Best Glamping near Dunnellon, FL

Nice sites and some even have full hookups which is unusual for a Florida State Park.

Very close to the University of Florida. Nice campground recently renovated.

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!

Has beautiful sandy trails and near the silver springs park that allows kayaking and boat access on 40. You can rent a cabin or park rv. Not the most beautiful Florida park.

Lots of Floridas natural beauty but it felt like the camp sites were a bit close together. Very few full hookups most with electricity and water only. Probably won't stay here again

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.

Just a beautiful state park, with that old Florida feel. The sites are big and have plenty of space between them. The the park staff we interacted with were very friendly and informative. The glass bottom boat tour is an absolute must, we had such a wonderful time and the boat captain had lots of interesting information. We have a 4 year old and a 10 year old and they both really enjoyed the boat tour also.

We really enjoyed this park. We camped at a tent only site which was private as there weren’t many tent campers while we were there during the week. Stayed at site 31 which is probably the furthest walk from parking but the most private. We saw wild bison, wild turkeys, deer, snakes, and several different species of birds. Disappointed we didn’t see any wild horses but will most definitely be back. Beautiful part of Florida.

My boyfriend and I just camped here for 4 days. Weekends have a different vibe on the weekdays it’s quiet. Each campground has its primitive camp charm all come with a picnic table, parking spot, a wooden pole you can hang your garbage, and a water spout near by. Overall we had a great time it’s clean, there’s mosquitoes but that is Florida camping bring bug spray and keep the fire going helps. We’ll definitely be going back one day!

My husband and I camped at Silver Springs Campground in our 33' RV and we loved the spacious sites this park offers! We rode our bikes around the campground and were amazed as almost all the sites were huge! Live oak trees with Spanish moss...this campground is truly the "Real Florida". Each site is shady, clean and the the bathroom facilities are close by and have a washer & dryer along with a sink..

The park also has several pretty cool looking cabins/cottages that were nestled in the forest. There is a museum and even a library!

You can hike or drive over to the adjacent Silver Springs (we rode our bikes) and take a boat tour of the mag. 1 crystal clear spring! We got lucky and scored with Oscar Collins, who has been a tour boat captain at Silver Springs for 49 years...he takes the tour to the next level with his knowledge, wit, and what can we say...the man is a Rock Star!

The park offers a launch where you can either rent a kayak or use your own to navigate the beautiful and serene Silver River and you just might see a gator or two...we did! The grounds at Silver Springs are beautiful with all types of flora & fauna. Grab a quick lunch at the restaurant or have an ice cream.

This park is one of our favorites in Florida and is great for all ages...especially for families with children. A fun place for adventure and exploring!

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.

Silver Springs Silver Springs SP Beautiful Florida campground with 60 sites, many pullthrus. The sites are huge with lots of space and privacy. Lush surroundings. Water, electricity, fire pit, grill and picnic table on level gravel sites. The bathhouse is modern, clean, good sized. They have family showers too. Nice laundry facility. There is an environmental museum and a Pioneer Village and the grounds. Campgrounds are next to the Silver Springs where you have to take the glass bottom boat tour.$10 pp for seniors. You can also kayak the Springs but watch out for gators!The grounds on the Springs and campground have great trails.

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.

This park is more than just a glass bottom boat tour. Within the park radius—> You have the “Silver Springs Attraction”, the state campground with all it’s hiking/biking trails, Silver River kayaking/paddling , a small museum and lots of history at this park. Then within an aprox 6mile radius (easy biking) you can enjoy Majorie Cross Greenway,Florida Trail, Swamp Lake trails and the state park equestrian trails. Wow! RV and tent sites -some with full hook up and really nice cabins. This was some the best kayaking up and down river....both ways were a joy to paddle. (Watch our kayaking the silver river video on our YouTube channel...resident manatees are often seen on river!!) We were here in a 34 foot Class A with only 2 bikes and 2 kayaks Happy Camping www.travylcouple.com

Silver Springs State Park Lovely state park in central Florida. Quiet, well spaced forested sites. We stayed in #27 in Feb 2021 but all the sites are nice. Bathrooms and showers all clean and there are some coin-operated laundry machines. Several good hikes from the campground although they don’t show up on the AllTrails app. The trail heads are near the Museum and they branch off into various trails. No trail maps at trail heads though - the only one we saw was deep into one of the trails. The River Trail and Swamp Trail are very nice. The campground is about a mile from Silver Springs SP day use area, and there are more hikes there. There are also kayak abs canoe rentals there. We rented a kayak for two hours and it was great. We will come back!

Spacey sites, though tent campers run the risk of RV generators in your ear as per most Florida state park sites.

Took me two days to see monkeys. I'd recommend staying 3 days if this is your primary reason for visiting the park. The Swamp and River trails (both trailheads are near the campground) are your best bet for seeing them on foot, but I only saw them by boat.

If you have your own boat or paddleboard, you can launch from the ramp half a mile off the River trail ($2 launch fee) and paddle upriver, then float down in the hopes of seeing monkeys.  You can also launch from Ray Wayside Park and paddle all the way up (6 miles, get wrecked).

In addition to a troop of rhesus macaques I saw gators, cormorants, anhinga, hella fish, great blue heron, red bellied cooters, and one otter!

This campground is nice the sites are nice sized and level. The campground is not located at the head springs where the glass bottom boats are and kayak rentals. This makes it even better. The campground is quiet. It's a 15 minute drive to the head springs. 

We had our own Kayaks so we put in at the head springs and paddled down to the campground. It's a 2 to 2 1/2 hour trip or more because of all the beautiful landscape and the wildlife. At the campground exit to get out of the river you have to have wheels to transport the kayaks back to the parking lot. It's about a 1 mile hike pulling the kayak.

You can also do a longer trip an paddle further to Rays Wayside. It's less busy paddling that part of the river. You will need to leave a vehicle parked at Rays Wayside to get back to the headsprings. There is a company for $10 per person that will pick you up there and brings you back. Silver Springs charges $55 per person. 

I was in site 53 and there are trails you can hike from behind many of the campsites. There is a cracker house village and a great museum with artifacts and giant skeletons of big creatures. Lots of fossils and arrowheads. The Museum is only open on weekends.

The bath houses are very clean and if cold out nice hot heaters. There is a washer and dryer at the bath houses too.

They sell firewood and ice at the campground. You use a QR code scanner to purchase it. The wood is nice and burns like wood should.

I went to Silver springs as a kid and always thought of it as a tourist trap. I never had a desire to camp there yet I will say I have changed my mind and have already booked for next year. 

Florida residents have a one month booking advantage which started this past January. If your a Florida senior resident you get 1/2 off the price. The campsite hang tag gets you into the headspring for free. 

The park is nice I will visit again.

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.

Crooked River Campground is located within the Croom Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest (Hernando County), and a short 5-mile drive from I-75. Thankfully the furthest away from the interstate which remains busy 24/7. The complex is on the shore of Silver Lake, which is part of the Withlacoochee River system, this campground is part of the Silver Lake Recreation Complex. The Withlacoochee travels around the different campgrounds here and there is a large day use boat ramp onto the lake away from the campgrounds.

At Crooked River (The Native American name for the Withlacoochee) it seemed like every site was surrounded by dense undergrowth which really added more privacy. You can see from my campground and another random site I took a photo of that you are really nestled into the underbrush. If you want to get to the water there is a staircase which provides access to the Withlacoochee River for small boats. I took my folding kayak out and the water was very nice and refreshing against the unbearable heat of Florida. I think there was only 1 maybe 2 other campers while I was there and saw more people on mountain bikes going around the roads than anyone else.

Local Features and Activities

· Nature trail and boardwalk.

· Fishing

· Canoe trail

· Sorry, no pets allowed

Facilities

• These are tent only primitive campsites with the standard uncovered picnic table and fire ring with a grate and/or a grill.
• Flush restrooms and warm/hot water showers
• The campground also is available for organized youth groups, but requires a reservation. You can’t do this online (at ReserveAmerica) like the normal sites. For reservations call (352) 797-4140.

Directions: Take I-75 Exit 301 onto US98/SR50. You'll then turn east (away from Brooksville) and go about 1 mile until you reach the second stoplight at Croom Rital Road. Turn left and proceed north. Follow the signs to the Withlacoochee State Forest Silver Lake Recreation Area and turn right into the complex and follow the signs to the campground.

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.

I had relatively low expectations of Silver Springs mostly from childhood memories of hot, humid, crowded and touristy. Well, it was a real retro experience and I'm happy to say that not much has changed and that's a good thing!

The camp ground was exceptional with lots and lots of room. The river, as pristine as ever. The tour boats were the very same vessels of my childhood memories and provided a great backdrop to the overall setting.

I think we were in spot 51 which was a pull through and probably the very largest campsite we have ever had and it dwarfed our little travel trailer but we loved it.

It pretty much rained most of the weekend but we still enjoyed our long paddle with all kinds of wildlife INCLUDING THE MONKEYS!!!

The only reason I give this park a 4 and not a 5 star is you have to drive to the kayak launch which is in the same parking lot as the access for the day guests (and there are many). 

I applaud Florida State Parks for managing such a great facility in spite of all the pressure over the years. WE WILL RETURN.

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!

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!