Best Campgrounds near St. Augustine, FL

If your idea of a sublime slice of heaven includes being surrounded by a body of water, complete with docks to tie up your boat so that you can rise early to hook lake trout, smallmouth and largemouth bass, black crappie, brown bullhead, yellow perch, landlocked salmon, chain pickerel, pumpkinseed, rock bass, smelt and northern pike (even though you are here in the south), then Georgetown Marina, Lodge& RV Park might just be the perfect place for you. I will add, this is a small fisherman’s town kind of place – don’t expect creature comforts here and modify your expectations that this spot is incredibly functional for those that just want to get on the water, fish and bring back trophies to carve up for dinner.

This RV park is a bit on the smaller side, and in all, there’s about 33 slots with FHU’s offering 20, 30 and 50 amp electric to choose from which the best of the lot being those sites (#1–#4) that are closest to the water or those sites that sit on the northern perimeter that are most isolated from the rest of this encampment thereby delivering a heavier dose of peace & quiet. Those sites that sit further back are quite crowded and offer no view, so look at this area as more of a glorified parking lot exclusively organized for RVs and 5th Wheelers. If you are a tent camper, this is not an ideal place for you, so I would recommend you look at other nearby accommodations. The gem here is the dock that will provide you with a place to house your boat enabling you again to access the lovely waters of Lake George swiftly and securely.

From an amenities’ standpoint, this watery outpost offers up marine fuel, docks, fishing and boating guides, airboat charters, facilitated gator spotting, bait & tackle for sale, boat storage, boat lift equipment, restrooms, showers and laundry facilities (that are just passable), scattered picnic tables and grills, dockage (up to 60’), airboat rides, narrow boat launch that provides quick and EZ access to Lake George, WiFi, concrete patios, pump out, fish cleaning tables with hoses, dockside lounge chairs, access to nearby springs, designated dump stations and a small marketplace in the main office that will sell you bait, lures, ice cream, candy bars, boat supplies, ice, beer and wine as well as souvenirs. In the event that you don’t have an RV, there’s 7 small cabins that this CG will rent you that come with LR, BA, BR that sleeps 4-8 people and kitchen areas along with screened porch.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Whether with a motorboat or paddling kayak and canoe, you will want to be very careful to watch the swarms of manatee that live in this lake; (2) If you’ve never gone out to see gators at night, you really should give it a try and here with Captain Adam Delaney, you’ll have an excellent time as this is his specialty; (3) At $45 / night, $225 / week and $450 / month along with $10 nightly dock fees this is a very affordable spot; and (4) While there’s not a whole lot in the surrounding area of Georgetown, there is a handful of restaurants like Idle Awhile Resort that serves up an incredibly awesome breakfast with local fare like River Shrimp Hash and Banana Nut Bread French Toast, The Oaks Golf Club Café offering proper British Fish-n-Chips and other American-fare as well as Renegades of the River featuring a Tiki Bar and its own kitchen dishing out calzones, pizzas and typical bar fare like cheese curds, fried pickles and wings but the dish that steals the show is the Catfish platter.

Happy Camping!

This is less an actual campground than it is a single gravel lane that runs parallel to A1A to the west and the white caps crashing down along a pretty spectacular piece of sand to the east where you’ll be treated to unbridled views of the Atlantic Ocean. So, technically I guess you could call this a CG, because there’s a designated place to park your RV or 5th Wheel (no, this is not a place for mi tent-pitchin’ bredren unless you like setting up camp on gravel with RVs on either side of you, and even then, I don't think they'll let you camp here in a tent), there’s a restroom / shower facility with a single coin-operated washer & dryer set and a perimeter complete with a key-coded security gate (which is pretty much open during the whole day), but other than the standard issued picnic table and fire ring at each site, there’s not much more to this place.

Oh, but hey, you have DIRECT access to the Atlantic Ocean on a pretty decent beach (albeit that had just been nearly completely wiped out recently courtesy of Hurricanes Ian and Milton).

The one thing I will say about this particular location – if you actually want to camp (er, park your RV) as close to the beach and ocean as possible, this is one of the very few places up and down the eastern Florida coastline that you can do this, while still having a fairly intimate, enjoyable experience. Add to this all of the other abundant natural amenities available in the other half of the park (just across the street, mind you), combined with being just a short drive to civilization back at Flagler Beach, and this spot is pretty difficult to pass up. Downsides? Sites are pretty close to one another and while there is decent brush-like perimeter that blocks you from seeing all the traffic passing by A1A, you will have next to no privacy between you and your neighbors here at this roadside CG.

Finding Gamble Rogers Memorial SRA couldn’t be easier, and if you’re heading to this CG, you’ll just want to turn towards the beach from A1A, where the entrance to the CG is immediately on your right. You need only drive down the single gravel lane until you find your spot among the 34 or so slots that exist after first checking in at the Ranger Station that sits opposite this location on the other side of A1A. Apart from the massive attraction that is the beachhead itself, for the most part, all of the other amenities that you’ll want to take advantage of here at Gamble Rogers will be found on the Intracoastal side of the SRA where you’ll find hiking paths, 6 different sized covered pavilions that are perfect for a small family of 4 or can fit a BBQing family reunion of 100 or so – but I would highly recommend for the larger sized planned group events to reserve well in advance. This entire SRA is pet-friendly and there is a sanitary disposal for RVs and 5th Wheels along with standard water & electric hook-ups.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you come toting a kayak or canoe, there is an excellent launch near the first set of covered pavilions on the Intracoastal, and if you don’t have your own, the good folks here at Gamble Rogers will gladly rent you one of theirs; (2) Whether you are staying beachside or riverfront, if you’ve got swimming on your mind, you’ll want to avoid going for a dip in the alligator-infested frackish waters of the Intracoastal and instead fare better in the ocean’s sea salt, but do beware of the warning flags as rip currents in this area can be quite unpredictable and thus dangerous; (3) There’s an excellent boat launch on the Intracoastal side with fairly wide access and a very minimal decline into the water, but you’ll want to motor slow given all of the manatees in the area;(4) The restroom facilities beachside are just mediocre and will certainly get the job done, but I found the bath house back on the Intracoastal side to be nothing short of spectacular, especially with the turbine-like ceiling fans that keep the place fresh and dry – not a bad place to hang wet clothes to let them dry; (5) When you grow weary of rummaging through your RV mini-fridge and wanna check out some local fare, while fairly touristy, we tried out the Funky Pelican, which has the long pier that was nearly destroyed from the last Hurricane that ripped through here, and have to admit that the seafood combination plate for $20 was most excellent; and (6) IMHO the best sites on the beachside are those located furthest south(#25-#34) as they are further away from the entrance and seem better shrouded from the traffic noise.

Happy Camping!

There’s very few SPs in Florida that will put you right on or near the ocean as Little Talbot Island SP does. And to be clear, this CG isn’t RIGHT on the beach, but you’ll just have to cross the street, after hiking or biking 100 yards from the campground, to reach the amazing white caps here. As my post from 2½ years ago provided quite a bit of detail on this campground, I’m following up on that review by sharing more fotos as well as providing a topline update:

Highlights: (1) Very quick access to the Atlantic Ocean – and the beaches here are not crowded and incredibly well-maintained - some of the cleanest I've ever encountered; (2) Solid peace & quiet surrounded by ancient live oaks just dripping with Spanish moss; (3) Amazing kite-surfing just due south of here at Huguenot Memorial Park; (4) The SP Rangers are incredibly friendly, helpful and very professional; (5) Approximately 4 miles of excellent paved biking / walking on the Timucuan Trail that runs parallel to A1A; (6) For anyone wanting to take iconic photos next to the ocean, go check out Boneyard Beach that has hundreds of salt-washed skeletons of live Oak, Cypress and Cedar trees; (7) Call upon Kayak Amelia for a guided tour of the estuaries; (8) Key-coded security gate provides solid safety, especially being located right next to A1A, where the opportunity for random, wandering visitors exist; (9) Bring your own kayak and canoe as there are access points to launch from right near the campground; and (10) Should you want to ‘get off the reservation’ you just need to head north to Amelia Island where you’ll have no shortage of AMAZING restaurants to choose from and there’s also a well-appointed Harris Teeter that has wood and ice for sale as well as just about anything you might need to stock up on

Lowlights: (1) While functional and fairly clean, the restroom and shower facilities are in dire need of refurbishment; (2) The sites are fairly unlevel with roots from the ancient and live Oaks popping up here and there making it very difficult to find a decent level patch of ground to set up camp; (3) Some of the sites have dips and depressions in them, making those particular areas prone for flooding – which happened to us; and (4) Mosquitos, midges and bugs exist here in swarms that never go away … so bring your repellent as well as smoke fogger machine!

Happy Camping!

If you come bearing an RV or fifth-wheeler, are 55+ and don’t mind living next to the swooshing 2-lane traffic of highway 17, then Bass Capital RV Park might very well be the perfect retirement sunset location for you. Located just a few stone throws from the 'Bass Catching Capital of the World' – Crescent Lake – this RV park(ing lot) is sandwiched between Crescent City to the north and Seville to the south. What this place lacks in terms of amenities and activities, makes up for being incredibly economical ($45/night) as well as conveniently placing you within spitting distance of both Crescent Lake as well as Florida’s second largest body of water, Lake George.

As for Bass Capital RV Park itself, this age-restricted retirement roadside stand is organized as a simple oval with a dissecting lane cutting through the fairly small football field-sized area, offering up about 60 or so individual RV slots, most of which are back-in, and just a handful that are pull-through with all offering up standard hookups (30 / 50 amp electric, water and sewage) and a picnic table as well as solid 8’ x 14’ concrete or pebble-strewn parking pads. Bass Capital offers up RV slot rental by the night ($45), week ($250) or month ($410), plus the cost of electricity.

Amenities: Clubhouse, Pet-Friendly, Private Lake with Fishing Pier / Dock, Community Events, Outdoor Storage, Onsite Laundr-O-Mat, Park Benches, Mail, Community Board, Doggie Park, Picnic Tables, Designated Trash Disposal and Endless Sunsets.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you are looking to get your angling on, I highly recommend booking a pro fishing guide over at 333 Fish Camp (you can check out my review on this spot on TheDyrt), which is just down the road from Bass Capital and if you do decide to book a guide, I highly recommend Cole, who is the onsite angling ombudsman who will not only educate you on how to fish, but more importantly, WHERE to fish at Lake Crescent; (2) If you have kayaks and canoes entowe, I highly recommend dipping them into Lake George over by Pine Island RV & Marina (you can check out my review on this spot on TheDyrt), where they have a proper boat launch, or you can simply push off from any of the lake edges that make up Lake George Conservation Area; and (3) When you get tired of trying to figure out what’s next for dinner or simply want to try out the local fare, I highly recommend driving (or boating) a bit further south to Astor where you’ll discover Drifters River Bar & Grill, which serves up some fairly decent glorified American bar food, of which I highly recommend the fried shrimp basket, seasoned fries and/ or the corned beef & cabbage.

Happy Camping!

This was our favorite campground to spend the winter months until new owner and managers took over in 2023. Jon has anger issues and no respectful communication skills. If he doesn’t like you, he trumps up an excuse to evict you. We have seen this many times. It’s like walking on egg shells all winter. Jon and Vickie are not consistent on their new rules, which change all the time. And, they don’t follow through with new improvements. They advertise a heated pool. However, it was inoperable one whole winter season with them saying,“it will be fixed in a few days”. The following winter season it worked but was not warm when it was getting nice to swim. The workers have no respect for campers and their personal property when they are mowing or blowing leaves. Snowbirds can no longer secure a reservation on their preferred site for the following season upon departure. Now we are put on a waiting list until November with the hopes we’ll get a phone call saying our preferred site is available. November is too late in the season to try to secure a site at another campground in the event a space isn’t available. How is this a respectable way to treat loyal, recurring snowbirds?!?! This new policy has caused them to lose multiple recurring guests. Sadly, a former beautifully maintained and friendly campground in a nice town is going downhill fast. Too bad there isn’t an option for negative star ratings.