Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground
Reviewed Jan. 1, 2020

Private with great wildlife viewing close to the city

Except for the noise of the highway, you would never guess you were 10 minutes from a major metropolitan city. The campground is very private with lots of trees and palms separating sites, especially in the tent loops. The tent sites are walk in, with some closer than others. I took site #23 for the night, which was set back just enough to the private, but not so far as to really haul my gear. Each tent site has a numbered parking space as well. There seemed to be about 10-12 tent only sites and the remainder of the 50 sites had hook-ups for RVs. The bathhouse was clean and modern, and well taken care of. 

A two mile hike will take you the visitors center, from which you can climb the observation tower to look over the prairie and have access to several trails. It was really wet when I was there which meant that several trails were partially closed. But I still managed to hike several miles over several trails. I never did see the Cracker Wild Spanish Horses or the bison, but did see lots of signs in the form of poop. I also didn’t see any gators, but did get to see lots of birds of various size and variety.

Site23
Month of VisitDecember
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020
  • Review photo of Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Campground by Annie C., January 1, 2020