Do you love the outdoors and horses? If you're looking for a rustic but comfortable experience, horse camping in Bronson is the way to go. Finding a place to stay in Florida while traveling with your horse is easy. These scenic and easy-to-reach Florida campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
MAG1
$20 / night
PPCG
$18 / night
DOG1
$18 / night
Ross Prairie Trailhead and Campground
$22 / night
Santos Trailhead and Campground
$22 / night
Located about 15 minutes outside of historic Dunnellon it’s a nice easy drive to the Rainbow River great for tubing, kayaking, boating, snorkeling or paddle boarding. Crystal River and Homosassa nearby for great waterfront dining and swimming with the manatees. Not far from Ocala for the horse lovers and Gainesville for shopping, dining and more. Don’t forget the Goethe State Forest directly across the street with 120 miles of trails for hiking, biking and of course horseback riding. Also nearby many other trailheads for a perfect day trip. A quiet and peaceful country atmosphere where time slows down and your worries wither away. 73 double sized grassy sites all with full hook ups, we also have two rentals available. Beautiful, sparkling, clear pool that’s great to beat the summer heat! 96 lined and covered box stalls, 9 turn out paddocks 3 private play pasutres, a round pen and an arena that’s lighted dusk till dawn. Pet friendly with dog park, Wi-Fi available. Designated campfire area. Clean and comfortable bathhouse with toilets and hot showers.
$10 - $95 / night
The Holder Mine Campground campsites are shaded by live oaks and turkey oaks. This campground is open seven days a week and is popular with hunters during archery and small game seasons.
Features
Hiking trails:
Facilities 27 campsites with electricity, water, picnic table and fire ring (2) bathhouses Pavilion Dump station
Note: Pavilion is only available for use for a fee by paid campers.
$9 - $20 / night
Enjoy full RV hook up located right in the heart of our farm. While camping, you will see and hear goats, horses, Charlie the pig, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and most likely deer, sand cranes, and the occasional bald eagles, throughout your stay. The infamous Eduardo the Turkey, will surely make an appearance at your front step. Now included in each stay (up to 6 campers) interact and feed your favorite farm animals during one of our AM or PM feeding times. When available, you can enjoy fresh chicken eggs for breakfast straight from the coop for a small fee.
A pasture is right next to the RV hook up so if you need to bring your best horse friend, they can camp right alongside of you for an additional $15.00 a day. You just need to show proof of Coggins and vaccines before arrival. Sand riding arena available for use, at your own risk. Pets are welcome as well, as long as they stay on a leash the entire time and are cleaned up after.
A fire pit with 4 Adirondack chairs and picnic table is set up right outside your door.
The historic town of Micanopy is just a few minute drive and offers antique shopping, restaurants, unique gift shops, and entertainment. Paynes Prarie Preserve State Park is just a couple minute drive away and offers hiking trails and wildlife sightseeing. There is also trails for horseback riding within two miles of Collins Farm.
$45 / night
SHANGRI-LA LOOP
$18 / night
Scout
I have trouble walking. I'm at site 38 and no handicap parking for showers. The shower doors and walls are nasty. Also, where I parked with 2 dogs. Was nothing more than a pile of dirt. Both are filthy after 5 days. I was also told that the station had no handicap parking for showers?
ScoutPeaceful secluded campsites. Most have a wooded buffer. There are full hookup sites available. We stayed in site 33. Sites have fire ring and picnic tables.
Ranger
This campground is really dark, quiet and pretty. The bathhouse was always clean. You can smell the well water in the bathhouse. Brings me back to my childhood memories. We rode our bikes to the observation tower, but we were not lucky enough to see any bison or wild horses. Still nice to see the open prairie. We had a big rainstorm and the back of our site did become a lake, but it was gone overnight. The bugs lit us up all hours, so make sure you different bug sprays.
Scout
Had no problems, calm and cool surroundings.
GuideQuiet, lots of wildlife (wild horses, bison, alligators, deer, birds, turtles); plenty of hiking and biking trails with beautiful sunsets on the lake. Restroom facilities are showing some age but clean. Walk-in tent sites are pretty close to the Restrooms.
Ranger
This campground is the perfect size. Our site had shade about 95% of the day! We had the perfect size of an area behind our RV. Loved hearing all of the birds chirping. You can hear traffic since it’s right off of the highway. There are plenty of trees around. The bathroom was very clean. It’s nice and dark at night!! We did the hike to see the historical part of the Island. That was neat to read about. We also took the biking trail to say we went above i75 on the bridge. That was a round trip of 15.5 miles, if anyone is interested. It’s a really nice campground, especially if like doing trails and biking.
RangerGreat state park well off the main road. Quiet and wooded with limestone pads.
TravelerThere aren’t many bad sites. Great trails and walking. BRING BUG SPRAY. I wish I had time to stay longer to see everything the park had to offer. I will be back!
TravelerThis is now my top 2 in parks for camping. The tent only spots are nice and secluded. You do have to walk maybe 100-200 ft from your car to the campsite. I was in site #24. Nice and open with a lot of trees for protection. Great fire pit. No power or water at this site… site #25 has those. The whole grounds were well kept and the trails were easy. At the observation tower you can see a lot of the prairie and if you’re lucky you can see wild horses.
Traveler
This is a great spot! There’s two camping areas, one off of North Dee and one off of Hooty Point. It’s primitive/equestrian camping and Hooty Point is far better in my opinion because it has water access for fishing.
I stayed at the North Dee Road site and it was still great despite not having immediate access for fishing. First off, it’s free to reserve, and then the campgrounds comes with a firepit, bench, and non-potable water. This was my test run for starting to camp again and I don’t think I could’ve picked a better place.
GuideOnly here Two days. Nice little quick stop.
GuideFew campsites, quite place to camp. Clean Showers and restaurant. Great, hiking and biking trails nearby.
Traveler
Great hosts; their farm animals are friendly and delightful to watch.
TravelerStayed on site 22, cell service was very bad, no laundry, only stayed two nights to check the park out, very small store, gravel bumpy road in campground, would stay here again if I was passing through area
LegendSantos is a small but great campground. Sites are roomy. Gravel sites with 50 amp and water. Many trees. Clean restroom and showers. Unbelievable trails for walking and biking!
TravelerThe springs are amazing and full of wildlife. The manatees will only be in the springs early in the morning or later at night as they go out to the river to eat during the day. The campsite was made of small gravel so it took a little while to get the tent stakes in, but no other complaints. Facilities were clean and well stocked. Some of the wildlife seemed especially comfortable in the campsites. It rained while we were there and a few armadillos hung out under our tarp overhang and a large group of deer slept maybe 15 feet from our side. We didn’t have any issues with the animals, they were just a cute addition to the experience. The concessions and kayak rentals were open so the contract issue a few reviews mentioned must have been resolved.
Legend
This RV parking pad is located in north central Florida, just due southwest of Palatka (a.k.a. the Sunshine’s State Farmer’s Market) where you’ll find southern charm hanging from more than the moss off the ancient Oaks here, which underscores one of the best highlights of Cooper Lake RV Community: its abundance of shade. Conveniently located right off (and I mean in front of) Highway 20 about 4 miles just due west of Interlachen, you’ll discover the eponymous Cooper Lake (for which this RV stand is named after) is located just behind the small body of fresh water and offers up some decent catch & release fishing, albeit this lake is more of a pond. If you cross the highway, due south and just a couple of stone’s throws away, there’s much bigger Lake Galilee to contend with and is much better for boat fishing IMHO.
As for the pet-friendly campground itself, there’s about 50 or so pull-through and back-in RV slots complete with full hook-ups (50 amp electric at every site along with water and sewage) along with a gathering area complete with horseshoes, shuffleboard, community fire pit, frisbee golf, gazebos, picnic tables and BBQ grills. While the bathrooms are very well-maintained, when we visited there were no showers per se (although in speaking with the management, some are in the works to be built, so I would definitely call ahead if this is a deal-breaker). There’s WiFi here (but it’s not so good), designated dumpsters, vehicle storage as well as a fairly decent laundr-O-mat near the clubhouse. Rates for Cooper Lake RV Community: $45-$55/daily; $250-$300/weekly; and $650-$700/monthly.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) While Cooper Lake RV Community is not a destination in and of itself, this is a really nice place run by very well-meaning folks and while this RV spot is definitely new it’s definitely worth the stop if you find yourself out this way; (2) When you get tired of staring into your onboard mini-fridge and/ or want to try out some of the local cuisine, head on over to True Grits, well, for the grits of course, Nanny's Country Café for simple breakfasts or Smokedogs Bar-B-Q for quite possibly some of the best brisket and homemade cole slaw in the world!; and (3) If you are looking for some great water to dip your kayak or canoe in, head south to Lake Ocklawaha where there’s a half dozen or so spots where you can launch from.
Happy Camping!
Guide
We enjoyed our stay even though it rained. We went to see the springs and it’s was gorgeous!
Traveler
ROACHES ROACHES ROACHES (not palmetto bugs german ROACHES)
TravelerQuite possibly my most favorite camp site. The hikes are fun and the water is just gorgeous. I haven’t seen manatees yet in my travels here but many others have! Great spot. Clean. Quiet. Fun.
GuideOnly 14 spaces, so very small, but nice. Lots of space between sites. Lots of Hike, bike horse trails are very nice and easy to navigate. Very clean bathroom/showers. The only negative is that it's not far from the raid, you can hear the traffic and it's somewhat busy.
GuideBeautiful swimming and kayaking.
GuideI love these big, well shaded spots. 30 or 50 amp depending on the site. No sewer but there is a dump station. Water pressure at the site was a little low. The bathrooms & showers were clean with super hot water. Tons of trails to hike and see the wild horses and bison. There’s a boat launch to the lake with tons of fish. Very nice rangers. Super dark at night & was very quiet when I was there. Lots of wildlife. Close to Gainesville shopping.
ScoutCampgrounds are nice. Sites are a little small. More tent campers than RV. Bathrooms in good shape. Magnolia 1 loop has sewer hookup. We were site 029 pull through with a 34ft TT. Awesome site No cell coverage period. You'll get 1 bar to tease you and think you can do something. NO TV antenna coverage either. One radio station (98.5). We just downloaded a few Netflix movies and watch them on the computer. Spring is nice, hiking and biking trails are nice. Lots of wildlife.
TravelerThis place is beautiful. While there ddogs are not allowed on the boardwalk or in the swimming area- there are other hikes they can go on and they turn a blind eye to dogs wading in the boat ramp area as long as they are on leash. Note that not all sites allow you to park in the site. This was a little inconvenient because I was in a rooftop tent and had to pitch it on the other side of a barrier. There were other sites that had better configuration for that so take a look at site layouts as they are not all uniform. No reception, though- which was disappointing as I planned to work remote from the campsite and ended up having to log on from the nearby Walmart parking lot instead. Scenery not as good…
GuideBeautiful campground. Very rustic. Unpaved roads with potholes that may not be bad at other times but we were there on a rainy day so it was a bit of a rough ride getting to our site. Probably a bit tight getting in if you are in a big rig but it was no problem in our van. Sites are natural but maintained and not terribly overgrown. The park itself is absolutely lovely.
ScoutOnly 14 sites but are spaced far apart and are large.
Florida offers a variety of options for horse camping enthusiasts, combining beautiful landscapes with facilities tailored for equestrian activities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Bronson, FL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Bronson, FL is Manatee Springs State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 67 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Bronson, FL?
TheDyrt.com has all 21 equestrian camping locations near Bronson, FL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
