Best RV Parks & Resorts near St. James City, 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.

Hunt Camp, Okaloacoochee SF: We stayed at the nearby Overflow CG. I expect this would have been the same quiet and peaceful experience, as noticed during our walks by Hunt Camp. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(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 and/or view from sites. Cleanliness of whatever facilities are offered is important and usually noted in my review.

Overall Rating: 4.5 for large sites. No natural barrier in between. Price 2023: $ 10 Security: None Usage during visit: 1/2 to full. Site Privacy: No Site Spacing: Large sites. Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Required. Campground Noise: Quiet.
Road Noise: Adjacent to the road, but there is not much traffic. Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Non-potable water is available at the adjacent horse corals. Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Chemical toilets Showers: No Pull Throughs: No Cell Service (AT&T): 1 bar Setting: Adjacent to prairie with fairly dense low growing trees which obstructs view. Recent Weather: Sunny Solar: Great Host: No Rig Size: Any Sites: I like all of the sites. #3 is the best location in the loop.

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.

Panther Pond: We really liked this quiet campground with very secluded sites. More sunshine and solar at Okaloacoochee Overflow and Hunt Camp. To Do: Nearby trails here to talk of grass to comfortably walk in. Either not much recent horse traffic or they just have not been mowed. Either is probably due to this year’s wet winter .

Make sure to make the 30 minute drive to the board walk on Sic Island Dr. Short walk to the short boardwalk. Outstanding way to leave with a taste of the slough.

Bicycles on Wildcow Rd

(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4.5 for Great privacy. Price 2023: $ 10 for seniors Security: None Usage during visit: 1/4 full Site Privacy: most all sites – excellent, with shrubbery in between sites. Site Spacing: very nice Site surface: dirt Reservations: required Campground Noise: Quiet Road Noise: Maybe a little from Cow Path Rd. Very little travel. Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: no Sewer Hookup: no Dump Station: no none Potable Water Available: a couple miles away at Hunt camp there is a hand pump at the horse corals. Rangers say it is not portable.
Generators: allowed Bathroom: chemical toilets Showers: no Pull Throughs: None Cell Service (AT&T): one bar Setting: in a long pine forest, with lots of palm tree shrubbery Recent Weather: clear with highs in the upper 60s Solar: some sites. See below. Host: no Rig Size: 17 to 20 foot trailer will fit in some sites in my opinion. See below. Sites: Will easily fit a 17 foot trailer: 1,2,3*,5*,7,6,9*,11, *very nice solar at 2 PM, but not all day.

Overflow CG, Okaloacoochee FLSF: We had a peaceful experience staying here for 5 days.

To Do: Nearby trails here to talk of grass to comfortably walk in. Either not much recent horse traffic or they just have not been mowed. Either is probably due to this year’s wet winter . Make sure to make the 30 minute drive to the board walk on Sic Island Dr. Short walk to the short boardwalk. Outstanding way to leave with a taste of the slough.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good.

Wildcow Rd beginning at the campground is a nice walk. Three walks with only 1 vehicle during our walk.

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer. ) Overall Rating: 4.5 for mostly large sites, but no privacy in between. Price 2023: $ 11 about w taxes Security: None Usage during visit: 1/2 Site Privacy: Open Site Spacing: most of the 6 sites are large Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Required Campground Noise: Very quiet.
Road Noise: Wildcow, a backcountry road, runs along campground. Not busy during our visit, but can be more busy I hear. Could be a dust problem when there is less rain. Through Traffic in campground: Along Wildcow. Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Ram gets report as non-potable water at Hunt Camp, .25 miles. Generators: Allowed Bathroom: Chemical toilets.
Showers: No Pull Throughs: No Cell Service (AT&T): 1 to 2 bars. Setting: 3’ tall native grass in between sites. Recent Weather: Sunny, not too hot Solar: The best Host: No Rig Size: Any size. Sites: 1 is best. 6 is second, but closer to the road which was infrequently used during our stay. 3 and 4, unfortunately back up to each other.