Best Tent Camping near Lake Helen, FL

Fantastic campground and recreation area. Over 150 campsites, one area full hookups with all amenities and other area for tent camping. Sites have lots of space and majority have shade trees with moss flowing in the breeze. All sites have picnic table, lantern pole, grill, and fire ring. We have 2 golden retrievers and had plenty of space to spare. Beautiful stars out at night. Bathhouses are large, clean, hot showers. Trailer sites were full and only a few tent campers this time of year. Tent sites are complete with Bear boxes at each site. Camp hosts and management were very friendly and helpful.
Saw manatees kayaking in the spring and river on premises. Spring area has a boardwalk around it. People swam with them too. Saw bald eagle catching fish, lots of birds, some fish, etc. Has a small boat launch and marina. Can tent kayaks. Great place for bikes. A few hiking trails were well maintained.
Convenient location to lots of springs to visit and things to do. Visited Silver Springs, Blue Springs, Juniper Spring to name a few. All within 1 hr drive.
Not sure how summer time is, but this late February time was Awesome. 40-50 at night and 60s in the day! This is a must stay place.

We stayed here a lot when we first moved to Florida and loved it. We stayed in the tent ⛺️ area because it was the most cost effective. What you should know about the tent area is that it is not drive up, you have to walk a short distance to your site.

One thing that we loved about the location is that it is close to all of the attractions. We actually walked home from Universal Studios to our campsite one night.

Some other things to know you can only stay for 14 days at a time and only 14 days in a month. This was an issue for us as we were working in the area and camping full time. This seemed to be the case with all of the county parks in the area, so we had to move every two weeks.

Apparently you can stay longer in the RV Park, but they wouldn’t let us with our roof top tent. They went as far as to say that it is illegal. We looked into it latter and found that not to be true. Apparently it is illegal in Orlando to camp in a tent within city limits. This does not apply to roof top tents though as they are not on the ground. They were a bit rude about the whole thing and after being lied to, it left a bad taste in our mouths.

Remember that the tent sites are not drive up? Yea, we couldn’t use our roof top tent there either, fortunately we carried a ground tent too.

Some other things to know, the tent sites are close to the highway/ turnpike so there is always traffic noise. Some weekends and during breaks it is a training ground for high school rowing teams (you are not allowed to use a canoe in the lake either, but somehow rowing is ok) and there are competitions. So it can be busy then and noisy in the morning when they are training and competing.

Don’t look too closely at the girls in their tight athletic outfits either. Our neighbor got tossed out for that and complaining about their littering (which was a legitimate complaint there were water bottles littered everywhere when they were there).

So those are the pros and cons. In spite of the negative stuff we would and have gone there again as it is a nice spot.

Salt Springs Recreation Area is part of the Ocala National Forest. It’s the oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River and protects the world’s largest sand pine scrub forest. The Salt Springs gets its name from the magnesium, sodium and potassium levels in the water, giving it a slight salinity. We made our reservations online at www.recreation.gov you can also call 877-444-6777 the local office is(352) 685-2048. We’re a married couple in our forties traveling with two dogs and a cat in our 37 foot motorhome. We stayed at Salt Springs campground for about a week in February. It was$34 for full hookups or$23 for tent camping. American Land& Leisure does a great job managing this recreation and camping area, the staff are professional and friendly. It’s a very safe and well lit campground. Activities include spring swimming, basketball courts, horseshoe pit, fishing, snorkeling, hiking, boating and kayaking. Canoe rentals are available. Nearby in the town of Salt Springs you will find a grocery store, gas station, restaurants, post office and laundromat. Don’t expect big box stores to shop in, this is a very small town and a place to get away from the world. We stayed in a full hookup site and had lots of space to ourselves, at least 25 yards to our neighbor on either side and about 40 yards to the next loop behind us. It was a flat site and very easy to level our motorhome. Sites are fully equipped with fire ring, grill, lantern post and picnic table. The tent sites include a bear locker. We loved the recycling opportunities at each trash container. They recycle plastic, glass and aluminum. The bathhouses are a gem, extremely clean and well taken care of. For campers in tents they offer a kitchen sink area to clean your dishes. Overall we loved our stay here, we went swimming multiple times with our snorkel gear and drove down to Silver Springs on two separate days(one for the glass bottomed boats and a second day to go kayaking).

This is a beautiful campground with proximity to the Florida Scenic Trail. Ideal for tent camping, as the forest service roads were a little rough for our RV. Campground is along a beautiful and unique wet prairie. No cell service, no electric or water hookups. Worth a stay in a tent! Recommend using entrance off route 19 via forest service road 86.

Close to a nice spring (not the most beautiful of the area). Tent site are fine. Very friendly staff.

How could being at Disney be a bad thing? Even when tent camping it was amazing. Never a mosquito in sight. Geckos all around. GREAT for bike riding around the campsite.

One of our favorite places to visit. The springs are amazing. Camping facilities are nice. Would be 5 stars if they had some sites with electric hookups. Outside of that a great place for tent camping.

Blike trails, from rv. to tent camping, year round enjoyment. Was there with 4 children 2 adults during a freezing cold snap. Didn't lower our enjoyment, the challenging cold 20°F, made it all the more fun!

I enjoy going to Blue Springs. Many activities for the family. Biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, boating, and watching nature. There is cabins or areas that allow RV or tent camping. There is even areas that you can go fishing.

Nice spots for tent camping. Got surprisingly cold when I visited. Would’ve been 5 stars if it weren’t for obnoxiously loud and rude neighbors that were yelling/screaming until midnight. If you camp here, expect to hear lots of partying.

Stopped for a night here on the drive down the coast. Lots of turtle nest sites blocked off and an empty beach. RVs are wall to wall with tent sites so bring your earplugs if you're a tent camper or you'll be hearing generators all night.

At the tent sites you are not allowed to have campfires which is kind of a bummer. The sites are on a slight slope that goes down to the lake. The sites are nice with a good view of the lake

Another nice stop on our East Coast bike tour! Spacious sites with picnic tables and water. Charge phone in the bathroom. No hot water for shower the night we were there though, and the tent camping area backs up to the main road into the neighborhood, so we heard car noise throughout the night.

Lovely place to camp, bike, and swim! Easy access from tent sites down to the springs. Many manatees can be seen while exploring the springs. Check out the Head spring and cave entrance at the northern end of the swimming area—nothing short of magical.

Nice area and staff. Site 142 is big and slightly more separated than the rest of the tent sites. Also closest to the kayak launch. The other sites holy crap no privacy or separation between most of them. Wouldn't want to camp here when they are busy.

First timer car/tent camping and our stay was perfect. Deer roam happily around and your wake up call in the morning is courtesy of feisty Sandhill Cranes calling back and forth. Park and facilities were super clean. Nearby trash facilities checked and cleaned multiple times a day during our stay. I can't say how crazy it is during the summer time, but in the early fall it's a beautiful campsite to just hang out in and chill.

SO where to start.. This camp ground is very expensive to stay. For a pop up tent campsite it's going to put you back about $200.. That does NOT include passes to Disney. You DO however have access to the other resorts. The campground itself is very nice.

Had a 2 night tent camp stay here during January. Great option for family reunions, we had my girlfriend’s 30th here, and with our rented golf cart, had no problems escorting our guests to our campsite to enjoy a camp cookout with us at our campsite. Was definitely an authentic Disney experience, with a never ending list of activities with plenty to keep kids and kids at heart busy, which we didn’t partake in since we were enjoying our campsite.