Best RV Parks & Resorts near Ochopee, FL

We had an exceptionally unpleasant experience due to the pet policy being misrepresented. We paid in advance, their policy, for the entire month of February. We had to sign a document stating the payment was not refundable. Before signing, we read through the policies that affected renters, like the pet policy and did not see anything out of line with other RV parks. We set up our exercise pens for the dogs, like we've done at every RV park for the last 30 years. We were informed that exercise pens violated their policy. We had not seen that and asked that it be shown to us. They showed a construction policy that stated owners were not allowed to build a fence on their property. We had not built anything on their property, but they maintained that an exercise pen was a fence and had to be taken down. Our dogs are quiet and love to bask in the warm sun. It felt like a cruel expectation for them to have to stay in our RV 24/7 for a full month. They suggested that we could tie our dogs out on the lawn, but they are escape artists and we could not risk them getting away. We again stated that we were not in any way violating their policy. They were very indifferent. We could not put our pets through being confined to and RV, so we immediately left. They refused to refund our money, offer a stay at another date or even offer any kindness at all. This is truly the worst experience and poorest treatment that we've ever had at an RV resort.

Burns Lake: This is a fine campground. The only redeeming factor is the lake. RV sites are not that great in my opinion.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

To Do: The smallest Post Office in the USA is close by. Oasis Visitor Center has gator viewing.
Visit all the nearby boardwalks are worth a visit.
Do a Ranger led wet walk. It is out of this world.
Drive to Shark Valley and take the tram (reservations are best), bicycle the 12 mile loop or walk part of it. The gates open at 9:00 AM for park parking. Fills up, thus slowing entry into the park. However, parking is available along the highway. We parked there, just past the no parking signs. We then walked in at sunrise for enjoyment before the crowds. Some folks were biking at that time as well. Beautiful. Gators began sunning themselves by 9:30AM or so. Drive to Everglade City for a boat ride out to the bay. Fantastic experience. The BCNP Visitor Center can tell you who to contact to make reservations. We went on this trip a couple years ago.
Airboats and swamp buggy rides are popular. We did this as well, but preferred the other activities in the end. However, how can you pass up on a fun airboat experience. Unlike the Everglades the full campsite discount for seniors is offered here.

Overall Rating: 3 - not picturesque . One of our least favorites. Others we have talked to love this campground. Price 2023: $ 12 w interagency pass Security: Must drive be host site. Usage during visit: Full Site Privacy: None Site Spacing: Close as Monument and Midway Site surface: Grass Reservations: Required Campground Noise: Quiet during our visit Road Noise: Less than Midway and Monument
Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: At Midway Potable: Water Not available. Fill up at Midway. Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Pit toilet Showers: At Monument Pull Throughs: all Cell Service (AT&T): 1 Bar Setting: Around Burns Lake. Lake view from all sites. Recent Weather: Unusually wet winter Solar: Solar will be great in the RV sites.
Host: Yes Rig Size: Largest is fine in RV sites.
Sites: None of the sites really appeal to me. Other people I have met love it here. #10 is the best RV site. Id rather be in the tent only area. It is nicer than Monument and Midway tent only sites. Campers and vans use these sites, I noticed.

We first came to Koreshan ( core-resh-in) as a place to get near Naples to visit relatives. The campground is mainly two circles, one inside the other. Sites are small but manageable and have relatively good screening between sights. There’s kayaking on the river and a little bit of hiking. The main attraction is the historic Koreshan commune. It’s a short hike along the river. There’s lots of wildlife snakes, gopher tortoises, etc to see and some very cool giant bamboo from the original gardens. If it’s windy stop and listen to the bamboo! The historic buildings and information is very interesting, very odd beliefs and well kept.
There are frequent gatherings at the historic site such as vintage camper trailers when we were there.
Bathhouse is in serious need of renovating, but is kept clean. It’s located in the center of everything and sometimes quite a walk depending on your site. The campground stays pretty busy all year.

The camp at Bear island is has a good location to camp with tents and rvs with clean bathrooms with toilets no showers no electrical or water for rvs. Even though it looks close off 75W you have to go through the loop to actually get to the camp ground. There is a mix of campsites raging from a loop to a straight road with camp sites on each side. Wildlife includes white tail dear, black bears and alligators. Non were present near the camp site but we saw them on our way back on the preserve grounds.

Arrived here for a three-night tent stay in early December. The staff was very friendly. The comfort rooms spotless and modern. New-looking washer and dryer. The RV spots are very close together. I got spot #79, on the North side, conveniently close to the restroom but also close to San Marco Rd over the fence. Remarkable how, having so much land to build a park, that loop was placed so close to the road and therefore to its noise. On the way out, I drove around the tents' loop (no spots had been available at the time of reservation). May I recommend that tenters strive for spots 1 to 16 which are on the tent loop and far from the outside road. They are private, with vegetation between spots, unlike the RV side, where I set up my tent.  The grounds are kept so well at this park, with open grassy areas trimmed and neat. There are kayak and bicycle rental stations, photos included. The waters of the inlet are tranquil. Truly spectacular and peaceful. There is no camp store, so bring your firewood and supplies. The nearest Publix is about 8 miles away, but there's a gas station just west of the Park's main entrance.  The mosquitos will quickly invade your tent, so shutter it well before sundown. Spot 79 has gravel and grass and is level. So are most spots as far as I could see. The picnic tables are a bit too big for the normal 8ft "mosquito tent." Each spot, RV or tent, has electric, water, and fire pit.

Midway Campground- Ochopee, FL: We were here a few years ago and had to come back. This is a great campground in Big Cypress Wilderness Reserve at mile marker 52 on route 41 Tamiami trail. No water or sewer hookups, but there is electric at the site, fire pit, picnic table and good sized spaced out sites. Dump station and potable water available. Host was very friendly and checked on campers regularly. The 26 mile loop road is very close and a great way to experience Florida & Big Cypress backcountry and wildlife from your car or bike. Plenty of hiking trails in the area as well.

There are plenty of RV spots around a cute lake. We stayed in a tent only campsite which was a little farther from the lake. They were far apart from each other and did not seem too crowded. It seems every site was full the weekend we camped there. There is no shade in the tent only campgrounds and as this is south Florida, I recommend bringing some sort of pop-up or tarp to escape the sun. They had pretty great fire rings that were high with a grate across the top. There is one building with bathrooms and showers. It was pretty clean while we were there. There is also animal proof trash cans that are near by as well.

Keep in mind that there are no stores anywhere near this campground. It is located in the big cypress preserve almost right between Miami and Naples. You have to bring everything you need with you (water, firewood, food, etc). There aren't many activities in the campground besides a short walk around the lake. The lake is NOT for swimming as there are gators so you'd have to drive to get to the activities.

All in all it is nice if you are looking just to relax and hang out around your campsite for a few days but it is a littler underwhelming.

Midway in Big Cypress: This is our forth time here. We love this campground, though the sites are open. All trailer sites look over the lake which is in the middle of the campground. This campground seems to be very conducive to meeting people. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. A selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy and/or view from sites. Cleanliness of whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 4.5 for the lake view Price 2023: $ 15 w interagency pass Usage during visit: RV sites full every night. Tent sites accommodate vans, rooftop tents…. Site Privacy: None Site Spacing: Fair Site surface: Blacktop Reservations: Required Campground Noise: Tent area - defiantly.
Road Noise: Tent area - defiantly. From # 21, yes. Through Traffic in campground: Folks might come in to have picnics at tables around the lake. Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: Yes, at the dump station. Generators: Allowed. Bathroom: Flush toilet. Only one stall in the men’s. Clean. Showers: At Monument Lake CH, 20 minutes. Pull Throughs: None in RV Loop Cell Service (AT&T): Site 21 usually has 1 bar. Sites at the near the end have weaker reception. Setting: All RV sites are situated around the lake
Recent Weather: High 50s to 80s. Rain Solar: Plenty in the tent sites Host: Three Rig Size: Largest bus RVs are here Sites: 19 - 26 are best shaded sites. 13 and 14 are corner sites with less shade . 1 is near a shed, but a fine site. Picnic tables along the lake and in between these sites: 22&23, 3&4, 11&12, 16&17. (On nice weekend days you can expect small groups using these spots for day usage.)

Arrived at this campground with 2 other RVs already camping. One we never saw the people at all, the other one drove by but really never saw them either! Another arrived later on in the evening and a photographer came to shoot some night bugs and left before we woke up. Nice, quiet place to stay the night. It is close to the road but that was  not bothersome at all. Electric hook ups only with water, garbage  and dump on site. Sign said pick a spot and pay at the kiosk. $30/night cash only. One loop with pond in the middle with signs to beware of alligators though we never saw one. Bathrooms also available and both RV and tent sites and day use.

Campgrounds are based all around the lake they have bathrooms and hookups for electric on designated rv sites. Tents are set only on a separate designated area. Great to see tons of alligators.

Great camp sites, leveled with electric for the RVs and tent camping off on the side. Clean bathrooms (no showers) and dump station. Attendant was friendly. Central pond for fishing just watch for the gators.

Pinecrest: Group camp. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. A selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy and/or view from sites. Cleanliness of whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 3.5 for a group campground Security: None. Isolated.
Usage during visit: Empty Site Privacy: None - Two defined areas Site Spacing:
Site surface: Grass Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Quiet Road Noise: No e Through Traffic in campground: No reason Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: At Midway CG Generators: Yes Bathroom: Pit toilet Showers: No Pull Throughs: Yes Cell Service (AT&T): 2 bars Setting: Open grass area surrounded by trees Recent Weather: 50s to 80s. Some high winds. Tornado warnings Solar: Yes Host: Not on premises Rig Size: Can accommodate large rigs Sites: See pics

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

TL;DR Great for RVs, sucks for tents

Stayed for 2 nights in the tent loop in early January and encountered several problems with the campground.

1. Every night at 7pm the tent sites were swarmed with a fly hatch (may flies, I’m guessing). We couldn’t breathe without inhaling them. All campers were forced inside their tents at that time and for the rest of the night. Fires didn’t help. We mentioned the situation to a Ranger who was picking up the trash outside of our campsite and suggested that they refer new comers to a different section of the loop because sites 8-10 were the worst. Ranger said it was not her job and that she would not pass the information on to the camp host. Their RVs were parked RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER and we saw them drinking together at sunset, since their sites didn’t have the fly hatch, but no: She would not pass this along and spare the next campers. The positive is that the mosquitos weren’t bad. Just cleaning the dead bugs from your ears and nose gets nasty fast.
2. Old reviews on the campground mention that there are showers. In fact, there are showers in the restrooms. However, no one is allowed to use them except apparently the camp host and ranger. We had been snorkeling the day before and wanted to rinse off the saltwater. When we asked the camp host where the closest place to buy a shower was, she said she had no idea and suggested we go ask some other campgrounds and see if anyone would let us. This seems like something a camp host should know. But for reference, the answer is: there aren’t any showers for sale. The best we could find was 10 miles west down the road at the Skunk Ape Museum there’s a campground that will sell you a $25 tent site and as many people as you have with you can shower and then just not use the site. For a family, that’s a decent deal. For the 2 of us, we just went on without them. We did see people washing their hair and taking birdbaths in the dish sink if you need.
3. As we were packing up, a ranger dropped by and we spoke briefly and pointed out a fire ant mound near our site that we had been fastidiously avoiding. She immediately came back and threw some kind of stuff on it that causes them to run away and create a nest elsewhere. She clarified that it was NOT an insecticide and all it did was make them mad. No surprise, they ran over onto us and started biting us. She could’ve just waited until we were done packing up, but again, no one who works there seems to think that tent campers are part of their job. I’m pretty pissed about the fire ant stings though. It’s one thing to not know about showers, it’s another to sick fire ants on people while knowingly saying “this’ll make them mad!”

So basically the review is this: if you want to boondock in an RV, this is a beautiful place to do it. It’s got a little pond with a couple of gators and beautiful views of marl grass prairie. You can get away from the fly hatch, take a shower, block out the night traffic noise, and hopefully avoid the fire ants. For tent camping, this place was the worst we’ve stayed in for a while. While a lot of things can’t be controlled, the host nor ranger were ever helpful (and sometimes actively making the experience worse!), though they were very chummy with RV campers. Bathrooms were clean though, which was fantastic.

Mitchell’s Landing: this isolated campground has an airboat launch area. I met a man, Bill, who grew up on this property, owned by his Miccosukee family until the mid 70s. According to him, the department of the interior, reneged on their promise that this land would stay in his family. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. A selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy and/or view from sites. Cleanliness of whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 4 Price 2023: $ w interagency pass Security: No - Remote Usage during visit: Light Site Privacy: about half the sites are spread out in an open park lake area. Are very nice. Some sites are very nice. I was those below. Site Spacing: the nicest sites are pretty good in this regard Site surface: grass Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Quiet when we were here Road Noise: too remote. Through Traffic in campground: None while I was visiting. Electric Hookup: no Sewer Hookup: no, no Dump Station: at Midway campground. (30 minutes). Potable Water Available: The closest water is at Midway CG (30 minutes). Generators: allowed Bathroom: pit toilets. Moderately clean Showers: no. Pull Throughs: some Cell Service (AT&T): three Setting: surrounded by trees Recent Weather: very mixed this year. 50s into the 80s. Solar: some Host: yes Rig Size: 30 footers are here. Be careful with site you choose for that size Sites: my favorite – 4,5,6,7,10, 8 Okay:15

Overflow CG, Okaloacoochee FLSF: We had a peaceful experience staying here for 5 days.

To Do: Nearby trails here to talk of grass to comfortably walk in. Either not much recent horse traffic or they just have not been mowed. Either is probably due to this year’s wet winter . Make sure to make the 30 minute drive to the board walk on Sic Island Dr. Short walk to the short boardwalk. Outstanding way to leave with a taste of the slough.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good.

Wildcow Rd beginning at the campground is a nice walk. Three walks with only 1 vehicle during our walk.

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. ) Overall Rating: 4.5 for mostly large sites, but no privacy in between. Price 2023: $ 11 about w taxes Security: None Usage during visit: 1/2 Site Privacy: Open Site Spacing: most of the 6 sites are large Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Required Campground Noise: Very quiet.
Road Noise: Wildcow, a backcountry road, runs along campground. Not busy during our visit, but can be more busy I hear. Could be a dust problem when there is less rain. Through Traffic in campground: Along Wildcow. Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Ram gets report as non-potable water at Hunt Camp, .25 miles. Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Chemical toilets.
Showers: No Pull Throughs: No Cell Service (AT&T): 1 to 2 bars. Setting: 3’ tall native grass in between sites. Recent Weather: Sunny, not too hot Solar: The best Host: No Rig Size: Any size. Sites: 1 is best. 6 is second, but closer to the road which was infrequently used during our stay. 3 and 4, unfortunately back up to each other.

My husband and I lucked out to get an absolutely gorgeous day to tent camp at this campground. The next day was back to Florida’s hot and humidity. This campground is in one of natire’s most wonderful places, big cypress national preserve. This campground has tent and rv sites. No electric sites. We went on a Sunday and the whole campground was full, it’s a popular spot, would recommend making reservations in advance. There are vault toilets over on the rv sites and flush toilets by the tent sites. There are campground hosts, fire pits in the tent area, and a lake that does have alligators, because this is Florida. The nite sky was perfect so many stars to see. Little to no noise pollution. Make sure to bring your insect repellent, I got eaten alive once the sun started setting. No trails at the campground but there are trails within big cypress. Tent campsites were level and not right on top of one another. There were a few trees for shade as well.

This place will not take older motorhomes regardless of condition. This is very disappointing when you take pride in your older rig and keep it nice : (

Did not have reservations but were able to find a spot and reserve/pay online once in the park. FYI site #87 is surrounded by foilage and is semi private;). Water and electric hook ups with shower, bathrooms, dump and garbage available. The road is near by but was not noticeable while elating outside. Beware of bear signs around so do not leave food about. There were a couple walking trails and a dock. Very nice place to stay, would stay again.

This is a small but beautiful campground with just enough to have a comfortable stay. Sites are spacious, but oddly configured so they end up feeling closer than necessary. I was basically standing at the neighbor’s fire pit while setting up my camper; so close that I felt compelled to make conversation or it would have been very awkward. I could have roasted a marshmallow on their fire from my water hookup location…

Pros: -The staff is friendly and helpful. -Spacious sites -Feels secluded but only 5 minute to a Publix and 15 to a shopping mall

Cons- -pretty far from all the Big Cypress and Everglades visitor centers -some sites are close together and few have privacy -gets very soggy after a rain (huge puddles, mud everywhere after one thunderstorm)

Long story short- can’t beat the price for water and electric hookups, but I’m sure there are better campgrounds around.

FYI- they are not kidding about locking the gate at night! Make sure you call ahead if you will arrive after sunset or you will not get in.