Best Tent Camping near Marianna, FL

I initially had a reservation at one of the primitive camp grounds, but my reservation was cancelled due to flooding that closed all three primitive camp grounds. Better yet, I got an RV spot on the day of arrival. Great pull-through sites with fire ring, picnic table, water, and electricity. Pitched my tent on the banks of Sand Pond.

The two-mile Campground Trail, part of the Forest Service's Trailwalker Program, winds along the banks of Cyprus Pond, through the mixed hardwood/pine forest, and around Sand Pond. This is a nice and easy, well-maintained, level trail.

Was lulled to sleep by the croaking of bull frogs while watching the moon rise from my sleeping bag. A thoroughly enjoyable stay.

We called ahead to reserve tent sites and ensure they had electric and water on every site. Upon arrival, we were told all sites to the right edge (water side) and right of the road were tent sites. However, the first half of this row has electric for rv’s only. Moving down the row, the sites had no electric or water hookups. The last sites were in complete sun and next to a boat ramp. All the sites had trash on the ground and none had picnic tables. The showers were just curtained off from the bathroom with no privacy, hook or bench. The staff was unwilling to help and we left without staying.

Small, well maintained park and sites, with 30/50 amp and water hook ups. A pleasant surprise when we arrived, after miles of rural driving! GPS took us the correct way, but seemed we were lost! Staff greeted us at entrance, gave us a map and explained how to get to our site. It was raining, and our site was back-in and downhill, mostly level with gravel, a picnic table, has a fire-ring with grill grate. Bathhouse is clean and impressed how the trash area and dump station were placed away from campers. The dock/pier, and boat ramp, are at the back part of the campground, The amenities are nice and there is outdoor cleaning sink behind the bathhouse, sitting area overlooking the river, the fish cleaning station, fire pit area, trails, and canoe/kayak drying area. 3 concrete sites, as well as tent sites. Lots of spacing between most of the sites, some are waterfront. Wildlife is plentiful and the trails are a great way to enjoy it all! We will come back! And it’s only $20 a night!

Awesome campground with good amenities. Each site has fire ring, picnic table, water and electric. Most sites had good flora between sites, offering a little privacy. Restroom and shower facilities with a coin operated laundry.

Ranger Rob shared a secret, two campsites cannot be reserved and are always available first come first served. I got to spend two nights in one of those and it was great.

I found the hiking trails to be quite strenuous and not well-maintained in spots, but that's part of the adventure. I even took a tumble down a steep hill but made it to the primitive camp sites just to see them and get down to the river.

This is a great COE campground on Florida Georgia border. Everyone here was so friendly. Sites are large but very open. Three camping loops. We stayed in C 17. Great site all have fire rings, picnic table, lantern pole, charcoal grill, and prep table. Sites are paved or gravel. Several pull through sites. Great for larger rigs. Loops A & C have waterfront sites. Loop B is inner part of campground. Bathhouses have separate showers from restroom area. Campground is right on lake Seminole. Great fishing, boating, and kayaking. Went in February it was cold and very windy coming off lake. Not much to do in area but great for long weekend stay. Ate at local restaurant called Rutabaga cafe which was great. You are right on the time zone switch so your phone will switch from eastern to central several times. There are amenities close by such as grocery, liquor store, Dollar general. Jim Woodruff Dam is across the lake. It was closed to visitors but we drove to the overlook which was cool. Will definitely come back for another stay.

There are about 10 sites total at this free campground.  There is a tent-only side with about 4 sites, with a pit toilet.  The tent sites are much nicer than the RV sites.  They are among the trees, they are more spread out, and on the water.  The RV sites are all lined up in a row in an open field with no shade.  The RV sites have a concrete pad as well as a fire pit and a grill and a picnic table.

We were here over a weekend and it was really, really quiet.  There was only one other RV camper here besides us and no hooligans coming through, surprisingly.

Good cell service with ATT and Verizon.  There are garbage bins (no recycling).

Not a fancy place but great for free.  You need to make reservations in advance with the Northwest Florida Water Management District.

These sites are really for RVs of every size and are truly all about the lake. Either for fishing or for a nice relaxing evening enjoying the sunsets. There are 3 loops with both restroom/shower/laundry facilities on the B loop and for some reason, it seemed that everyone really wanted to drive from the other loops to the facilities in the back which had knobs for the showers instead of short timed buttons. There are unfortunately only 2 dedicated tent sites which are off to the side a nice distance from the RV loops, but it's right by the boat ramp which also has a nice bright streetlamp so be prepared for people coming and going early and/or arriving late in the evening along with the ever present light. We camping in our tent at site 59 which is one of the few sites which has a nice stretch of open grass and tree coverage along with the either leveled concrete pad or gravel "driveway" surfaces at the sites. Each site had a nice grill, fire ring, picnic table, prep table and lantern/bag hook. We thankfully had the trees to partially obscure the streetlamp, but thankfully had brought eyemasks... If you're afraid of animals sneaking up on your tent at night, then this campground is definitely for you, as with all the extremely bright lights on all night long you won't have to worry about anything bothering you in the slightest... Overall, the camp host and the staff were incredibly nice and went out of their way to make sure we were in a nice spot for using our tent. Although there are some better sites on loops A and C because they are right on the water people tend to book those out for weekends way in advance.