Best Cabin Camping near Ochopee, FL

I gave this campground 5 stars because it feels so different than the rest of the Campgrounds available in Big Cypress Reserve and Everglades National Park. 

Trail Lakes is a proper campground which is staffed and gated just off of Hwy 41 (Alligator Alley) on the west side in Ochopee. It's open all year long. 

For me, visiting in the off season, it felt nice to have the structure of the campground. Most of the other campgrounds I visited along 41 between Naples and Miami were completely empty of people, but full of signs warning campers of Panthers and alligators - and even bears. I had no idea Florida had bears. I didn't want to camp alone, so I loved that this campground had staff and a few other guests who might notice f I got eaten.

The campground is open all year long, and has a small store in the camp office. 

The campground is built in several loops around a couple of lakes and has space for RV's and tents. If also offers cabins and some screened in open air huts (which I didn't stay in but they looked really cool). You could buy ice and firewood, as well as rent kayaks if you dared to boat through alligator swamps.

There's not much in Ochopee, so stock up when you leave Miaimi or Naples (depending which way you drive). There are a few things available at the campground store.  There is a mini post office in Ochopee which is worth stopping for a photo opp. The airboat tours which are everywhere along the highway here are definitely worth it. 

You can get their latest pricing for all their sites and cabins at www.evergladescamping.net

Stayed here a night in February 2021. State parks aren’t yet allowing tents due to Covid. We camp in our truck so don’t fit the definition of “self contained” or tenters, so this spot was great. Water and electric or primitive sites available. There were some great cabins/huts that looked great, too. Hosts are welcoming and helpful. Firewood, ice and some supplies available on site. The sites were spacious and had room to spread out and not be on top of your neighbors. Picnic table and fire rings at each site. It was a full moon the night we stayed and the stars were still incredibly bright as there is very little light pollution. Sunset was beautiful. Some mosquitos at dusk, but not bad at all. (It was February- sure June would be different...) Plenty of trees for shade and hammocks. Two showers in both the men’s and women’s bathrooms. Showers were hot with good water pressure. Shower drains could have been better as the floors were wet throughout the whole bathhouse, unfortunately. (Only reason it’s not a 5-star review.) One bar service on Verizon, but typical for me in the area. We only stayed a night so didn’t take full advantage of kayaks and boats, but there is a lot to do. Campers have free admission to the Snake Ape and reptile exhibits- snake lovers will enjoy the snakes including one of the largest captive pythons in the world. We held a baby alligator and saw the adults up close. The caretaker was refreshingly knowledgeable and caring. Overall, a quick stop for us but we enjoyed it and would stay here again.

We were so glad to find this place on The Dyrt. Once you check in, there is someone there to guide you to your site. You cannot reserve sites, you just request the amps needed for your rig. There are tent sites, cabins, and Chickee huts to rent as well. We were guided to a pull thru site. This was a first for us and we were thrilled. Our site was directly across from the bath house. We had no trouble leveling our trailer and getting set up. Fire pits are at every site and fires are encouraged. If you did not bring wood, there is some for sale. The bath house was adequate. It could be cleaner, but it is camping. The sites include water and electric. You are not able to pick up antennae TV unless you have high quality tall antennae. Radio stations came in just fine. At the front of the park is a little store with SkunkApe gear and an animal exhibit with gators, pythons and chickens. Skunkape is the equivalent of Sasquatch. Apparently, there is a legend of sitings in the Everglades. Kayak and canoe rentals are available as well as a swamp buggy ride. We brought our own kayaks and were told where to enjoy them. This campground is 15 minutes from Everglade City and 25 minutes from Collier-Seminole State Park.

There won't be much space between you and your neighbors, but let's be honest: if you're staying at this small island park, you're probably spending most of your time on the water. You can rent boat slips or launch a kayak; rent one if you don't have your own. Pick up your fishing supplies at the office. The historic Smallwood store is just a little farther down the road. There's 1 designated tent site, several RV sites, and a number of permanent residents. If you don't have your own RV, they have RVs and cabins for rent.

The park has bathrooms, a small playground, chickee for lounging outdoors, with a fire pit nearby, and  a pavilion for gathering with friends and family. 

Explore the mangroves, take an airboat tour our of Everglades City, or explore other areas of the Everglades. Naples is your best shopping source. There are restaurants in Everglades City.

My girlfriend and I wanted to do the spur of the moment camping trip and so, while we were driving from the east side of south Florida we tried calling multiple campgrounds to find which had last minute availability for a 7:30 pm check-in. This campground was the first to answer the phone number listed on this app. The lady that answered was very nice and explained they had electricity and showers and that there were still tent sites available. The latest time you can check in is 9:00 pm and check out time is lax so we weren’t told a specific time.

Once arriving to the campground all we had to do was call a number to unlock the gate and then we paid for our camp site while we were in the car. After we paid, we were escorted to our camping site by a gentleman on a four wheeler.

The camping cite has a grill and electricity but we couldn’t find any water pump. But we brought water so we were fine. We were on a site next to the bathroom which also has showers, so it was easily accessible. There is a good amount of space for each site. You can definitely play some music at a low volume without disturbing anyone else. Another great aspect of this location is your ability to see all of the stars. There are no towns close by so the light pollution is low.

We are in November now and the weather is in the 70s during the day and 60s at night so the mosquitoes are not bad, but they are still present. Having a bottle of bug spray and maybe a fogger will do just fine in this weather.

Overall I am so happy with this campsite and it was perfect for what we were looking for.

This is a nice camping location…or will be when they complete renovations. They are still recovering from hurricane damage, so there was some construction and noise. The spaces are pretty tight, but not as bad as other places. And they are staggered so it feels roomier. we had a nice site with a shaded patio. Also a misquote problem! Lots of misquotes and no see-ums. But the pool, boat ramp, playground, and dog park are all open. 2 dog parks! The laundry, hot tub, and camp store are still closed. It’s close to the Big Cypress Wildlife area, and an easy drive to Everglades National Park.