Oscar Scherer State Park Campground

We stayed at this state park for the weekend. The staff was awesome, the park was well maintained, and we didn’t even have any overnight wildlife visitors in camp. We will be back.

Nice park. Lots of trails. Convenient location right off of highway 41, but sites are far enough in that it's quiet. Beaches are close. Restaurants are close. Power and water, but no sewer connections at sites. There is a dump station and dumpsters near the entrance of the camping area.

Great location between beaches, trails, and place to stay.   Restrooms/showers were clean and staff were very helpful.

Had a very nice time with my family this past weekend. I was very pleased with everything about this place, the bathrooms were clean and plenty of them throughout the campground. The location of this campground is right in the middle of at least 4 different beaches. Our site didn’t have much shade and it was really close to the creek. All in all we were all happy campers 😉

Unfortunately, red tide has killed many of the fish in the creek and the smell was terrible. No mention of this was made when we checked in. Our site (17) backed up to the creek and it was littered with dozens of dead fish.

Was a great trip. People was super friendly. Good restaurant near by. Am planning a return visit.

An old school typical Florida state park. It is located in the middle of an urban area, yet feels really remote. It is older, but the bath houses are immaculate, the showers are hot and have great water pressure and it’s apparent the volunteers and camp hosts take great pride in keeping it that way. There are daily activities (which we did not do), and several trails right from the campground that we hiked. The beaches, stores and crowds are all nearby if you want that stuff.

….in with other campers. People! Get on the FL State Park site & be creative! Go to Highlands Hammock! Try Collier Seminole! Look up the Nat’l Park in the Everglades! Anywhere but here. So many people make it awful.

We live very close to Oscar Scherer enjoy camping getaways. The sites are private fairly big, and well kept. There are no full hookups but there are 5 pull through sites. The hiking, biking, and kayaking is great. If you are visiting the area, it's a perfect location in Central Sarasota. Venice is 15 minutes south, Sarasota is 20 minutes north, the beach is 10 minutes away. There are great restaurants in the area. So if you want to getaway and never leave, there's plenty to do without leaving the park. If you want to see Sarasota County, then this a great place to.use as home base.

Private site. Clean amenities. Nice place

My husband and I camped here during Sukkot and enjoyed every minute of our stay! We were greeted with professionalism and courteously upon arrival and not hassled during our stay. The sites are snug but provides lots of privacy. They have an amazing bike trail that links to other parks!

Beautiful park campground on waterfront. Great trails, there is a swimming pond. We saw signs on gators, never noticed any though. Well maintained, clean bathrooms and lots of privacy on sites. The only problem is we had our tent flooded and had to sleep in a car as rain was really heavy. Also lots of bugs, be prepared as it’s waterfront.

Spent 2 nights here on our way further south. Hoped to do some biking on the trails, but it was just too hot…summertime in FL, I knew better. Stayed in site 104, thought a pull through would be quick and easy. Site maddeningly un level for our 32 ft class C. Finally just gave up. Also, lots of sun on this site if that’s what you are looking for. Would go back, but I’ll pick a different site.

Stayed here for 5 days in the heat of summer. Located just outside of Sarasota and on the edge of Nokomis. Very “old Florida” with lots of palm hammocks and scrub oaks. Cant say. Much about the creek running behind out site as you really couldn’t see it. Most of the sites are decent size. Gotta dodge the trees at some sites. Very quiet. Only has one dump station… needs 2 for a campground this size. RV’s were lined up early morning. Great hiking and a paved bike trail which was really nice. Takes about 20” to get to down town Sarasota. Close enough to Myakka State Park for a day trip.

Pros Nice staff, clean baths, wooded sites, several walking/hiking trails, great biking on the park and Legacy Trail.

Cons

1. Dump Station Location (blocks exit)
2. Camp map hard to read
3. Waterfront site if they cut all the bushes down. Only a few sites could see the water.

Need To Know

1. Swampy, so bring bug spray
2. Lots of Poison Ivy

Stayed at Oscar Scherer on a weekday in June. Very quiet. Short, easy hikes. Lush foliage makes each site private. Nice long pull through site #104. Quite narrow and crumbly macadam. Bathhouse dated, needs renovation but clean enough! Enjoyed a day of peace and quiet under the live oaks and sabal palms. Plenty of trails for two small dogs.

Have waited six months into our RV life to start reviews for fair comparisons. Stayed 2 nights in 35 foot RV+tow car in 2 different sites,$36/night. The sites are tight width wise, not even able to set up our usual outdoor patio space, and very close to the next site on either site. But the vegetation is thick giving it incredible privacy for the space. So much to do within the park(hike, bike, watch bald eagles nesting, birding, gopher tortoises) and from the park (direct access to the Legacy Trail). Loved it here. Wish we had stayed longer.

This campground has more to offer then just a few sites. It has so many bikes trails and hikes that kept us occupied all day! Clean bathhouse and a community sink! We stayed at Site 20 which in my opinion was the best site out of all of them... secluded with lots of privacy and a view of the creek that runs through the campground!

The park has great trails for hiking and bike riding. The campsites are nice, decently spaced. Some pull through, some back in, water and electric vary by site. Bathhouses are clean, well ventilated.

Note, gate closed at dusk, call ahead to get the gate code or there is a mile plus hike to find some one with the code. Don’t ask me why I know that.

Great Florida State park. We stayed in site #22. Sites have water and electric and are dirt. Most sites are on the smaller side being shallow and narrow. Our site was great. Shaded most of day and wider. Site #21 looked good too. There are a few pull through sites and some non pet sites on the creek. Most sites are surrounded by greenery so you are buffered from your neighbor. Park has nice screened in area for wifi. There is a small beach/swimming area which was great cause it's hot!! Park has mostly paved roads, a nice picnic area, trails, and some fishing spots. Park is located about half way on 10 mile paved multi use trail-Legacy trail. This was a great trail for biking. Multiple stops along the way but mostly in full sun. You can launch kayaks from park and kayak south creek. There are several hiking trails but we did not use due to weather being too hot.

Place is very clean and organized. We were at lot#6 right in front of the bathroom. Overall we like the place. We did only stay one night , so we didn’t get to know much about it.

Like all the Florida state parks, the campground is well-maintained and clean. Lots of trails to explore, easy to launch my kayak from near my campsite. I was at Site 17, which was a bit tricky to back my 15 foot camper into. It also wasn’t level and was next to the trail path, so there was a lot of foot and bike traffic. I would go for one on the main loop next to the river if possible. Beware that the line for The dump station will impede your attempt to leave the park close to check out time (1:00). Good cell service with Verizon.

We stayed in site # 98 which was very private, we had water & electric, picnic table & fire pit. Clean restrooms, a nature center, kayak launch & kayak rentals, a small lake you can swim in and some hiking trails. There are some really nice sites #19, 17 near the lake, in our loop #86 is the biggest but you have to have 2 water hoses to reach the hook up (they just updated some things in the park they may have corrected this but not sure). There is water behind the site you can fish back there. Sites #44, 45, 50, 75, and 73 are all good. 

We kayaked, swam in the lake, went to Nokomas Beach & Venice beach, Venice Rookery, it's a nice area to visit. 

We did have some interesting neighbors who got thrown out after 6 hours of honking their horn & yelling crazy stuff but they escorted them out & they are not allowed back in. 

Restrooms near us were small but very clean.We will go back it's a great campground.

Where are the pictures of the campground? I’d like to see what kind of conditions the camping area entail!

Oscar Scherer State Park has a diverse range of things to do. Many beautiful hiking trails comprise the swampy scrub. Check out the Legacy Trail that slices it’s way through the park. Sign up for the Scrub Jay 5k that is hosted there every year. The outer camp ground loops are dog friendly, but sites on the river are not (however, beautiful!) Gators can be spotted on or in the river!! Check out both playgrounds and the butterfly nature walk.

It is located between Nokomis and Osprey, an urbanized area of Sarasota county, however when you enter the park, it feels like you are miles from civilization. The Legacy trail runs through the park. There is also kayak and canoe rentals.