Best Glamping near Cedar Key, FL

The photo associated with this description is a picture of the cedar key tourist area- not Shell Mound Campground.  However, situated approximately 4 miles away, Shell Mound is an incredible camp site for tent camping, RV camping, kayak camping.  It’s a county run park and only 10$ night for tent camping or pickup truck camping.  It has a clean bath for men and for women and hot showers for both.   Boat ramp only usable at high tide- otherwise need your airboat to slide up in low tide.  Short hiking trails just to the south through the salt marshes and amazing archaeological mounds and history in walking distance. This is the best of Florida.  At night, grab dinner and drinks in cedar key and come back to your camp site next your fire. Sleep good listening to crickets, owls, and other critters. Wake up to the glorious sun rising over the salt marshes! Use this site as a home base to explore the Lower Suwannee wilderness areas owned by the federal and state governments!

Nice little country park. Cash Only. Primitive tent sites, Electric & Electric & Water Sites.

$10, $20 & $25. Accommodates 30 Amp hook ups only. Limited to 7 day stay.

Boat ramp, fish cleaning station, playground, restroom & showers.  city of Cedar Key approx 15 minute drive.

Absolutely love this campground. Huge sites with great hook ups, that are perfectly level. Paved roads, so no dust! Great, clean facilities. Guests and staff are so friendly and accommodating. Even a cute dog park. Wifi is great. A little out of the way from most places and shopping, but like that. Only 5 miles from center of Cedar key, which is an awesome little fishing village with few great shops, restaurants and bars love this town. Only downfall is no cable. Highly recommend this place!

The nicest campsite we have ever had. Paved, pull through, full hook-ups. Very shady and private sites. The bathrooms were very clean. Highlights of camping at Manatee Springs are the springs and the manatee sightings. We were there in January and the manatees were a bit elusive, but we did see some in the Suwannee River which runs parallel to the park. There is an 800-foot long boardwalk that winds through a cypress tree forest and the 8-miles of trails were great for running, hiking or biking. There wasn't a lot to do in the surrounding area although we did make a side trip to Cedar Key, a very interesting little town on the coast. We stopped at Shell Mound on the way back. It is an archeological site in the Lower Suwannee National Refuge where native people created a mound of shells from seafood. The shells formed the little spit of land that still exists there. On another day, we drove to the Withlacoochie bike trail to ride. It was about 45 minutes from the campground but worth it. We rode from Citrus Springs to Floral City. The 2nd half was more scenic than the first with lots of lakes near the trail.

Bugs were horrendous the weekend we were there, but that happens in Florida! Water was awesome. Plenty of things for the kids to do. Sites were nice as were the bathrooms.

Jake from the Dyrt here! Cristal Camping has great access to the river for enjoying the warm Florida coast water.  Check it out and share a review on the Dyrt!

Booked a spot here over the New Years weekend as we travel through Florida. This is a small, family owned rv park. 15 back-in sites. Very friendly owner. You book by calling in only. The town of Steinhatchee has more to offer than Perry where we stayed at KOA. Only complaint is need to upgrade the wifi.

I didn’t actually stay overnight here, but biked over from the nearby Hart Springs campground. Nice facility with fully shaded spots among Florida forest. There were a number of unmarked buildings, but upon researching it looks like a covered pool and clubhouse. The spring swimming area was lovely and clear and no crowds. Seems like a nice place to stay for a fun, activity filled getaway.

Florida in its natural state. We had an incredible time camping here. Swimming in the Springs, canoeing, and seeing so much wildlife. The deer will literally eat out your hand! We saw 3 alligators, one was a 13 footer! During winter and early spring you can swim with the manatees. The campsites are shaded with plush vegetation, there clean facilities with showers. There is camp store and barbeque stand, as well as canoe rental and shuttle on site.

Manatee Springs, Chiefland, Florida  Beautiful clear spring with swimming area, including area for kids. Two nice boardwalks. Nature trails. Great cafe at the Spring with ribs and pulled pork sandwiches.Yummy! Canoes for rent.  Campground was okay. Not great. Magnolia loop 1 was the best. Good bathhouse in this loop.The other two loops have narrow, bumpy dirt roads and sites not as nice. Most sites hard packed sand. We wound up on ADA site and it was the only paved one. It's a nice pull through. Sites have fire ring and table. Staff and rangers friendly and informative.

I can’t say too much about this campground because I didn’t stay here. We say the sign and wanted to check it out so we just talked to the nice people in the office and they told us to take our time. The campground looked like nice decent size sites. They have 5 cabins available. A cute playground, volleyball area and a covered, screened in pool. The spring wasn’t anything amazing but definitely a way to cool off here in the Florida heat. I will definitely be staying here in the future.

We liked this campground a lot. With taxes and fees and the $7 RV surcharge (at all Florida State Parks) it came to about $30/night for full hookups.

Poor / spotty cell service in park, but there's free wifi at the concession stand. Concession stand was closed when we were there but there was still ok wifi that reached outside.

Boardwalk and swimming in the springs was open, but we didn't see where to rent kayaks or buy anything, not sure if those are closed for COVID. Boardwalk was really cool and long and we saw a couple of manatees.

Free hot showers. No laundry machines. No trash bins in park, all trash must be taken to dumpsters near park entrance.

Amazing state park to visit. We recommend staying at least 1 week to envelope yourself in the pristine wilderness Florida has to offer. First of all, you won't get much of a phone signal out here. During our stay we had to drive to Cheifton once in awhile to get phone messages and emails. The campsites are beautiful and have a good amount of vegitation separating you from your neighbors. We camped here in our motorhome and had adequate clearance for our roof and we were able to get around the turns in the road well without hitting any trees. There are times that it's a tight squeeze though. 

We had the opportunity to kayak, the spring is beautiful and very clear, lots of fish and wildlife to experience.

We're looking forward to a future visit.

We recently camped at Manatee Springs and the highlight of this park is their beautiful swim area with a dock all along the head spring. The campsites were fair and the bathrooms were not bad and included showers. There was a nice trail w/boardwalk that was great for viewing the swamp and flora & fauna. The boardwalk went down to the Suwannee River that offered a great place to fish or to view some big Sturgeons that start jumping around dusk.

We felt that the campsites were a little neglected compared to other Florida State Parks we had visited.

There is a nice cafe that also serves beer & wine.

We viewed the "Dive Spring" called "Catfish Hotel" which had a inch layer of green scum that was not very appealing except to mosquitoes.

There is a nice playground and this would be a great place to picnic with family and friends.

*There is also Fanning Springs State Park that is approx. 10 min. away that also has a GREAT swimming hole!

This is way out in the country. Not far off interstate 75 mere Lake City To. You can float down the river and have a cookout or picnic after or in the middle. There are trams to take you back to midway point and a bus to the beginning. Beautiful clear water and lots of springs no homes along your float. You may see otters or other nature. Ive been many times and never seen a gator. It fills up fast at the very beginning as they only let so many down from the head. But you can always go in at the midway point and float for a couple hours and thenget out and take the tram back. Ive been going since a kid and I'm from Florida and have never seen a alligator there thou signs are posted. Its been my experience that gators tend to stay out of the cold springs.

Located in the town of Trenton, Florida is this gem of a spot loved by the locals and tourists alike. They offer Lodge Rentals, RV Sites, Tent Camping & Cabins, Heated Pool & Great access to Otter Springs and the Suwannee River. There is a day use area, canoe & kayak rentals, basketball and volleyball court, and canoe rentals available. You can fish in the spring run or on the Suwannee River. We chose to camp in site with water and electric so we were in an RV spot but they have a designated tent camping area with water access and no electric.

We enjoyed exploring the over 600 acres, river, springs, nature trails and loved getting ice cream in the store after! The camp store has just about all you might run out of. Be prepared with insect repellent at dawn and dusk. Sites are spacious enough - not too close together but not much privacy either. If you do not like noise choose a sight away from the pool! RV sites have Full hookup: Electric (30& 50 amp.), water, and sewer. Good Sams memberships are accepted.

This is a great place to host a local event and they are VERY Veteran Friendly offering 15% off on daily and weekly camping. There is Wifi is available in the Pool Pavilion. 

Though this place is not brand new and shows some age, it has a wonderful, welcoming feeling. We really enjoyed our stay!

I grew up coming here as a child it’s been 15 ish years since I’ve been back and it’s still just as beautiful. I now have children 12, 6, and 7 years old. This is the first time they have been “real camping” having the water and power at each site makes it so much better. Also having the bathrooms within a short distance is a total plus with little ones who are un-easy about going in the bushes or a bucket. 🤪 We stayed in Hickory loop it was perfect. Close enough to the springs that my older child and her friends could walk back and forth alone without me worrying they would be lost but far enough away that you are not next to all the day picnicking or noise that might come from kids playing in the spring. My only complaint is the campsite we chose did not have a definitive area around it there was some lower short grass and we put our tent towards the back and a Ranger came and asked us to get it out of the grass area. Before our trip I did see someone mentioned this in a review somewhere so I specifically was trying to make sure it was not in a “no camping zone” To me it wasn’t where we shouldn’t be (the grass was small random low patches scattered randomly, we stayed out of the tall overgrown grass that was obviously not where anyone needed to be. Other sites I noticed had big logs or definitive packed dirt areas with more than enough space that it was obviously not questionable where to put a tent. so just make sure you’re not on any grass or else you have to unpack and move all your things twice :(

I did run to Walmart and grabbed two $20 basic fans it helped SO SO SO MUCH. Idk why I didn’t think of it before but it was worth the cost. I was able to put them back in the box and they will go home and be stored away with the camping things till next time.

It rained almost the whole time we were there but only storms at night that were not bad to me just basic Florida afternoon thunderstorms. As long as it wasn’t thundering and lightning the kids and I were out adventuring and swimming in the rain. The only thing that has changed that I remember is they no longer have the big rope swing and you are no longer allowed to go to the sandy beach area on the opposite side since the state has taken over they have adjusted things to make it safer obviously for insurance purposes in my opinion that’s probably why. A ranger said they changed a lot when the state took over. It’s still great tho! To be honest I’ve barely used any bug spray there was almost no mosquitoes which was mind-boggling to me being a Floridian I wasn’t being eaten alive so they must do some spray control. All in all it’s camping it’s hot bring bug spray coolers and ice and you will be all set!

I am excited to have added my first campground to the Dyrt Community, and look forward to many more. 

I will admit that booking this campground gave me anxiety. It was several hours from home, and a reservation guaranteed a site, not a specific site. Having a family of five and two in laws in tow, it is usually more reassuring to pick out your site. I had found this site simply from Kym (manager) responding to a post in a local Facebook camping group. I thought she seemed nice, and the campground seemed rustic and welcoming. I decided to book us in for two nights over the Veteran's weekend (Sunday/Monday). 

The booking process was very simple and old school. I emailed what we wanted, and they replied that they had availability and sent a link for the $20 secure site fee (we had electric/water, so this is required). It can be paid via Venmo or Paypal. They are old school and work via cash, so do not plan on using a card. Hit the ATM before you get close. We arrived a little later than we wanted (around 6:30). It was pretty dark. We followed the sign in the office to the host camp, right behind the rec hall. It was simple. The check in process took all of five minutes and we were sent to our site, which was 17 and right next to the rec hall and bonfire pit. We also ordered up two piles of firewood to start. They charge $5 (cash) and deliver right to your site. 

We couldn't see the site well since it was dark, but it was clearly huge. We had no issue setting up our 12 man and 4 man tents with plenty of space to spare. When we woke up in the morning, we realized that we could have easily slept 50 people or more at our site. The site was private (cars provide a nice wall from the single opening) and wooded. They provided two tables (not crappy ones) and a big fire ring. The site had several trees that were good for hammocks or clothes lines. The water and electric were in a pretty logical spot and could easily reach anywhere in the site with a long enough hose or cord. 

The campground itself is really no frills. They have a rec hall with OLD arcade games (this is a good thing), pool, foosball and air hockey. They have a jukebox with some country and rock choices to get your bones moving. The bathrooms are single person, one for each sex. They are kept immaculate. I ran into the grounds woman, and noted to her that I had never seen a place kept so clean. She told me that she is a retired nurse, so it makes sense. They also have two single showers. This is camping, not the Ritz. It is exactly what is needed. 

We did not run into any wildlife issues. We did have a lot of bees, but they were not too bad. Ants were abundant, but again, this is Florida. The hosts were very nice and humble, and provided local recommendations for tubing and canoeing. The roads are well maintained and the place shows an overall sense of love. They are located just a minute down the road from the North entrance of the State Park.  We look forward to coming back here in the future.