Best RV Parks & Resorts near Palmetto, FL

The Good: Making a reservation was relatively easy, and contacting the office prior to arrival was met with very pleasant ladies on the phone. The location is great, very close to the theme parks in the area and grocery, convenience stores and restaurants nearby. The Bad: upon arrival you are presented with a set of rules as well as those posted on the web site. Well let’s just say they really don’t enforce them. For example they state no dog/pet pens, well there were plenty of them and no enforcement, so bring them if you have them. Another rules is in reference to your rig and it’s condition. There were a number of hunks of junk, so I don’t think that rule is enforced. The sites all have full hook up, but we had a premium site and it was on a patch of dirt/grass...I would recommend any of the few concrete sites if you can get one. If you can imagine the mess in your rig on our premium dirt patch (mud) when it rains...Reatroom/shower facilities are a bit dated and rundown, but cleaned regularly. The mini-golf course needs a cleaning and some upkeep. There are constant tour helicopters flying back and forth on a regular basis during the day (some noise). My suggestion for this Thousand Trails RV Resort is, it just needs an overhaul and update and can be special. Bad Verizon signal in our site and in and around the resort.

The park is clean, it’s the midsized Thousand Trails Park in Florida. Peace River is really pretty, very green and has a wooded section, a tropical section, and a flood section. We have seen Class As sink, so if you have a heavy diesel pusher, make sure you find a spot safe for your RV. Make sure you have a Clam or some kind of outdoor shade with a big screen because there are a lot of mosquitos in the evenings. There are Alligators along the River banks and in the woods.

The park is really quiet and the town nearby is very small. They do have groceries and fuel. There are not many attractions within an hour to go to. There are some local museums and shops.

Cell reception: minimal, it is put in the country for Florida, And the neighboring town is small. So there is signal but bandwidth is low because of so many RVers not counting towards the population of the area.

Ammenities: Laundry Pool Sewer pump out (one free per stay) Shower House A River Mini Golf (Needing updating) Camp Store Dump Station

This is a Thousand Trails property and there were some permanent spots, but this park does not have the typical built ins. There are several walking paths. The highlight of this park was collecting shark and sting ray teeth along the river. You can get wire mesh baskets in the office to aid in your search.

Although we enjoyed our time here there were some serious concerns with flooding. Many large rigs were parked in the flood plane which encompasses a large section of the park.

There are some sewer available sites but there is a strange lottery system. Every day about 1pm you go sign up for the lottery system to shuffle your RV to a sewer site if you’re lucky enough to get it. They failed to tell us you have to show up daily. It was pretty frustrating. They offer (1) free pump out. Many will stay at this park for 3 weeks. If you have your own laundry machines - you won’t be able to use them. The laundry available on the property was pricey.

All in all we did enjoy our time here but we arrived prepared and it’s more camping than an RV Resort.

This was our second camping trip as a couple and the first in our travel trailer. I don’t have much to compare it to so take this with a grain of salt. Upon check in you have first come first serve. Since we were not camping with others we were looking for a wooded area and ended up in C-56 which is the 4th to last spot before the water view spots. We were quite satisfied with our somewhat private site which was a quick walk to the walking trails and Peace River. We have a Thousand Trails 1 year pass with purchase of our trailer which saved us $50 per night. Many of the campers we spoke to were Thousand Trails members. We won’t be visiting campgrounds for the amenities as we use this time to get away and reduce typical socializing so I cannot comment on the condition of the pickle-ball courts or pool.

Allow me to begin by saying I have never been to a large RV campground… ever! This place is so huge that you won’t be surprised if you get lost in this place at least a couple of times before you find your slotted RV destination for the night. Also, I was amazed by how close to the concrete jungle you are at this place, but once you turn on the winding little lane that will bring you to this megalopolis RV circus – fitting given your proximity to all of themed amusement parks! – after crossing through the entry gates, you immediately lose sight of all the traffic, noise and business as you are swallowed up by the lush verdant trees of pines, palms and Ancient oaks. 

As for the campground itself, you’ll enter off the very busy 192 and head south on Scott Boulevard, where you’ll pass 3 intersecting lanes before arriving to Sherwood Forest RV Resort. There will be plenty of signage, so you shouldn’t get lost arriving here – it's another story once inside this massive compound. To navigate yourself to the proper location you have been assigned of the 514 potential overnight possibilities that exist, you’ll first want to stop off at the administration building, where they should give you a map – and if they don’t, be sure to ask for you, because you’re going to need it! Basically, this entire place is back-to-back RV’s parked at a diagonal with very little to no privacy whatsoever and given that Sherwood Forest is so heavily populated, you are going to encounter both a decent amount of traffic (the golf cart kind) and noise. And while I would normally encourage folks to get as close to the pool area as possible, I found this main congregating place to be quite jam packed and noisy. 

Amenities: Clubhouse / lounge, mini-golf, basketball, dog park, RV storage, restroom / shower facilities, horseshoe pit, WiFi (at a cost away from the main building), shuffleboard, darts, fitness center, in-ground heated swimming pool, nearby Tiki bar, LP gas refill station, laundr-O-mat, ballroom, mail room, library, banquet hall, catch-and-release lake fishing, marketplace store, playground, game room, billiards, whirlpool / spa / hot tub, picnic tables, pavilion areas, fire pits, BBQ grill, designated trash receptacles, trash compactor, cable TV / satellite and back-in / pull-through sites with full hook-ups (30/ 50 amp electric, water and sewage). In addition to all of the amenities, there’s also a ton of activities, including live music concerts, potluck dinners, BBQ cookouts, dance lessons, ice cream socials, craft-making classes, outdoor chess, mini-golf tournaments, church services, aerobic dancing, exercise classes, line dancing (yeehaw!), board game nights, Bingo, card playing as well as formal holiday dinners around Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) The best sites, in general, are all of the ones that are completely on the perimeter of Sherwood Forest RV Resort, specifically sites #1– 137 (you will note that there are a handful of cottages and cabins for rent in these slots as well); (2) When you get done staring down the inside of your cooler or mini-fridge and are looking for a place to sit down and eat for a change, then there are no shortage of food joints to have a look at, including: Krispy Kreme (my personal favorite), Cracker Barrel (my personal least favorite restaurant in the universe), Longhorn Steakhouse, Ichiban Buffet, Martin’s BBQ, Olive Garden and 192 Crab & Lobster Juicy Seafood & Bar;(3) If by chance you have forgotten anything, avoid paying double or triple the price at the on-site market by going to either Walmart or Publix, which are both about a mile and half away; and (4) If you would actually like to enjoy a bit of the outdoors while staying at this RV amusement park, go for a day trip to Lake Tohopekaliga, which has some pretty amazing bass fishing as well as a few choice places to drop your boat into, like Twin Oaks or Cherokee Point Conservation Areas (and if you don’t have your own kayak, canoe or boat, contact Wild Willys Airboat Tours and they’ll show you around). 

Happy Camping!

Ok. I will try to sum this place up in as short of a review as I can. If I could give this place no stars I would.

Pros:

I don’t really have any Pros.

Cons:

• Not all hookups are full. Must enter lottery to get full hookup site. Wasted 3 hours pulling into one spot. Have to sign up, enter lottery, look at spot, go back hope your name is called, if it is move again.

• Laundry is broke! Numerous people who have been here for longer then a month have said they have been broke since November.

• Swimming pool is like taking a warm bath with 60 other people.

• They charge $5.00 per item to receive mail. Yes you read that right. If it’s an regular envelope it’s $5. Medication. Yep $5. Got three post cards from aunt Mable. $15.

• Staff are the most ignorant I have come across on a 7 month road trip around the country. Ask a simple question about laundry room and the employee coped a huge attitude. The two maintenance men were awesome. But front office staff are HORRIBLE.

*** IMO thousand trails maybe good for some people however they are the biggest waste of money I have seen.