Best Campgrounds near Ocklawaha, FL

We camped here with a mid-sized trailer camper. This campground is beautiful and well-maintained. Older, clean bathrooms with showers. About 3 miles to Mt. Dora. Lots of Florida campers here. Lower number campsites are not on the water with less gator sitings if that is a fear for you. We just saw one small one in the marshy waters near our site. Nice campfire rings and grills per site.

The stay here was amazing. We called the phone to reserve a spot and was told to pick a spot that was available. We picked a spot overlooking the back horse field and what an amazing view! The morning sunrise is beautiful and the evening the sky disappears into the earth. One thing to remember is you can pay by mailing a check or paying cash on site. Also a very quiet community here so you can rest with windows open with no problem.

This place has a boat/kayak launch right into crystal clear spring. The campground is well kept. Laundry and restroom facilities more than adequate. Very restful and peaceful.

Wonderful large private sites. Showers, laundry, store, restaurants and glass bottom boats and canoe , kayak rentals. Equestrian section also.

We recently stayed at Clover Forest RV Park in our 40ft Class A Motorhome, and overall, it was a pleasant experience. The park is clean and well-maintained, with nice amenities that made our stay comfortable. The pool was sparkling clean and provided a great spot to relax during the hot afternoons. The laundry facilities were convenient and well-kept, which is always a plus when on the road.

One thing to note is that the spaces are a bit small, especially for a larger RV like ours. It felt a little tight maneuvering into the spot, but we managed fine. The proximity to other campers wasn’t an issue, though it’s something to keep in mind if you’re used to more space.

Overall, Clover Forest RV Park offered a good balance of comfort and convenience. The small spaces didn’t detract too much from the experience, and the clean facilities and amenities made it a solid choice for a short or long stay.

This was a great spot. We visited during the week and hardly had any neighbors. There is a gate code to get in which made me feel very safe and secure. Gorgeous trees throughout the sites and nice little paths to explore. We had enough signal to watch a movie in our tent at night. The bathrooms were well maintained. I wish we had more time at this spot and so look forward to returning.

I was completely steered wrong listening to a reviewer saying Tropical was the better campsites. They're not bc virtually every one is a pull thru and those are inherently less private. When I biked through the Sand loop I was completely bummed bc they are huge sites with vegetation all around the sites making them awesome for RVs and privacy. The sites are all pretty big in both loops.   

The fact Tropical loop is marginally closer to anything is irrelevant and I didn't hear any noise when I biked through the Sand loop. I'd prefer privacy over marginal noise. 

Now the kayaking. I have my own so I just used the shuttle service which was like $16. I don't think I'd do this run again bc it's honestly too stressful. The current is pretty strong so you can't stop for a second really to grab a drink or take a photo bc you'll end up somewhere you don't want to be and that could be in the marshy grasses where I saw alligators hanging out. Yeah, yeah, ppl say they won't bother you. They don't until they do, just saying. I've paddled Rainbow River and that was lovely, super pleasant - in both directions. It's just the current here is so strong and it's a gosh darn obstacle course so there's no relaxing, it's not 'pleasant'. I leaned to go under one of the 110 (didn't count but seems about right) leaning trunks into the river and tipped my kayak so I had to jump out. I have my own, remember, so it's a lot more narrow than the barges they rent out which tip over a lot less easily. So all my stuff fell out, yay. So scootching down in my seat became the preferable maneuver as opposed to a slight leaning which would surely cause another tipping situation. I wish they would come along and remove all the tree limbs leaning into the river, but also understand that's probably quite an endeavor. 

Camping was fine, I have solar panels which did their job for a few days but I was pretty low on battery when I left. The tree coverage wasn't too extensive but it rained one day and was cloudy so that was part of the reason batteries didn't charge very well. It's interesting to note that this campground charges more for sites than the state campgrounds which actually offer water and electricity. Hmmmm  This struck me as any other campground with just less amenities and the nearest grocery store was a good 14 minutes away so come prepared.

We ended up Camping 1 weekend at this site. I called to make the reservation and reserve a plot.

The rep did give me a gate code and bathroom code. However, I'm not sure if you can "drive" to the campsite. None of the other campers had their cars near, and with the set up of Campsites, it's unclear where you would resononably park.

That being said, the bathrooms were clean and stocked, and while a bit of a distance, not terrible if you didn't wait to use them.

The firepits and grill provided are a bit old and rusted, so expect to use pots and pans and not the provided grill.

Our fire pit was a bit uneven, so we used metal stakes to level it.

We were pretty happy with the privacy, but to be honest, if other campers were present, we questioned how one would leave plot 6 and not walk through campsites 5 and 3.

So thankful for our host he is great as a host ,trys his best but he gets no help from frosest Rangers so good job Ed.hope to see you nest year

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!

This quiet camp is affordable and has complete hookups and canoe rentals. The hosts are very attentive and helpful. All the National Forest camps were full and the Outpost usually has an opening. This is old rural Florida, no glitz. We did a full day trip on the River. Lots of birds, alligators and very quiet and remote. GPS was misleading. The camp is located on the north side of the high bridge over the Oklawaha River on route 316.

The Oaks Inverness is an amazing hidden gem surrounded by grandfather Oaks and palms nestled near the banks of the withlacoochee River!! With ponds, Shaded lots, walking trail, pool house, clubhouse, all inclusive, 15 minutes from I-75, and near many attractions, you just can't beat what The Oaks Inverness has to offer!!

Great for overnight or visit to the area for a few days. We camped next to camp hosts. Mike & Helen were very nice. The young lady park ranger seemed a bit lacking in knowledge re: disabled veterans/persons. The other camp hosts began blowing sites off on both sides of us while we were packing up. They were loud gas powered leaf blower and she was 10 ft from me. It was blowing dirt and dust all around the site. They were doing the road in front of our site and the site next to us. I asked if they could wait a few minutes until we were done packing up. She shut it off, turned to her husband (who also had a blower) and said "too loud". I said I appreciated it very much, twice. They just walked away w/o responding. I mentioned it to the young lady ranger, and she just said they had to finish their job before a certain time. She didn't seem too concerned about disturbing campers. Roads were dirt and gravel and many sites were very tight. Site 7 was quite undeveloped. Thanks to Anderson levelers we were fine. 30 amp at our site. Lots of road noise, sirens. If all of the camp hosts were as considerate as Mike & Helen, would be nice.

Great location with plenty of dark skies. The spots are well spaced in the woods, with plenty of room. The location is great for visiting the prairie and easy access to Gainesville.

This is a great location to get away from everything, without going far. It has nice, spread out spots, and plenty of activities if you are outdoorsy.

Owners very nice, excellent walking and exploring near pathed walking trail. I tried Verizon, T mobile and AT&T for Internet all sucked. My starlink mini was slow and dropped often they have a lot of shade. Worse part we paid $46 a night water and electricity no sewage but we out in van to explore the town and the owners re rented out spots out! Big hassle but it was an honest mistake they offered other spots but being internet was so bad we thought we had the best spots they refunded us.