Best Tent Camping near San Mateo, FL

Fantastic campground and recreation area. Over 150 campsites, one area full hookups with all amenities and other area for tent camping. Sites have lots of space and majority have shade trees with moss flowing in the breeze. All sites have picnic table, lantern pole, grill, and fire ring. We have 2 golden retrievers and had plenty of space to spare. Beautiful stars out at night. Bathhouses are large, clean, hot showers. Trailer sites were full and only a few tent campers this time of year. Tent sites are complete with Bear boxes at each site. Camp hosts and management were very friendly and helpful.
Saw manatees kayaking in the spring and river on premises. Spring area has a boardwalk around it. People swam with them too. Saw bald eagle catching fish, lots of birds, some fish, etc. Has a small boat launch and marina. Can tent kayaks. Great place for bikes. A few hiking trails were well maintained.
Convenient location to lots of springs to visit and things to do. Visited Silver Springs, Blue Springs, Juniper Spring to name a few. All within 1 hr drive.
Not sure how summer time is, but this late February time was Awesome. 40-50 at night and 60s in the day! This is a must stay place.

**Campground Review: **

Bayard Conservation Area is located in Green Cove Springs Florida and is maintained by the St. Johns River Water Management District. It is a track of land that has many hiking trails that traverse through shaded pine forests, hammocks, marsh, and river areas. 

We have day hiked here many times, but this trip we were going to do some primitive camping at one of the campsites. There are several areas to park and then hike in. The campsites are a few miles from the parking area. They include a fire ring and a picnic table. The campsites have several different settings, but we chose the river view. On our way to our campsite we were able to spot many animals including: deer, otter, turkey, and wild pigs. 

The area is kept clean and is quiet with the exception of a bit of noise pollution from the surrounding area. However, this does not distract from the experience. We enjoyed our overnight backcountry trip and highly recommend Bayard.

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**Product Review: **

As a Dyrt Ranger I receive products from time-to-time and this time I am testing out the Pureland 30L Guard Backpack sold by Outdoor Element. 

There are so many things to love about this backpack. The extensive cording and hooks on the outside made attaching extra items a breeze. I was able to store my trekking poles and Jetboil on the back with no problem. The hip pockets were an added plus and fit my cellphone inside of it easily. The room inside of the backpack was able to hold everything I needed for an overnight trip– including my bulky sleeping bag. The only two things that took away from the backpack was the inside zipper and the water pouch. The zipper on the inside of the bag came off the track with only a light pull while the bag was empty. It did not have the integrity that the zippers on the outside had. My 3.0L reservoir would not fit all the way in the provided pouch and hung out the top a bit. After the whole trip, I sincerely love this pack and will be using it for all of my hiking and primitive camping needs!!

Easy to get to and close to everything! If you’re a beach lover, this is a great campground. All of the sites are shaded with fire rings, water hookups, picnic tables, and lantern holders. Most sites offer a fair bit of privacy for you set up camp properly. Each loop has a clean restrooms, laundry facilities with a clothes line and Coquina (the loop we stayed on) had a playground.

Would recommend bicycles to get to the beach and either SUPs or kayaks to paddle the salt run at high tide. I’d you don’t have your own, they rent them there. There’s also a beach grill and convenience store by the beach.

If you’re an early bird, watching the sunrise from the beach is quite a nice way to start the day!

PROS

A camp host came to our site immediately after we unhitched to advise that our one tow vehicle tire on the grass will get us a $250 fine from US Forest Service officer. Funny, we never ever saw a USFS officer patrolling the campground. 

Entrance gates closed at 8pm requiring code to enter 

Immaculately maintained park. A small army of maintenance staff always working. Even one night at 930pm in the bathroom. 

Saved $156 with America the Beautiful pass 

Site 32 shady 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded with sandy gravel 

Moveable metal picnic table 

Pedestal BBQ grill 

High sided metal fire ring with 2 unremovable cooking grates 

One hook lantern pole 

Campfire wood for sale at registration office 

No street lights in campground so good dark sky viewing if neighbors have their rig lights off which most nights they were lit up which also lit up surrounding campsites 

Able to get T-MOBILE signal on our T-MOBILE WIFI device 

Many squirrels ate from our hand 

CONS 

In 8 days never saw a USFD vehicle drive thru the campground

$8 fee to make on-line reservations 

Site 32 not level 

Absolutely no privacy from any other site 

In 20 degree exterior temperatures, both campground bathhouses had windows open, whole house fans operating in full capacity and ceiling fans operating on high. Obvious park maintenance does NOT want anyone taking a shower when interior bathhouse temperatures were in the 30s and the bathhouse was a freezing wind tunnel! It was even difficult using the toilet. 

Loud and rowdy campers all weekend long—day and night. Quiet hours not enforced

Highway 19 traffic noise 

USFD clearing project on east side of campground. Heavy equipment noise for 9 straight hours day after day!!! 

No notice water outage for 2 hours 

No park WiFi 

No T-MOBILE cell service 

No public phone for emergency calls

Sawgrass Island Preserve is a unique piece of property.  I love hiking on the north side of the property it looks so much like Old Florida.  I like to go across the causeway and down the Bog Button Trail and over to the Hammock Trail and along the Cactus Trail and down around the ponds and back out the Bent Pine Trail.  This is around a five mile hike and can be stretched out by doing the North Loop Trail also .  I have seen several whitetail deer, sandhill cranes, lots of other birds, quail, and some turkeys while hiking.  I also saw a black bear up a tree in the marsh.  It is a hidden gem for sure.  The south side is nice but gets super sandy in places due to horseback riders.  And if you have horses the preserve allows riders and even has a spot or two with water for the horses and some picnic areas with hitching post to tie off horse and have some time to eat.  Some trails are narrow and give the feel of actually walking in, in the woods!  I haven't camped there but they have two primitive campsites on the Hammock Trail near the marsh with a fire ring, picnic table, and lantern post.  There is also a horse campsite along the Cactus Trail down near the ponds and there is an open pole barn with two roomy stalls for horses and picnic tables and a fire ring with benches.  Also room to pitch tent under barn too.  There is no water available at any of the campsites.  Could be a fun adventure waiting in Old Florida.  There is a camping application to fill out on line at www.lcwa.org and a  small fee, but if everything checks out ok at the end of the stay after a Ranger has had a chance to check out the site your fee is refunded.

We found this fun family friendly location from a facebook post about Tree house camping and had to check it out. Making reservations was pretty easy on the county website. There are a number of forms you will be emailed to print and fill out(will save you a lot of time if you plan to use the pool that is run by YMCA) 

Check in was easy. The office is closed form 12– 1 so no chance of checking in early. There is a Girl Scout Museum near the main office where you check is– but is rarely open. This was an old girl scout camp and now id open to the public. There are many different types of cabins available for rent, tent sites and 9 tree houses. Each area set up as a grouping with a bathhouse and kitchen pavilion. 

The tree houses were so fun to stay in and being higher up gave us chances of a breeze– many in our group brought battery operated fans. Though there was a threat of rain all weekend we stayed high and dry in the tree houses(2 sides are only screened) 

There was a very large lighted screened kitchen pavilion with fireplace, stove, fridge, sinks and covered outdoor grill. There were other campers in the tree house area we shared this community area with. It was great to have a place to hang out during the rainy evenings. Bath house was centrally located and clean. 

Pool was very nice and very strictly run by the local“Y”. It was closed a lot due to distant rumbles of thunder but we did get a few minutes to enjoy. 

Trails were well kept and took you through the property and past many of the grouped cabin areas. One boardwalk took you out to the river and fishing dock another out through the area by the tree houses. 

It was a good 10 minute hike with our gear to get to the tree houses from parking area near pool. Wagons are provided but pack light to save the trouble. 

Summertime this place is a kids paradise. There were lots of families, parties and groups on the property when we went. Fall and Winter we are told is the best time to camp here but we were advised to book early! 

Remember to Leave No Trace and enjoy this one of a kind experience!

Florida has many many different camping options.  I was looking for something unique and different from what I'd done before and this place popped up on my radar.  Definitely Different and Unique for Florida. And the perfect place to review my icemulecoolers.com 

Campground Review:

Camp Chowenwaw is located in Green Cove Springs, FL adjacent to the St. John's River and on Black Creek.  It was a Girl Scout Camp for 70 years and is now owned and operated by Clay County, FL (https://www.claycountygov.com/departments/parks-and-recreation/camp-chowenwaw-park).  There are many different styles of camping available here with lots of privacy between the different sections.  

I chose to camp in the Treehouse Point for a weekend where there are 9 Treehouses available for camping.  A group of us went and had Treehouse #4 and #5.  Each screened in non electric Treehouse slept 4 in bunk beds.  There were several central fire rings with a picnic table/benches throughout the unit.  A shared bathhouse with toilets, sinks, lights, and hot showers was available in the unit also.  There was a central dining hall for all of Treehouse Point with electric, lights, fans, inside fireplace, stove, refrigerator, sink area, and porch with outside charcoal grill and picnic table.  

Even with sharing the dinning hall with other campers it was great since it was big enough and everyone was friendly.  The Treehouses are spread out with some trees in between so they are semi private.  The pool is available but doesn't open til 10 am where as we were all ready to go earlier since it was HOT.  It was very enjoyable but HOT in July with no electric in the Treehouses.  We had no issues with mosquitoes or yellow flies and the frogs serenaded us every night loudly, so that was a cool experience.  We had decided not to take kayaks since there was a bit of a walk into our area and we didn't want to leave them in the parking area on our vehicles, which turned out to be a good decision because the kayak launch was under repairs.  They are planning on upgrading a lot so it should be great soon.  They recently upgraded and replaced the fishing pier and its awesome.  We are planning to go again in the Fall when its cooler.  I would recommend this place for a unique experience.  On a side note:  Green Cove Springs has a pool also in a community park on the St. John's River that is spring fed and would be a cool stop.

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Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products.  A Camp Chowenwaw I tested the icemulecoolers.com.  I got the ICEMULE Pro XL (33L which equals 24 cans plus ice) in Camo.

1.  What I loved about the ICEMULE was that I could wear it like a backpack and be comfortable and free my hands for something else.

2.  I loved that the straps were wide and comfortable.

3.  I also loved that the chest cross strap could be moved up and down to make it more comfortable for women to use the chest cross strap.

4.  The straps had lots of room to make smaller or larger so it will be great fit  for a variety of people and body styles.

5.  It kept my ice solid for three days in the FL heat.

6.  It has a port to add air to enhance the coolers insulation.

7.  It holds A LOT!!  I had 9 bottles of Propel water and 2 bags of grapes and 1 whole bag of ice.  It wasn't too heavy and there was room for much more.

Only draw back I had was that the camo style is fabric and tends to sweat a lot.  The other colors are vinyl and don't seem to sweat.

I'm ready to use my ICEMULE Cooler again.  I even want to take it kayaking and get some more accessories for it from their site like a dry bag and a waterproof box.

Located at the southern tip of Rodman Reservoir, which is one of the major water tributaries that you can float around the NE perimeter of the Ocala National Forest, you’ll discover that this backwater camping outpost sits on 7+ acres of heavily forested woods and offers up 3 distinct types of camping opportunities: RV / 5th Wheeler, primitive tent-camping and cabin rentals. While apparently long a bastion of this particular area, dating back to the mid-80’s, Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost has been under new management for the past few years. Unlike many of the CG's in the area, this river-front, nature-embracing outpost is smaller than most with only 22 sites available.

Situated just west of the tiny hamlet of Eureka in Fort McCoy, you will first spot the area designated for RVs, 5th Wheelers and trailers a moment or two before arriving to Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost as this spot sits alongside the roadway with 2-3 gravel pathway access points before actually making your arrival to the main office and beyond it, the main parking area. In all, there’s some 11 slots available with FHUs offering 30 / 50 amp electric, water and sewage connections along with a picnic table and fire ring at each site. Being next to a main artery of Rodman Reservoir, one always needs to be aware of elevation, in case of flooding, so what we noticed immediately, even before arriving to the Ocklawaha main office is that both the RV-designated area as well as the main office sit on more elevated land, which is a bonus in case of flooding. Unlike the cabin and primitive tent camping areas, the RV-designated area does not possess much of any shade. At $40 / night (and $45 / night including bath house) and $240 / week ($270 / week including bath house), we found the pricing here to be just about right.

For those of you thinking about renting one of the 6 log cabins that exist here, what I liked most about this particular set-up is that all of these units are located in close proximity to one another – we’ll call this the cottage enclave – which combined, share the community amenities specific to this community. Bear in mind, these cabins are not pet-friendly, so leave your 4-legged friends at home, or look to one of the other 2 modes of camping here. You have your choice between a one- or two-room cabin, both of which offer heat, A/C, furnished with bedding, towels, dishes, pots, pans, microwave, mini-fridge, small cook top and coffee pot. Each cabin also comes with a porch offering semi-privacy to take your morning coffee as well as brand-new Weber charcoal grill that sits in front of each cabin along with an in-ground fire pit. At $134 / night for the single that sleeps 5 (with 7 being the max) and$154 / night for the double-cabin that also sleeps 5 (with 6 being the max), considering the location of where you are at, combined with the amenities provided and the relative quality of the cabins, I found the pricing to be fairly economical. The prices decrease substantially to $109 and $129/ night respectively if one books multiple nights, which makes this a no-brainer for even a short stay.

With mi tent-pitchin’ bredren in mind, you’ll appreciate that of the 3 available types of camping here, the area reserved for setting up your own non-mobile, semi-permanent nylon camping haven will place you closest to the river, where within 50-60 yards you’ll easily be able to access the Rodman Reservoir from a decent-sized tributary. While obviously that’s a huge plus, you also want to be careful about knowing when it’s going to rain and for how long as this also would be the area that gets the most flooding if there was any. Another bonus is that the tent-sites ARE pet-friendly, so you can smile as those cabin campers stroll past your sites (while your mutt barks at them). As for the grounds themselves, there’s 2 different areas that the pathway to the river’s edge dissects in half with 4-5 sites being available on the one side and only 1-2 sites being available on the other, which will provide you with just slightly more privacy. There’s not a whole lot to these sites, where you’ll simply have a picnic table and fire ring, but you’ll be surrounded by a great tree line and solid brush, albeit you won’t have sheltered views between sites. You’ll also want to take note that, again, the pathway to the river runs through the primitive tent camping area, so while not heavily trafficked, you will certainly experience pedestrians and fellow campers coming and going. Cost per night for tent camping is an acceptable $25/ night (up to 4 people, and $5/ pp after that), which again, scouting the area and staying in a few other places, seems about right.

Additional community amenities not already mentioned include: community bathhouses with impeccably clean restrooms and well-maintained showers, ping pong, recreation room with board games, corn hole, canoe & kayak rentals w/ shuttle service, horseshoe pit, kid’s playground and a small pond that is stocked for simple, yet enjoyable ‘catch & release’ as well as firewood available for sale @ $5/ bundle.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) This CG is right on the Ocklawaha River populated with dense wetlands, marsh and semi-tropical forests sprouting sable palms, swamp maples, the odd pencil-thin towering pines and submerged cypress, so the owners are very smart to have organized a few different river experiences that you should definitely take advantage of with 2 different outfitters being Gores Landing and Rays Wayside, both of which offer up canoe ($52 / $85), solo ($42 / $75) and tandem ($62 / $95) kayak rentals as well as transport ($25 / $60) with respective pricing and seasonal availability. There’s even overnight river trips that Ockalawaha will help you set up, where pricing depends upon the specific drop point and number of nights you might be interested in. Please note that all of the above runs everyday except Tuesdays; (2) While you of course can get on a kayak, canoe or boat to catch some fish, if you don’t want to, you can simply cross the road from Ockalawaha CG and access the Wildlife & Fishing Area that has its own set of public docks and piers that you can cast a reel from – and in fact, these spots are very well-maintained and offer up some magnificent views of the head of the 100-mile Ocklawaha River as she flows southernly from Rodman Reservoir; (3) If you want to indulge in one of Florida’s greatest treasures, you’ll need to visit a natural spring and the good news is that there’s several of the state’s best springs surrounding you here, including: Salt Springs, Homosassa Springs, Deleon Springs, Silver Glen Springs, Alexander Springs, Juniper Springs, Silver Springs and Rainbow Springs; (4) If you’ve got fishing on your mind while in these parts, expect to be hauling in crappie, sunfish, small- and largemouth bass, catfish and bream; and (5) The owners Lance & Theresa are absolutely wonderful people that will do whatever it takes to ensure your stay is flawless!

Happy Camping!