or 888-481-6348(Non-members). This resort is impeccable with newly updated bath houses, laundry facilities, 2 pools, playground, camp store, mail room, pickle ball and tennis courts, new basketball court and dock to launch kayaks, boats or fish from. The resort sits off the main road far enough that it’s peaceful during the day and quiet at night. It’s only 30 minutes from most of the Orlando theme parks and shopping/restaurants are within 5-10 minutes. This park is fun to bike through and chat with neighbors, everyone we encountered was friendly. The older sites could use some resurfacing (as seen in photo).

You can get a RV site through Westgate which is more of a field or through River Ranch RV Resort which has full hook-ups. We stayed on a waterfront site at River Ranch RV Resort and it was perfect! We were able to fish right off the dock at our site, there was a fit pit and grill, as well as seating outside (each site could be configured differently). At Westgate River Ranch (walking distance from our site but still got a golf cart) we went to the rodeo on Saturday night, did a swamp buggy ride, skeet shooting, petting zoo and rode a mechanical bull... and there was still more we could have done but ran out of time since we still wanted to relax some 🙃 If you're looking for a great site with tons of activities available River Ranch RV Resort is the place for you!

The stars just reflect that this is an older campground near a busy road serving a larger city. It does this job well. (If you are an encore member-it is part of that group.)

This is campground provides a good location to downtown Wintergarden with its charming downtown with cute shops and restaurants.

Our favorite activity is biking to the trail head for the West Orange rails to trail which is located downtown @ 3 miles from campground. This rail to trail is 22 miles long and can be extended another 9 miles ....if you link to South Lake Trail.

Also close biking (and driving distance) is Winter Garden Village -a great big outdoor mall with big name stores and specialty stores (easy 5 mile bike ride on sidewalks and multi-use trails not related to the West Orange trail.)

If you want to use this as a base for attractions. It is 21 miles to Disney and 15 miles to Universal Studios.

We stay here routinely for maintenance appointment for our Newmar RV at Independence RV and there are many big RV and Trailer showrooms in the area.

What you can expect at the Campground itself- tight quarters with a lot of long term residents and surprisingly a few tiny homes too.

When it rains it does get muddy and it looks like there is a propensity towards standing water after a rain. However, we get full hook ups with cable and and short term stay sites are a bit bigger than the long term and this has outweighed the water issue. The staff is always helpful and attentive and we have stayed here 3 times.

There are 2 pools, shuffle board, dog park, fishing pond, laundry room, nice mail room with lounge and free Wifi and many planned activities.

Happy Camping! Pamela and Keith!

We're members of Thousand Trails but we had to pay extra to stay here.  It was a place to stay, nothing special.  If you are there in the winter, the pool was cold and closes early.  It is basically a place to stay and not very scenic.  There are a lot of full-timers with their 'stuff.'  The people in the site next to us had an outdoor shed with tons of junk everywhere.  The park was close to Disneyworld and we dropped about $400 on a day at Epcot and had to drink our way through all the countries to make it worth our time since many of the attractions/rides were closed.  I had fond memories of times at Disneyworld in the past with my kids but now, it feels like an artificial money suck.  If you are in the area, I would recommend one of the other RV parks that has more to offer.

This is a great campground if you want to visit Orlando/ Kissimee attractions without paying an arm and a leg. It is located by old town in Kissimmee. The RV resort is always neat and clean. Sites are well maintained with full hookups. You can also rent a cabin or even buy one on site for full-time rsort living. There are showers, laundry facility (at pool). pool side cafe, shuffleboard and wi-fi. This place is always busy with a calendar of scheduled activities like Holiday parties, block parties, etc.

Good RV Park near Disney and it is a very pretty, lush, tropical park. Old town Kissimmee is right next door, and it has several loud amusement rides. This is definitely an active RV Park, lots of people out enjoying all of the activities. Spaces are tight and roads are narrow and lots of curves and curbs. The only bummer we noticed was the dumpster area in the middle of the park would get hot and it would stink pretty bad, Florida is breezy and it was pretty unpleasant.

They have golf cart rental, thought that was pretty cool.

They have a gate guard shack thing and lots of staff members. They have dark green polos ride around on golf carts. They were very friendly and they have many planned activities for guests and residents.

They have a few sections: -The premium spots on the south side of the park were the nicest with the most space. -Thousand Trails section is on the West side and they do not have sewer (they said they are working on this in 2020)

Lots of built in units for rental, some streets are narrow and challenging to navigate. Many spots did not have sewer, but they had free pump outs every Wednesday and a dump station. They will be fixing this during 2020- per management.

Cell signals: Decent cellular service for AT&T and Very good T-Mobile service.

They have: Pool Cafe/Bar 1 Hot Tub Mini Golf Volleyball Courts Shuffle Board Club House Mail Room Camp Store Basketball Laundry Shower Houses Kids play room and play area Gym Pool Tables Creek running through the middle

This review relates to River Ranch RV Resort, which is next to the Westgate property. I would personally not stay at the Westgate RV since it is basically just an open field with RV spots. 

River Ranch RV next door is a beautiful place with fantastic spots. We stayed in spot 323 which had its own swing and fireplace. Our 37 ft rig fit perfectly and five year old loved riding bike around the park. Everyone was super friendly and I recommend renting a golf cart, though expensive at $60 a day, 

Be aware of telephone phone reception. At our spot we could not get any reception with ATT. After buying a Verizon hotspot down the road in Lake Wales, we were able to WFH.a

Would highly recommend this spot in Central Florida.

This was our second camping trip as a couple and the first in our travel trailer. I don’t have much to compare it to so take this with a grain of salt. Upon check in you have first come first serve. Since we were not camping with others we were looking for a wooded area and ended up in C-56 which is the 4th to last spot before the water view spots. We were quite satisfied with our somewhat private site which was a quick walk to the walking trails and Peace River. We have a Thousand Trails 1 year pass with purchase of our trailer which saved us $50 per night. Many of the campers we spoke to were Thousand Trails members. We won’t be visiting campgrounds for the amenities as we use this time to get away and reduce typical socializing so I cannot comment on the condition of the pickle-ball courts or pool.

Is there a Great Oak here? Yeah, definitely. Is this an RV Resort? Maybe. When I think of a ‘resort,’ I think of a few things: community pool, free-flowing bar serving cocktails with little umbrellas in them along with a few other things like tiki lanterns, shuffleboard, lineup of events and most importantly, a convivial welcoming feel from the surrounding community. On this latter front, Great Oak RV Resort does not live up to its name. But if you can get past this and are simply looking for a decent place to park your 5th wheel for the night very near Orlando, then this place isn’t the worst place you could book your stay for the night. 

What I appreciated most about Great Oak RV Resort is just how ‘At Home’ everyone here – from the management (Jovan and Begie are some of the kindest, most welcoming hosts ever!) to the next-door neighbors you are assigned – make you feel comfortable with their welcoming approach. From a pet-friendly environ where you’ll encounter no shortage of folks walking their dogs or inviting you in to pet their cats to the way in which those residents are here for a longer haul than the typical passerby looking for a place to plant their RV for the night, everyone we encountered was hospitable in a very authentic way. 

From an amenities standpoint, there’s a decent offering: 30 / 50 amp electrical, water and sewage hook-ups, heated large community swimming pool, 24 / 7 laundry facilities, recreational hall complete with daily (and nightly) events including bingo, card-playing and a small lender library, well-maintained bath houses and restroom facilities, designated garbage disposal and plenty of activities including shuffleboard, horse shoes and an easy to manage well-paved pathway perfect for long walks or short bike rides. Did I mention that this place is incredibly affordable? While we looked at no fewer than a dozen RV sites, this place was definitely the most economical. 

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Once you get tired of foraging through your cooler or mini onboard refrigerator, and you wanna check something local and love all things ‘South of the Border’ then check out one of two great Mexican joints: Tortilleria La Mexicana #10 for outstanding fajitas or Taqueria Casas for some, well, great street tacos!; (2) If you come hauling your own watercraft (kayak, canoe, waterbike, etc.) then definitely head on over to the lower half of Lake Tohopekaliga where there’s some seriously amazing little bends to careen around as well as some very awesome fishing holes, particularly for Bass; (3) Check out Lake Toho Fish Camp, which is another place you might be interested in setting up for the night if Great Oak RV Resort is fully-booked, plus they offer a boat slip along with bait & tackle shop; and (4) Looking for some 80’s nostalgia? If so, then check out either AMF Kissimmee Lanes or nearby Skate Reflections for some disco-ball inspired Rollerink coasting! 

Happy Camping!

We actually got a spot at RRRVR (river ranch RV resort) which is on the backside by the smoke house restaurant. It was lot 196 and it was FANTASTIC! River ranch has so much to do. Rodeos, food, putt putt, petting zoo- and tons more. A great family venue. Will definitely be back.

East Toho RV Resort (name changed) was a great quick spot for me to stay overnight before an early morning meeting. I was able to check in late easily via a lock box and found a great campsite close to clean bathroom/shower facilities. While it was late and dark, the resort seemed very nice and affordable. I will would definitely be back!