We stayed at one of the primitive sites here last year. This year they have had areas closed at times for renovations. This year we chose to book one of the pull through sites because we weren’t sure what the weather would be like right after Christmas. We were in site 3. These sites look like they were redone during the reno - nice level gravel sites, nice spacing between sites, and they now have sewer hookups! This was a nice surprise that wasn’t included in the site listing on the reservation site (very useful since we dewinterized here). If you don’t book one of these sites, it’s also good to note that they COMPLETELY redid the dump station! Last year it was barely a hole in the ground right near the entrance/exit. They now have TWO stations with a nice new concrete pad, rinse water and trash cans. So much better than before! Very pretty park - we hope to stay more than just overnight someday.

This campground had some nice trails within easy walking distance of the campground. The trails we did were good casual walks - these aren’t “hiking” trails, but very pleasant walks beside the river and a creek. The campground itself is small with sites very close to each other (compared to other FL state park campgrounds). Very little foliage separating most sites, so not much privacy other than what is provided by the RVs themselves. Zero cell coverage (barely able to text, no Internet/streaming access at all) on Verizon which made working remotely from this park impossible. We were in site 10. By the way, when booking, they refer to Inner loop and Outer loop. It’s all the same loop. Inner and outer just refers to your site’s position in the loop.

This campground is one of the prettiest we’ve stayed in. We are always amazed walking through the campground how the mature foliage creates a really nice environment. The majority of the sites have great privacy, most with lush foliage between and behind the sites. The sites are hard packed sand and the ones we’ve stayed in have all been mostly level. Nice short path to the river from the campground and a nice walk on park roads (sand) down to the main water area. The sites on the entry side (one way road through campground) are a little quieter - the sites on the other side have some road noise. This trip we were in site 49 and 30. 49 was nice and quiet as it is in the far end of the loop. Site 30 has the convenience of the laundry right across the street and the path to the water right next to it.

We stayed two nights in the Ridgeline Campground, site R22. This is a beautiful area, but there is nothing beautiful about the campground. Seemed run down and the spots are right next to each other. Make sure to watch the “max vehicle length” - we have a 21’ van and we barely fit into our site that had a longer max length. Also, the water and electric hookup for this site is very far away from the actual site - we had to use a regular 110 extension cord to get the hookup to our van and we couldn’t use the water at all because we only had a standard length hose. There is also a drop off on the back of the site, so getting in and out of the back of our van was tricky - especially after it rained and that area was muddy. The trail from the campground to the falls viewing area seems like it has zero trail maintenance. Sites 19 and 20 are nice - they are listed as tent only sites, but people had RVs. Both sites have good privacy and nice deck areas secluded in the woods.

We stayed at Koreshan in site 38 for one night. It is definitely not as nice as other FL state parks we’ve been spoiled by… Sites are ok, a little smaller than we’ve had at other campgrounds and there’s some vegetation between sites. The trails aren’t very exciting at the park, although we did walk through the settlement later in the day (when no one else was around) and we got to see a gopher tortoise nesting. Our neighbors were the loudest we’d had at any park (watching an action movie outside), but the campground was quiet after quiet hours. Again - we have been spoiled by other FL state park campgrounds. Ok place to stay, but if you have a choice for another state park, I’d probably recommend staying elsewhere.

We stayed one night at Winton Woods because it was close to friends we were visiting. We needed to stay on a Monday night and tried all weekend (Sat and Sun before) to book a site online. Both the mobile site and the full website didn’t work. There’s a number listed to call “if you’re having trouble booking online”, but of course the office was closed all weekend and didn’t open until Monday. It states that there are no same day reservations, which gave me a lot of stress all weekend not knowing if we were going to be able to book a site. Luckily on Mon morning they let me book over the phone. The campground was mostly open and when I was asked if I wanted a back in site or a pull through, I told them a back in would be fine (I like to leave the pull through for the bigger RVs that need them). When we arrived, we found that none of the back in sites had been plowed! All of the pull through sites were plowed and there were plenty open. It would have been nice for the gentleman on the phone to tell me that when I was booking. Instead we struggled to get into and out of our site and had to walk very carefully around our RV when hooking up and disconnecting. This is a great place for people that live in the city to escape, but we probably won’t stay again. No privacy between sites. And booking was the worst I’ve had at any campground. It is a very pretty urban park though.

We spent one night at Payne’s Prairie in mid February, site 46. The campground is ok - nice wooded sites, but not as much privacy between sites as we have been spoiled by in other FL state parks. The biggest disappointment for this state park is that all of the things they advertise (and I was looking forward to) - bison, horses, wildlife - are all on trails where pets are not allowed. We did one of the only trails you can take your dog on (the Lake Trail) and drove over to the ecopassage observation boardwalk site. It’s a pretty area, but we were very disappointed we couldn’t do most of the hiking trails with a dog. We won’t return unless we come someday without our dog.

We stayed for one night in mid February at site 12. This campground is similar to Ortona South since they are both locks on the same river. At this campground though, just about all the sites are waterfront and you are closer to the water (which is very nice). But you also give up some space between sites and it’s not as nice a campground to walk around. It has a huge fishing pier though, so if that’s your thing, this might be a great choice.

We stayed for one night in site 83 in the Palmetto Ridge loop. Absolutely loved this site. It’s HUGE - tons of space in this site with privacy from the neighboring sites. And there are full hookups - just note that the sewer is elevated (4-6 inch block) and all the way at the back of the site, so plan to park accordingly if you’re using the sewer or want to dump before you leave. There is also a dump station if you’re at one of the other loops or prefer that over the sewer hookup. As one other review mentioned, you can’t access the trails or sites directly from the two front campground loops. And this park is very large, so plan to ride a bike or drive to the canopy walk (which we didn’t do - was crowded and we’re social distancing), the bird walk (which was a bit disappointing on wildlife, but pretty and most people wore masks and kept their distance), or the boat tours/gift shop (which we didn’t do - distancing). I’ll also mention that the highlight, and it seems others agreed considering it was always crowded with people, was a bridge where there were always alligators and birds. Not sure if the bridge has a name, but you’ll know it by the people standing in the road. The site was nice and quiet and dark enough to see stars. There were armadillos foraging behind the site though, so we had to keep our dog inside after dark. We would absolutely stay here again. Good cell coverage as well for remote work.

We stayed at site 6 for two nights in early February. The park is beautiful and has a great selection of trails. We saw (from a distance) a bald eagle’s nest, as well as two juvenile eagles fighting in flight - both from the trails. My husband also stepped on a snake on the South Creek Nature Trail, so keep your eyes open! The site was nice and private with a little leveling needed. The electric hookup is in its normal spot, but be aware that the water is in the woods on the opposite side (one pedestal feeding two sites). Make sure to bring a longer hose, or park closer to the water than electric. There were armadillos foraging behind the site at night, and a very brave raccoon that didn’t seem to care I was shining my flashlight at him or telling him to get leave (and as anyone knows, where there’s one raccoon…). We had to keep our dog inside after sunset to avoid issues with these site visitors. I’d also recommend to be very careful with leaving food out (this is a good recommendation no matter where you are). We also loved that fellow campers pointed out a pair of screech owls just above our site. We really liked this campground, especially for the trails.

We were only able to get one night in the Beachside loop at Gamble Rogers, site 20. The views from some of these sites are amazing! Our site was not on the water side, but we could see the ocean through the sites across from us. Note that the odd numbered sites are the ones on the water side, and at least 19, 21 and 23 have great views (they were across from us). The higher number sites on that side have too much vegetation behind the site to have a view - but you’d still get the sound from the waves. (We didn’t look at sites before 19, so not sure on vegetation there. ). The sites don’t have much separation and the sites aren’t very big. The biggest selling point for me on this campground was that they actually have a dog gate - a gate at the southern end of the campground - accessed by a code they give you - that you can WALK to a dog friendly section of Flagler Beach (the beach right in front of the campground does not allow dogs). This may seem minor to some of you, but if you’re familiar with FL beaches, you’ll know that the majority of the beaches don’t allow dogs. And definitely all the beaches in the state parks don’t allow dogs. So normally, if you’re camping in a state park, you’ll need to drive many miles to get to a beach you can enjoy with your dog. We weren’t impressed with the Riverside campsites at this park. We would definitely return to the Beachside loop of this campground to enjoy the beach with our pup. Hopefully next time we can score a site on the water side!

We returned to Tomoka in early Feb after staying there in January. This time we spent 3 nights in site 84. We still love this beautiful park, but I will say we did not enjoy this side of the campground as much as our previous stay (site 4). This side of the campground has very loud road noise - it’s not highway noise, but definitely not as relaxing as the other side of the campground. Other than that, we still love the campground. Easy to walk around and love being able to walk (or drive) down to the Halifax River for beautiful views and nice sunsets. Sites are mostly level and great cell coverage.

We stayed in site 19 for one night in early February. This site was very large, mostly level, with beautiful trees surrounding the site and great privacy. The park itself didn’t inspire us on our drive through, so we just relaxed in our site here. Two things to watch out for - be careful of low hanging tree branches when backing in, and be aware that we had no cell service (this actually made us cancel another stay we had planned since we needed cell service for remote work). We would stay here again if we were looking for a place to relax with good site separation.

We stayed for 2 nights at Sebastian Inlet State Park. We lucked out and got what we felt was the best site - site 1. This site, although it’s right by the entrance to the campgrounds and overlooks the main road going to the boat ramps/fishing area, seems to have the best combination of views and privacy. There is only one neighbor, and decent separation from that neighbor. You could also sit on the drivers side of your RV if you don’t want to see your neighbors at all. You will see cars going down the road between you and the view though. Also note this park is open 24 hours, so there will be cars driving past you at all hours. (Positive if you don’t like gate codes, negative if you’re like me and like that most of the FL state parks close their gates at sunset.) There was also a lot of noise/music from boats on the waterway - didn’t bother us, but something to expect. The view is beautiful and you can walk to the fishing area on the intracoastal waterway, which is very pretty (and we got to see dolphins swimming by). This view over the waterway also gives you great sunsets. Note that you can’t walk to the Atlantic beaches/pier. At least not easily or maybe we missed something. (Edit - I found out later that you CAN get to the beach from the campground - look for a trail that goes under the main road. ) The main part of the park is over a huge bridge that didn’t have pedestrian walking areas, so we didn’t see the main park at all. Also, there were tons of gnats - maybe no seeums or the gnats distracted me from mosquitoes. Either way, I was covered in bites at this campground. We would return only if we got site 1 again.

Ortona South was one of our favorites on our recent trip to FL (early Feb). We stayed there twice for a total of 6 nights. We had sites 19 (not riverfront), 23 (riverfront), and 28 (riverfront). Part of me doesn’t want to share this place - it’s already hard to get into! The campground is quiet, but with friendly fellow campers. This campground is very well maintained, with beautiful views of the river - complete with boats going in and out of the locks and various wildlife. We saw manatees feeding on our first stay and there was an alligator on our second stay. There is also a ton of birds in this area - both flying over as well as in the fields, and on a small creek feeding into the river. The riverfront sites are just so relaxing - so nice to watch the boats float by and watch the flocks of birds fly over in the evening. Note that there isn’t much privacy for the riverfront sites, but the views are worth it. Our non-river site (19) had great privacy and the bonus of birdwatching from our site. We had a peregrine falcon, an egret and a juvenile white ibis hanging out behind our site, as well as a bald eagle flying over. There’s also an unofficial trail at the end of the campground that leads to a field/marsh area where flocks of egrets, ibises, and cormorants fly into every evening. There were also Roseate Spoonbills flying over, but we never saw them land. The road coming into the campground is also great for a walk or run - we loved our sunset runs seeing tons of birds and beautiful views the whole way. Sites were paved and completely level. Looking forward to staying here again!!

We stayed at Colt Creek for one night at the beginning of February. We were lucky to have a very large site with good separation between neighbors - site 31. Note that you can see the entry road from the back, but this wasn’t a big deal for us since it was just an overnight stay. A lot of the other sites looked closer together with a little less privacy, but all of the sites looked well maintained. The tent sites were some of the best maintained sites I’ve ever seen. Our site was completely level. The trails looked nice, but we unfortunately didn’t have time to explore. One item of note - we had zero cell service (Verizon) which is normally a good thing on vacation, but a bad thing when working remotely. Would definitely stay here again when we’d have time to do trails and not worry about cell service.

We stayed at Big Lagoon for two nights in late January - site 55. The campsites are not as nice as other FL State Parks we have stayed in. The site was sand and was not level - we needed leveling blocks for our 21’ RV. Some of the sites looked more level than others - as long as you have blocks, you should be fine. The site was not as private as we’ve had in other parks - separation on only one side. We could clearly see our neighbors in the other side, as well as the folks across the road from us. Again, some sites are more private than others. What this park does have, however, are beautiful boardwalks. Most of them are closed right now due to hurricane damage, but there are a couple you can walk on a little. And they have a great sand hiking path - again, one section is closed due to a bridge being out, but it was a nice hike nonetheless. When the repairs are complete of the boardwalks and trails, this would be an amazing state park with a pretty good campground.

Gunter Hill was a nice COE campground. We had site 32 in the Catoma Loop (only loop open - we stayed at the end of January for one night). The sites are level and had full hookups. Our site had a good view of the lake, but I’m not sure you’d have that view once trees and underbrush have full leaves. Only disappointments were we had a strong sewage smell around our site when we first got there - the smell went away so maybe it was just the direction of the wind (the bath house is across the road). And when we walked through our woods behind our site to look at the lake, we were saddened to see tons of trash in the woods - made the pretty view of the lake a lot less appealing. We would stay here again for a one night, but probably not for a long stay.

This is a beautiful campground. As others have mentioned, the roads to get to the sites are narrow and windy. We have a 21’ van and we didn’t have any issues, but I was very glad we got to our site during the daylight. I would not want to drive the roads after dark. We stayed in a primitive site (51) so we could have more privacy and better views. Site 51 does not disappoint! Keep in mind there are no hookups at this site, and anything longer than our van may have trouble backing into the site. This would be an amazing tent site! From a practical standpoint, you will need to buy a parking pass - even though I received an email telling me I could go directly to my site and check in by phone, they wouldn’t let me buy a pass on the phone so I had to head back out to the park store to buy a pass. Other than that, great park.

We stayed in site 4 in early January. The site had good separation from the neighboring sites and was level. The campground was mostly quiet. There are a couple of small trails right in the campground to see the Halifax River, but to have better views and water access you can walk or drive down near the trading post/picnic area. It seemed like most people were at this park for water activities and/or fishing. We enjoyed just watching the sunset over the river. If you are a pet owner and looking for a dog beach (most beaches in FL don’t allow dogs), Flagler Beach is a short drive from the campground.