Best Equestrian Camping near Mims, FL

If you’ve got one of those incredibly large mobile homes on wheels, then this particular RV location just off of Highway 414 near Hiawassee may just be the perfect spot for you. OK, there were a few tents here, but you could tell this place was really built for the mobile campers in mind. With 28 ample slanted, elongated parking lanes for your parking pleasure, all of the sites come equipped with the typical 30 / 50 amp electrical hook-ups, waste disposal and water connections. The bathrooms and shower facilities are clean and fairly well-maintained.

There’s the standard picnic table, garbage receptacles and even a community BBQ. The hosts are incredibly nice and offer pricing by the night, week and month. Overall, the community is inviting and friendly and there’s at times some planned activities, with most of those featuring horse shows and competitions of some sort, throughout the week (check with the front desk). While there’s not a ton of amenities to pick and choose from, this location does come with grills, park and shelter as well as all the free glimpses of horses being trained. Of course, should you be here with your noble steed, there’s some 22 miles worth of paths to gallup. Near this RV parking lot, you do have access to Lake Apopka.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) The real draw to this particular campground is the massive equestrian infrastructure that exists as the fulcrum, so if you are camping, this can be a very nice distraction, in case you come here with the principle idea of racing / showing your horses, then this CG is ideal – and less so if you don’t have a horse and don’t want to camp alongside what could be considered a bit of a circus (especially on show days); (2) Should you grow tired of whipping up franks & beans again for supper and you wanna check out some local fare, you’re going to have to drive a bit north to South Apopka where there’s joints like The Nauti Lobstah, Verona Café, Lechonera Latina and Wings-N-Things; (3) In the event that you need to load up on supplies, there’s both a Sam’s Club and Walmart Supercenter due NE of here; and (4) For some really great hiking & biking, of course, there’s the West Orange Trail, but if you are looking for something a bit different and less trodden, then check out Oakland Nature Preserve, which sits south of Lake Apopka.

 Happy Camping!

After our last camping trip where we lost our tent to the elements we recently got a Cotopaxi Inti 2 and thought we'd give it a go somewhere a little closer to home. The campgrounds are nicely wooded and provide a ton of much-needed shade from the Florida sun. Check in was smooth and uneventful and we got to our site (#32) which did seem rather close to those around us, but we set up and then started making dinner. Exploring the campground, we realized it a little weirdly setup with all the sites arranged in a loop with the sites on either side of the road and the facilities (which are nice) in the center of the loop. There isn't a direct path and if you're on the outside of the loop you will have to walk through/by a site within the center ring and then through the "woods" to get to the bathhouse. Some sites have more of a path than others. There are a few accessible sites which have a paved pathway to the bathhouse, but you'd have to walk directly through someone else's campsite to get to them...a little weird. After eating we started to make a fire and thought the group (very near) next to us was a getting a little loud and it definitely made it seem less secluded, when of course we get a Florida downpour (starting to think we can't go camping without it raining) which of course wasn't predicted and we all had to rush to our tents. Stayed huddled in there (and this time thankfully the rain stayed outside our tent) it got much quieter and darker and eventually, we slept through the night to awaken to it still raining... At this point, we were simply glad to be dry and packed up and left in the drizzle. We were on site 32 which was probably one of the furthest from the facilities and you had to walk through a thick path past the clothesline to the back of the bathhouse to get there. If you prefer a more direct line I'd call before booking online and ask about the best locations to get back and forth to the facility. But we were glad it wasn't our site that people were walking through...

I like to camp out places where swimming is available. We camp a lot during the summer but since this is Florida it's HOT regularly and sizzling during the summer months. Although the spring is quite a walk, with floats in tow, driving is an option also and there is always lots of parking, and it goes in a curve so your never to far from accessing the springs no matter where you end up parking. Oh and they allow you to use a golf cart also. I'm not all that impressed with the sites, crushed shell, and you have to pitch the tent on it also, would be cooler if they let you pitch it a bit off site so your in the pine straw verse the crushed shell, which sucks to sleep on if you don't have a pad. This campground sees more rigs then tents and thankfully there is electric hook ups so you don't have to here any generators, bc you are close close by each other. Showers were decent if you got one with a shower head and having hot and cold adjustable is nice. We also took advantage of the clothes line they have on site as well as the second loop has a book exchange. LOVE THOSE! We saw tons of wildlife even just chilling at the campground. Turkey, deer, tortouse, friendly squirrels. Your in bear territory but there are no bear lockers which is nbd we are used to keeping our coolers in our trucks at night. Definitely will camp here again. Bring your kids, your floats, kayak, snorkle ... You can even bring your canapy to the water area with lawn chairs and your mini grill and just do the place for the day at the springs it self. They also have a horse coral and a BUNCH of hiking trails.

You can’t get more centrally located that bill Frederick. Located In metro west, this park is close to both the theme parks, and a commutable distance to north Orlando. The campground is at the back of the park up against the lake shore making it quieter than you would think for being so close to the expressway. The bathrooms and shower leave something to be desired. They could be cleaner and the shower drains tend to back up but everything works and is serviced daily. Only campground downside is there are no fire pits by each site. Open fire is only allowed at the grills, in another area of the park.

A nice bike trail circles the whole park. RV’ers must use dump site to get rid of black and grey water. No sewer hookup.

This park fills up when events like renaissance fair or dragon boat racing come through.

This park offers every recreation in the book: boating, fishing, biking, hiking, frisbee golf, wildlife watching (petting farm), jungle gyms, horse boarding, grilling spots, swimming pool. There’s something here for everyone.

Unfortunately, we had a LOT of rowdy neighbors who paid little if any attention to the park rules. Quiet time is supposed to start at 11 but, frankly, I don't think rowdy time ever ended. All. Night. Long. on Friday night and spilling over into Saturday morning, Noon and night. I don't think they ever slept. 

Had this been our first visit to a Florida State Park, we might not have gone on to explore a dozen other of the Florida State Parks in the area that accommodate RV's. That would have been a shame because we have enjoyed other Florida parks in the area. 

If this review concerns you, try close-by Lake Louisa State Park or Lake Griffin State Park: an entirely different scene with campers who actually camp as opposed to a mob of people just looking for a place to be drunk. 

About a week after we stay at a Florida park, we get a survey which asks a number of questions. One of them is "Did you feel safe?". The answer here is a resounding"NO!". I arrived right at 3PM and was set up by 4PM, before most of the drinkers arrived to spoil the scene. By 9PM I had basically pulled everything back in the RV for fear of it being stolen or shot at then stayed inside for the rest of the weekend. 

There was zero social distancing, one of the best parts (up until this visit) of camping in the first place. Sites here seemed a bit closer together than other parks but that might have been just my reaction to the scene and those spoiling it for others. 

I had two other bookings in the future for this park which I have canceled. There are just too many great parks in the Florida system. This is not one of them.

The YMCA, who previously ran this campground, recently returned ownership and management back to the township of Apopka.  The grounds are stashed far enough away from civilization that makes this place a real find.  In fact, had it not been all the Camp Wewa signs along the road, I would have never arrived to this destination.  Basically, whatever you can conjure up for a summer camping experience for kid campers this place has in spades.  There's a (nearly Olympic-size) swimming pool, vertical climbing walls, free-standing cabins and plenty of trails to keep you occupied as the surrounding nature invite you to partake in its green, verdant jungle-like area of north-central Florida.  Call ahead for reservations.

Happy Camping!

My friends and I have camped Wekiva a few times now, mostly because it's in our backyard. Being located in central Florida I think it goes without saying that tent camping here in the middle of summer comes with its own challenges, such as the excruciating heat. But other than stating the obvious let's cut to the chase. Pros: Kayaking, Natural Springs and community swimming hole, BBQ locations, separate camp grounds for tent versus RV, short distance to Wekiva Island. The natural springs of central Florida keep a cool 72 degrees year round making swimming something you can always do. The head spring of Wekiva is a fairly large swimming hole which like most springs remains crystal clear water, great for snorkeling. The downfall however is this area gets insanely crowded during the summer months. Here you are able to rent kayaks, canoes and rafts for fair prices. Usually around $35 per kayak for 4-6 hours. Once you launch you have two main options of which direction to go. One being a more scenic route where you will more than likely see a large number of birds, turtles and the crowd favorite...alligators galore. There are no rangers on the water with you, so you are responsible for your own safety around the gators. The other direction leads you to Wekiva Island, the party place! Wekiva Island is also known as the redneck riviera. Here you'll find a couple of bars, volleyball, corn hole, a food truck and many more activities. (You can also drive straight to the island which also offers kayaking rentals). Over all, the springs and the river make for an adventurous fun day. Cons: The camp sites themselves are quite close in proximity to one another not leaving much privacy. You are contained to remain within the dirt boundaries opposed to setting up camp on softer ground. You are limited to only 2 tents and two cars on the site itself. Additional parking is close by. The real con was the camp ground attendants. My friends and I are in our mid thirties and not loud and obnoxious residents. You will be annoyed by several rangers on golf carts constantly hovering and interrupting you as well as your good old camp ground host who may or may not live on one of the grounds? He wasn't friendly and made us uncomfortable.

All in all to sum it up, if you are looking to spend some relaxing time on the water and see some unique Floridian wildlife you'll have a great time!