Best Tent Camping near Panacea, FL

I stopped here for a quick overnight to tent camp off my motorcycle. Very easy to get in and out. It is nice having the convenience store right there. There are no designated tent sites, just an area to set up in. Mostly RV’s. There was only one other tent set up. Super quiet campground. Clean facilities. Will definitely stay again if I am in the area.

I love this place. It’s located in a unmolested part of Florida. Clean bathrooms and friendly staff. We tent camped and had 3 tents on one spot without feeling cramped.

Very family friendly.

Tent camping has no shade, privacy, or fire pit. RVs are all around you. And beware the Rocky’s gas station store nearby charges outrageous prices!

10 campsites all fairly spacious (too big for just me as I am solo tent camping). CG overlooks a small lake. Nice open day use waterfront area. Swimming area as well. The lake has a hiking trail encircling it. Showers had hot water, I was surprised. 2 mi dirt road to get to it. I recommend.

No complaints about this site; plenty of campsites to pick from even with about 6 other campers; space to spread out from others. Good for primitive tent camping. Had a fire pit with grill and picnic table. Right on the lake with pier access and boat ramp- pretty cool spot. Only lost a star because of previous campers leaving some trash behind.

4 stars for no water or electric hookups.. Also I don't do spiders and they are all over the place here.. And HUUUUGEEE at that. Fishing dock is nice and you can see lots of gators. I don't recommend swimming in the water, its pretty murky. Nice and shady spots and you can reserve ahead of time. Typically empty. We stayed a whole week and afew people came in and out to fish and tent camp. Stayed to ourselves.

This camp ground was fantastic for our church group. They had electricity and water by the tent sites and also a shower facility that was very well kept. The water is a very short walk and the beach is beautiful. At night the stars are like nothing you have ever seen. A blanket above you for sure. The only downfall is that we could not have our hammocks hanging up. This was a few years ago and may have changed.

This is a pretty nice campground. It is flat and sandy, with lots of palms and shrubbery dividing most spaces. We tent camped, but there were hammock posts at our site, as well as the usual fire ring and picnic table, and a water spigot. Our site was very roomy. There are tons of sand squirrels here--as soon as we got in, we took to the bath house (nice); when we came back our neighbors had weighted down our food totes as those (really cute, white) squirrels (read: jerks) had already tried to get into our food. I appreciated that the tent camping sites were clumped together so there wasn't an RV right on top of us.

The campground is right next to the river, which is part of the Ochlockonee River Paddling Trail (the lower part, map 5 I think). There is a very flat walking/biking trail with historical facts posted periodically, which goes around the small park, a swimming area in the river, a playground. Nearby there is another walking trail, for birding. There are no real strenuous activities here, I would say. There is a lot of neat flora and fauna (white deer!). There is also less neat fauna--horse flies. They bite and it hurts like heck. Cover up, with clothing or spray. No sitings of those big reptiles with teeth and dino tails.

Sopchoppy is the nearest town. There isn't a lot to do here, it's pretty remote. There is at least one fish shack. Head into Apalachicola for oysters, craft beer, beaches, etc.

The RV and Campground is small with eight covered spaces and room for some limited tent camping. Four of the covered spaces are right on the bank of the river with fishing available as well as a boat ramp for smaller watercraft. The space is shared by several full-time residents but it’s not overly busy or noisy. Management is very friendly and accommodating, but the restroom and shower facility leaves a bit to be desired. Also part of the facility is subject to partial flooding during some parts of the year. A fairly busy road is within hearing distance but not a problem as I slept well. I stayed two nights.

At over 200,000 acres, Tate's Hell is the second largest State Forest in Florida, second only to Blackwater River State Forest in Santa Rose County. That's Hell is located off of U>S> Highway 98 in  Franklin County, between the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee rivers. Check out The Ledgend of Tate's Hell on the State Forest webpage, https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Our-Forests/State-Forests/Tate-s-Hell-State-Forest.

For roughing it in the woods, nothing I have found beats Tate's Hell. With 36 primitive campgrounds (tent space, fire ring, and picnic table) with multiple campsites and 4 campgrounds with facilities (restrooms and some RV sites) there is plenty of room to camp and explore Tate's Hell.

The Womack Creek campground, where I spent one night, has both RV and tent campsites and a boat ramp with access to Womack Creek. 

Recreation opportunities include the High Bluff Coastal Hiking Trail which is part of the Forest Service's Trailwalker Program.

Stay here a lot on my way to southern Florida on the Harley. Cheap, good clean restrooms, gas station store. Some US98 road noise, but not too bad. $9 primitive tent, add $10 for electric in the tent.

Let me say first that St. George Island State Park is perhaps the main reason we purchased our small travel trailer in the first place and found groups like The Dyrt for insight for other places to explore. We visited St. George Island in May on Florida’s“Forgotten Coast” but the State Park on the island really stole the show. 

The first thing you’ll notice about both the island and in particular the State Park is how remote it is. The beaches are seemingly empty even during busy seasons. It has one of the most beautiful beaches in the entire state of Florida and as Floridian’s we are pretty particular. The beach is lined with beautiful sand dunes from one end to the other. The island is narrow with a single road maybe 5 miles long. The road was closed after the camp ground as they are still repairing the park from the last hurricane that hammered The Panhandle area of Florida. Not sure what's taking so long as State Park HQ is in Tallahassee only an hour or so away. 

The park has one camp ground and sites are very hard to come by. One visit and you’ll see why. Facilities are very well maintained with a friendly staff which is true for most Florida State Parks. There was a good mix of people camping in tents, small trailers and big rigs which is nice as many places in Florida are dominated by people who camp with everything they own and have rigs bigger than our house. 

You bring your own fun here so just chill on the beach. If you have kayaks or paddle boards bring em. If you have bikes, those would be good too. Fishing(check). You could probably catch dinner as there is little pressure on these waters. There is some hiking but just walking on the beach is great. Nice flat beach at low tide with hard packed sand from the outgoing tide will make it a great walk. 

Be sure to visit Apalachicola across the bay. A really good place to eat is the Owl Cafe and if you can get there for a Sunday Brunch, all the better. Very local, very southern, very authentic. 

We will be back for sure whenever we can secure a camping spot that fits our schedule. Hope it won't be too long!

I live near Ochlockonee River SP and I really enjoy it for day use and camping. Camp sites are indeed close and some sites might be hard for trailers, campers, or RVs but I have no problems with my SUV and tent. Is it miserable in April - September? I wouldn’t know because I stay far away from forests in the Florida summer! You will certainly experience mosquitoes and deer flies if you do go in the warmer months, which isn’t the park’s fault but be warned. I love the Ochlockonee River - it’s very serene. There is a boat ramp and fishing spots as well as a campfire circle, benches along trails, and places to walk along the river. The flatwoods trail is often very wet and you may need at least knee-high boots to get through it. I usually bring tall water boots everywhere but I can see how it’d be disappointing if you didn’t have any on you and couldn’t hike far! There are indeed white squirrels and deer, and lots of deer in general! Bathrooms were pretty clean and everything was functional. They also have a little library with books to read! They have a dumpster and dump station for holding tanks. I had good phone and LTE service as a Verizon user. Sopchoppy is indeed basically non-existent. It has gas but come prepared with other essentials. No major complaints about the park other than it’s a little small! Love it though!

Very nice and clean. Tent area has about 6 sites in a circle around a covered area giving each site shade, shelf, a light, electric and water. Sites have picnic table and fire ring. 6 private shower stalls, clean bathrooms, a clean pool, small playground and store. We have stayed here a few times in the tent area but they also have Rv sites and cabins.

Highly recommended, the campsites are fairly small but lots of privacy in an oak and pine hammock across from the beach. Not many tent campers when I went there, I think I was the only person with a rooftop tent. Almost everybody else was in RVs.

Electric and water at each site, nice facilities including showers. Make sure you get there before sundown so you can register and get your code for the gate. Luckily a nice camper let me in since I arrived after 7:30 p.m.

Absolutely gorgeous beach, very nice campsite.

If you forget to reserve, there’s a sign reminding you to call. 2 sites on the cash creek boat launch, both clean and scenic. The boat ramp gets some use (4 kayaks total for the day) but otherwise it’s very quiet. Bathroom available because of the boat ramp. It says tent only but the sites are big enough to back in a 20 foot trailer.

We stayed here several years ago. This is a pretty campground, but in the heart of summer, the mosquitoes and bugs were plentiful. It rained so much that our tent was virtually floating and we had to seek shelter in the bath house. We ended up getting a hotel that night. The island itself is beautiful. Great beaches that are not overcrowded and there is even a lighthouse.

Quiet small campground, clean and nice amenities, good park. Our site was very private. Overall great Florida state park campground.