Best Cabin Camping near Okeechobee, FL

Recently took a road trip from New England to Florida with my family and had the pleasure of staying here at the Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

This state park accommodates RVs, tent sites, and cabin rentals with two camping areas -- one (Pine Grove Campground) located close to the entrance, right off of US Hwy 1 and seems to be more geared towards RV sites and the other (River Campground) located about four miles into the park along the Loxahatchee River. We stayed in the River Campground.

Spacious sites offered: water, electricity, a picnic table, & a fire ring… and grounds include two well kept bathhouses with laundry facilities. Trees were sparse in some sections so be prepared to create shade. Our site was visited by a young raccoon who didn't seem fazed by us at all; just wanted what we were cooking.

We only stayed for one night, so we weren't able to take in all the park has to offer, but we did walk some of the nature trails along the river towards the newly built amphitheater and swimming area. Unfortunate for us, the swimming area was closed during our stay -- which would have made the stay twice as nice… but the views were still incredible!

If we ever find our way back to south Florida for camping, we'll definitely come back here.

If you love camping, wildlife, and stargazing but still want the convenience of amenities (i.e electricity, running water, bathroom, shower) then this is the place for you.

Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park is part of IDA International Dark-Sky Places. The park has little light pollution and also a stargazing pad where you can also camp on.

The campgrounds aren't large but the campsites are good for tents and RVs. The one site we stayed at had water and electric hook-ups and a firepit. We were close to very clean restroom area that also had showers, washer and dryer. They do have primitive campsites for the more rustic individuals. The campgrounds are about 45 minutes from town, but the ranger station sells ice for $2.50 and firewood purchase is by honor system. We also saw other campers with their dogs so pet-friendly as well.

Lots of hiking trails and so much wildlife. We saw deer grazing near our campsite!

Make sure to bring lots of mosquito repellent, especially in the summer months. Otherwise you'll get bit...a lot! But it is Florida after all.

Hobe Sound FL Jonathan Dickinson SP This park has two campgrounds. Pine Grove Campground, has 90 sites, it is located near the ranger station. These large sites have more space between and foliage for privacy. Sites have clothes line, fire pit, picnic table and are all level gravel. Very nice clean bathouses with family room. None of the washers and dryers were working. There's a playground and picnic Pavilion. Some road and train noise. Had good downpour today and had a little lake at back of site but within an hour it disappeared! Great place to stargaze. Saw a  great full Wolf Moon.

River Campground is more rustic, it has 52 sites, is about four miles from the park entrance, near the Loxahatchee River. Sites close together, no privacy. The River CG is great if you plan to fish or kayak. Close to boat ramp. Sites are dirt. Also more mosquitoes. There's major utility construction going on next to this camp right now. 

Good things- Miles of paved and off road bike  and hike trails, great bird watching, star gazing, canoeing, kayaking, fishing. Seasonal horse back rides. Fun and informative boat tour to Trapper Nelson's. There's a great learning center. Amazon delivers to Ranger station. Stores and restaurants a couple miles away.

Spent 2 nights here to a full campground. Facilities all in working area. Large graveled lots with picnic table, fire ring and bbq grill. Sewer, water, 50/30 amp power. Paved roads with some paved walking trails. Plenty of gravel trails. Ample restrooms and showers. Like 1 bathroom/showerhouse for every 20 campsites with vending, washer,dryers and book game share spot. The buildings are kept clean. Also a nice dump area. Dog cleanup stations are along trails.. Bonus they have a clothes line at each site to toss your towels etc over to dry. T-mobile 3 bars LTE or -104db inside rv. Staff very friendly and helpful at check in. A place to come back to. They also have planned activities throughout the week. During work week you hear road noise from USHwy1. If not for the morning and evening traffic on 1 this would be a 5.

My movie of camping area on youtube.

https://youtu.be/xZbjPdWI4QA

General: Small family-run KOA campground (33 sites) located 1.5 miles north of Fort Pierce on Highway One. All sites are FHU with a combination of regular, premium, and extra-large sites. There is also a tent site area. 

Site Quality: All sites are level and gravel with a fire pit and a brick patio area with a picnic table. Typical RV park layout with minimal to no privacy separating sites.

Bathhouse: Two unisex all-in-ones that were clean and air-conditioned. The shower had immediate hot water and good water pressure. 

Activities/Amenities: There is a small playground and pet area plus a clean spacious laundry area. It is close to town. There is a manatee center and Navy Seal Museum (but we didn’t explore either one) close by in addition to shops and restaurants in Fort Pierce. I was able to enjoy a 3-mile run to town and back on sidewalks. 

This campground was more expensive than we usually like to spend but it was a convenient location for us to have dinner with a family friend. We arrived after the office was closed so did not have any interaction with staff but our check-in paperwork was readily available. We appreciate that we were tucked in at the rear of the property which lessened the road noise (and we didn’t have neighbors on either side of us). I would rate this three stars for our purposes but as it was well-kept and for others may suit their needs, it merits four stars in general.

Our visit was relaxing and enjoyable. We visited in July and the shade from all the trees around our site helped keep the heat tolerable. The camp site’s aren’t dispersed and a little close together but we didn’t have any immediate neighbors around us so it was perfect. We stayed on site 008 and it was spacious enough for our large cabin tent, picnic table, additional table, dog pool, chairs, etc. Our site is conveniently close to the bathrooms. I liked that there is only one main dumpster and it’s kept a distance from the camp sites. I think this helped keep any raccoons that may have been around away from the campers. AMAZING star gazing location.

A new casino is being built beginning Summer 2023 with expected completion in 2025.  We were told the majority of the campsites and cabins will house the construction workers for the casino project.

PROS 

Prearrival text regarding checkin and checkin documents left at campground sign, but it had rained and documents were unreadable 

Deon was very helpful upon arrival 

Security code for bathhouse entry 

Over 65 and veteran discount 

Site 312 concrete pad level 

Site 312 paver patio surrounded by sand and weeds, but most sites had manicured grass. 

Nicely spaced sites. 

Very clean bathhouse during the week. 

5 washers and 5 dryers at $2 each in Park laundromat. Office sells quarters. 

Quiet. 

Saw Seminole police patrolling frequently 

TMobile 4 bars. 

Park had WIFI but we did not connect. 

CONS 

No security gate so LOTS of drive-bys 

30amp breaker overheated and tripped 3 times during our 7 night stay 

Site 312 absolutely no shade 

Not permitted to select site online when making reservations 

Absolutely no bathhouse cleaning Saturday and Sunday so by Sunday evening it was pretty nasty 

Price increase 8/1/22 that we had to pay even tho we made reservations during March 2022 

Need to bring-your-own fire ring, but wasn't informed of this requirement until we arrived 

No picnic table at site upon arrival. Notified camp office who advised one would be provided first thing next morning by park maintenance. 

Day 2. No table. Stopped by camp office right before noon and reported no table delivered to site. Then the excuses started from Jodi, the park manager…only one maintenance man…picnic tables are disappearing overnight and that’s a problem…now have 3 sites that need a picnic table…staff believes other campers see a unoccupied site and drag table to their site…there were 63 tables when the season started… No mention of when picnic table will be delivered to site. We offered to help get it. Told maintenance man is working on it. 

Day 3. No table. 

Day 4. Stopped by office at 9am for an update on when to expect a table. Spoke with Jodi again. She had no update. Same excuses as I heard on Day 2 but she did mention that NEXT YEAR she was going to need to anchor the tables at each site so they don’t disappear. I mentioned seeing 4 tables at the firepit area. She said we are welcomed to take a table from the community firepit area and move it to our campsite but those are needing replacement boards badly(her words). 

Never got a table. Just too heavy for us to drag one from the firepit area to our site, which was a bit more than a half block and the maintenance man never delivered one.