Best RV Parks & Resorts near Punta Gorda, FL

I’m staying in the Palmetto Ridge loop which is the only paved loop & I think the only one w/sewer. The Big Flats & Old Prairie loops are gravel road, tight, no privacy & very small sites like for popups, vans or small campers. The Palmetto Ridge pull thrus are gigantic. I would say the vegetation gives semi privacy but they aren’t on top of each other so it’s not like you’re looking right at your neighbor. There is a picnic table & a fire ring. Gravel sites but pretty level. My site was 50 amp. Not sure how many are. Bath house & laundry facility appears clean. Pet friendly. The outpost is literally like 3 miles into the park down from the entrance & Palmetto loop. The store was nice & there was a food truck. It was a little spendy but good food. The river was low so the kayak rental & boat tours were shut down. Tons of great hiking & even some elevated bridges for site seeing. Tons of gators, birds, deer etc. There is also a scenic drive in the park, a “fisherman’s loop” & a few picnic areas. There are cabins to rent but I didn’t see them. Also never saw a playground if you have kids. Very dark & quiet at night.

Our stay here was a bit weird. Since it was March in Florida (and nearly impossible to find available campsites unless you reserved 11 months in advance), we called ahead to see if there was room. When Carl learned we only had a 17-foot camper van, he agreed to “fit us in”. Yes, there was a slot that we backed into and we had room to erect our screen room on the concrete pad next to our van but there was absolutely NO privacy between sites. Many of the people here were long-term residents and not generally vacationing campers. Although information says the rates range from $30-$60 per night, we paid $50, cash only. There were no restrooms on-site, but we were able to use the clean restrooms at the county park across the street (but had to make a mad dash across the busy road to get there). It suited our needs for two nights to enjoy small and quirky Matlacha, including walking distance to kayaking opportunities, but we wouldn’t choose to stay here again.

Fish Eating Creek Outpost : Trails and canoe/kayak shuttle provided Water is a bit low right now. There is a 2 mile trail beginning in the campground. There is also a 6.7 mile trail within a short drive from the campground. I have included a map for this trail in photos.

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. A selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy. Cleanliness of whatever type of the campsite and whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 3 Price 2023: $ 38 Usage during visit: Light Site Privacy: Open between sites Site Spacing: Fairly good Site surface: Most are paved . Some are soil/grass. Reservations: Accepted Campground Noise: Quiet during my visit Road Noise: Not noticeable Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: Some Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: At site Generators: At some sites allowed Bathroom: Flush Toilets Showers: Yes. Double Curtains Pull Throughs: Most if not all are back ins Cell Service (AT&T): 3 bars Setting: Open park like under large, scattered mossy trees . Recent Weather: to 50s for lows and to 80s for highs. Solar: In many sites should be good solar. The sites in P Loop probably will bony have adequate solar. Host: Yes. Staff friendly.
Rig size: Large rigs Sites: Perimeter sites are nicest in my opinion. Sites under the mossy trees are going to offer some shade.

P1-6 are my favorite sites here. They offer RVs more of a camping kind of atmosphere as they are a little more secluded. Not all have electric/sewer, so better check. They are under trees with moss hanging from them. Not all sites in P1-6 will accommodate a tall rig!

I live local and have been staying here in the pull through area a month until I transition to 100% travel trailer life. I have 2 50 lb+ dogs and there are many other people with dogs, plus a dog park. Park is very well kept, beautiful gym, pool, hot tub, and private island on backside to fish and other games like horseshoes. Love this place! Maintenance is A M A Z I N G!!!!!!!! I will be staying here again for short and extended periods and feel more than comfortable to recommend to friends and family. Laundry facilities and bathrooms are fine too. Dryers dry a full load of towels in one cycle, was pretty impressive! Also plenty of area to ride a bike a couple times around the park. It is also close to gas, grocery store and really good restaurants. Two thumbs up!!!

Ortona South Campground, ACE campground in Moore Haven, FL. We absolutely love staying here. There are no trails nearby (The unofficial trail near site 21 is closed off due to construction up river.)but a nice walk on the access road out to the highway is a 4 mile round trip from the back of the campground. Lots of dump truck traffic on this road from the nearby gravel yard. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71yr olds in a 17’ trailer. Our rating of a campground is influenced by the following: The general ambiance- sort of wilderness feel the campground gives us. Also, a selection of campsites which offer some visual privacy and/or scenic view is valuable. Cleanliness of the facilities that are offered is important and usually noted in my review. ))

Overall Rating: 4 for the spectacular views in most sites.
Price 2023: $ 15 w interagency pass Usage during visit: Full Site Privacy: Open. In our corner site , #21, we were able to swing our 17’ trailer around to offer much more privacy with the water view. This could be done with a small van as well or an RV pulling in nose first. # 20 is the most private site. Site Views: Some sites have very nice water views, others nice open grassland views. Noted below. Site Spacing: Good
Site surface: Concrete Reservations: Yes. Sites in this campground is in high demand.
Campground Noise: Quiet. Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: At sites Bathroom: One in each loop. Flush toilets. Old. Reasonably clean. Showers: Two showers in each bathroom with curtains which share a dressing area.
Pull Throughs: Some - in the first of two loops. Pull throughs all are in the first loop and include a double site.
Cell Service (AT&T): 3 to 4 bars Setting: Campground runs along a the Caloosahatchee River. Open grass land with scattered palm trees on the other side. The campground road runs between the campground and grass land in the first loop only. Recent Weather: 80’s for 5 of our days. Then it cooled off with some rain. Bugs: Mosquitoes are around in the evening, especially . Solar: Would be available in all sites. Host: Sites are near the entrance Rig size: Large rigs are fine in most if not all sites.

Sites: First Loop, just after the entry station (31-50): SITES ALONG CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER but view is limited : 32-39. 23 ,24 have a nice view up a waterway. Largest site occupying largest area is on the corner (no real view): 31. Fishing dock, access is between site, 32 and 33, and across from site 51. 44 and 43 are pull throughs, and do not offer as much as other sites regarding location/view. Same with the double back in sites,45 and 46.

SECOND LOOP, furthest from entry station: (1 - 30): #29 has a palm barrier giving picnic side nicer privacy. Sites 21 - 30 are right along the river, all with nice water views. #24- 30 , are the best water view sites. 21,22 and 23 water views up the river are a bit limited due to vegetation on the riverbank up the river. All these sites view the river down to the dam. Sites on the river side have more space between sites than the grassland side, 1-20. Maybe that is so sites on the grassland side can still see the river in between the more spacious sites on the river side. Across from #2,3,4 sites is the access to the dam crossing which accesses the fishing dock on the other side. The corner site, #20, offers the absolute most privacy of any site with a grassland view. (I liked the grassland view sites, but I prefer the water views.)

#1 has a building right behind it which detracts from, but does not eliminate the grassland view.

There are fishing docks on both sides of the Calossahatchee, but I have been told that the fishing on the other side of the river is better. The dam crossing to access the other side is open from 7:30AM untill 4:30PM.

All sites have a covered picnic table .

We camp Koreshan because it is literally less than 10 minutes from our house. We can set up camp and stay throughput the week even if the kids have school. It’s hard to book a weekend at any Florida campground in season so plan ahead if you want a Florida State park. This campground has short trails to hike through beautiful bamboo forests. A ramp for putting in your kayaks or SUPs as well as kayak rental. Locations to fish the river. You are a 20 minute drive to the beach from here. Very centrally located to shopping and farmers markets. Koreshan has a farmers market there at the park I believe on Sundays. The campsites have a fire pit and wood is sold at the entrance. It is a historic site of the early settlers of the area from the late 1800’s so there are historical buildings on site to tour. It is a pet friendly campground. The only reason I give this campground 4* rather than 5 is because of the road noise from Hwy 41 that it is off. It’s quite peaceful until you get a motorcycle racing up and down the highway at 2am. They do have specific sites if you wish to camp in hammocks. If you google the campground you should be able to find out which sites those are.