Doug E.

St. Petersburg, FL

Joined November 2020

It’s Disney (glamping at its finest)

What’s there to say…. It’s Disney it the woods. You can Tent, RV or rent a Cabin. Of course there are different levels of sites . $,$$,$$$… and so on. All sites have FULL hook up. Water, power, and sewer. NO open top fires. You must have an approved fire pit with a top to stop the Ambers from flying away. NO exceptions. The place is huge and I highly recommend a bike or golf cart to get around. Both can be rented but at a price.

You can just stay at the campgrounds because there is tons to do. We have stayed there many time and never went to the parks and still got the Disney feel and treatment. There are a couple restaurants to eat at. 2 pools and one is better then the other. They do nightly shows with characters meet-n-greets at NO CHARGE! I believe it was Chip and Dale. They have a FULL marina where you can hang out at the beach, rents boats, fishing trips, etc…at a cost of Course.

There is a pond/river running thoughout the camp grounds. You can fish(fee) and rent Canoes. Nice little adventure that anyone can navigate.

There is an are kinda like a petting zoo. And so much more. Overall a great “Disney”very kids friendly place for the family.

Great quite spot

Overall, a great place to get away from city lights, noise, etc. It is about 1-1 1/2 miles off main road. Be mindful and take your time on the dirt road leading to the campgrounds. It can be very ruff during certain times of the year.

The main camping area is large. The sites themselves are spacious. The sites have water, and power hook up. There is 1 main dump area with 2 dump stations. The bathhouse is clean and has hot water and showers.

If you own a horse these campgrounds have a stable to house your animals while you stay. I believe there are 2 trails just for horseback riding. Speaking of animals no other animals are allowed because of the horses.

If you enjoy hiking, biking, or off roading. There is 2,600 acres of off-road trails for motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts. During the day you may hear some of the “off roaders” come thought the camping area to use the bathhouse as it is the the closest thing to use. Also keep in mind during certain times a year you will hear gun fire because of the near by hunting areas. Nothing crazy though.

Other then the above list things at the camping area there is no other entertainment, playgrounds… etc. So what you bring is what you got.

We have enjoyed our time here and have been a few times now. If you lucky enough to stay during clear night skies…all the stars light up the area and it is very nice.

Great Inner city camping

Great inner city spot. Friendly staff and the grounds are bigger then expected. Full hook ups for RVs and separate tent area. Has a small shallow marina. Great for Kayaks, canoeing… etc. we did some fishing off the floating pier as well.

They have a heated pool, mini golf course, shuffle board,dog run. There are the typical bike rentals, four person bikes, that are found at most KOAs.

We rented. Cabin this time. They have different layouts and sizes. Pets are welcome on the grounds

Overall great place to getaway for a few days.

It’s dated and tight

Let me start by saying I didn’t hate it here. There just things that could be better. The over all trip here was a decent overall experience.

The grounds were clean. The office/store building looks a-bit dated. Security could be better for sure as well. Grounds can be easily driven into from main entrance OR the open rear exit and a fence on the east side could be taller/solid maybe wooden fence? and more secure.

The bathhouse closest to my site was spotless. Now I only used it once was while biking around with the kiddos. My son needed to use restroom and from what I seen and looked around at it was a little newer and kept up with.

The sites are tight together. I have a 24ft trailer and my site (#20) was on the outer road along a wooden fence. They are backed-up to a strip mall. So at night when trying to sit by fire or enjoy a TV show outside you can hear all the A/C’s units from the strip mall compressors kick on and off non-stop. Kinda took away from the outdoor feel. Each site from what I could see and noticed had Full hook ups and cable. They do have WiFi but good luck getting anything from it (tried a couple times even just for kids tablets and no luck). I had full cell service so just use my hotspot for TVs and internet.

The pull thru sites seem like they could accommodate large class A’s. But they were very tight. Something else to note:…some of the the pull thru site had a decent incline hill/drop at one end or the other. I seen some guys using fully extended leveling gear and 4-8 leveling blocks to fill the voids to get level. In just a few people I had interacted with. They too were a little upset with how small/tight sites were.

All sites again had full hook-ups and fire-ring/grill. Our fire ring was very dated and falling apart and rusted with gasps along the bottom. The pond in the middle is nice to walk around. You can fish in it but with artificial bait. They have paddle boats you can rent to go into the pond with. Also bikes and other bike related things to rent. ( typical KOA things to rent)

All interactions with the staff were great. Everyone was super friendly, courteous and helpful. Some of the nicest staff I’ve come across.

The KOA is squeezed between the back of a mini strip mall and a neighborhood. And speaking of neighborhood there is a metal fence they could easily been opened/jumped over. You could see peoples back yards. (This is the fence I talked about for more security) the cabins were along this fence.

Overall thoughts…It wasn’t the worse place we been to or the greatest. The ground were clean, staff was great. Just (in my opinion) needs more space…and better more spacious location. And up the security of the grounds

Nice clean park with some history

If you’re on the fence about the visiting this park do it. It has lots of amenities including a small marina for boats, canoes/kayaks and bicycle rentals if you choose. There are a couple trails to venture onto. Also couple of spots on the grounds of historic value that you can easily walk to you as well.

The grounds are well-kept including the bath houses. The grounds are continuously monitored throughout the day. Note: they are sticklers for some of the rules…(no hanging lights from trees, kids must have helmet when on bikes). No biggy to me just something to know. There is one loop that is dedicated to tent campers with bathhouse. The rest of the grounds can be tent campers but mostly RVers ranging sizes with another bathhouse.

The cons...?

Well if you do choose to visit. BRING any and ALL mosquito repellent. I am a Florida native born and raised and I have dealt with my share of mosquitoes. These grounds are now on the top of the list of bad bugs sites. I usually pack heavy on supplies and was OK. But if you don’t bring repellents you will be down a liter or two of blood when you leave.

Second complaint would be….They clean the boathouse from 11am-12noon daily. Now this doesn’t seem like a bad time. But wait till it’s leaving day and check out is 1pm. You got your gear all packed and camper locked up and dumped. Then to do a bathroom run before you hit the road. I think they could choose a different time that would work better..2p-3p maybe?

Something else to note for Big RVers. I didn’t have this problem at my site BUT I did see some coaches have issues with enough space to back in. Some the the sites are tricky to back into (site poles, trees….etc.) weather they were on the site OR a site across from yours. Just something I noticed.

Over all a great place to visit.  I would visit again BUT will be bring even MORE mosquito repellent.