Best Tent Camping near Ponce de Leon, FL

My family and I stayed here for one night in July 2020 as our midway point from GA to Texas. We stayed in site 44 and it was private and near the bathrooms. All the sites had gravel, a picnic table, and and a fire pit as well as a clothesline. There’s a path to the beach from the bathhouse. The bathhouse was very clean and there were men and women restrooms as well as private bathroom/showers.

We fit 2 tents at our site. It was so humid and muggy I cowboy camped on the gravel with my picnic blanket and sleeping pad. Everyone else slept in the tents without the rain fly’s for some ventilation. It was a nice, clean, and quiet park and we felt very secluded in our site. There was WiFi and cell service (2 bars for Verizon).

Each site has electric and water. There’s a dump station near the entrance/exit of the park. Overall, lovely experience and I would definitely stay here again.

Nice primitive campground located near 30A beach. The road leading in is sandy and gravely. The site was for tent camping and offers a picnic table, grill, fire pit, food/lamp pole and a porta house (which was fairly clean, considering). There was also a pier close by. The bed was gravel and uncomfortable but they were actually repairing it while we were there, so it should be quite comfortable for your stay! No hookups or water. We stayed at campsite #1 which had plenty of trees for shade and was closest to the water, but they all looked nice. The beach is right across the bay so it's a short drive to the ocean. Quiet and clean, we stayed four days and had a neighbor for two of them. He seemed respectful to nature and gave us no issues. Overall would stay again, just remember there is no shower to get off all that sand and sunscreen!

I initially had a reservation at one of the primitive camp grounds, but my reservation was cancelled due to flooding that closed all three primitive camp grounds. Better yet, I got an RV spot on the day of arrival. Great pull-through sites with fire ring, picnic table, water, and electricity. Pitched my tent on the banks of Sand Pond.

The two-mile Campground Trail, part of the Forest Service's Trailwalker Program, winds along the banks of Cyprus Pond, through the mixed hardwood/pine forest, and around Sand Pond. This is a nice and easy, well-maintained, level trail.

Was lulled to sleep by the croaking of bull frogs while watching the moon rise from my sleeping bag. A thoroughly enjoyable stay.

We arrived at a very clean, gravel campsite with a picnic table, fire ring, water & electric access, as well as a clothes line. Because we were tent camping, the gravel made it difficult to pitch our tent on site. Luckily, we had enough space and privacy on our site to unload the car and sleep in the trunk of it. The bathrooms were kept very clean, and the showers were fantastic! The beach itself is kept extremely clean and is beautiful. The volunteers do a wonderful job around the campground. Here you will find a family friendly stay! I would for sure visit Henderson Beach again for the clean facilities, beautiful beach, and local attractions.

We were initially assigned to site number 10 which was small but fine because we were tent camping. After a quick set up we started walking around and found site number 16 open by the water with a breeze. We drove up to the front confirmed availability and moved camp. Keep in mind this is not the beach, it is a lake but also has a trail along side where we walked the dog which was nice.  Ground is gravel but not difficult to stake. Bathroom facilities were very well located in the middle of the inner loop. Our site was on the outer side of the loop but paths to the bathroom are easy to find because there are reflectors making it visible with a flashlight at night. We only stayed one night but would definitely come back and bring bikes so we can check out the cute little beach town nearby.

I liked this forest and thought it was very pretty. Good distance to beaches, although I didn’t see a way to walk to the beach - we drove. I would not chance the forest roads in a sedan. You might be okay if it stays dry but if it rains you will not be in good shape. Lots of roads and trails to explore.

Pros and cons of each campground

Campground 1 Pros: can park in your site, further apart, no highway noise Cons: only have access to a tiny part of the lake, breeze kind of blocked by trees

Campground 2 Pros: beautiful lake view and easy access to water, prettier view, more breeze Cons: traffic noise, cannot park in your site

Both campgrounds have a bathroom (I did not use so not sure of conditions). Every site has a fire pit, bbq pit, picnic table, and lantern pole.

Would definitely camp here again.

We called ahead to reserve tent sites and ensure they had electric and water on every site. Upon arrival, we were told all sites to the right edge (water side) and right of the road were tent sites. However, the first half of this row has electric for rv’s only. Moving down the row, the sites had no electric or water hookups. The last sites were in complete sun and next to a boat ramp. All the sites had trash on the ground and none had picnic tables. The showers were just curtained off from the bathroom with no privacy, hook or bench. The staff was unwilling to help and we left without staying.

What a wonderful place! Let’s start off with the super sweet lady at the office she was the most kind welcoming person I’ve ever met! Checkin was quick, the office had supplies and firewood. Our site was a tent or Rv, we were camping with a roof top tent on our suv. It was back in which worked fine for us. The site was clean and tidy with a picnic table, fire ring, water and electric. The restroom and shower facility was very clean, hot water and heaters for winter. The roads around the park were all paved and nice for walking or biking. Lots of wildlife! The park was beautiful and well kept up, we will definitely be visiting again!