Ashley Campground

This is a nice tucked away campground. Peaceful and plenty of space to spread out. Plenty of shade with the ability to harvest some solar depending on your spot. Our cell signal was not the best here but we were able to work with what we had. Had to use our booster from time to time.

There is a boat ramp nearby before you reach the gate for the campgrounds (Cumpressco Campground is located very nearby). This was the perfect spot to launch our kayaks and do a paddle down the Withlacoochee River. Very scenic, plenty of birds, turtles, and we saw a total of 3 alligators (all were small 3-4 feet long).

This was our second SWFWMD property to stay at and we truly enjoyed our stay here.
We stayed here Feb. 2022.

Note:
All of the campgrounds in the SWFWMD are by online reservation only. They are completely free. But you must obtain a reservation prior to arriving. A gate code will be emailed to you. Each one has a 7 day maximum stay. If staying at another property you must have 24 hours between properties. You are allowed 2 reservations at a time (example one reserved for one week and another for the following week). If you want to reserve a third week somewhere you have to wait until one reservation is complete. And lastly, no more than 30 days total at any of their campgrounds in a year.

No trash on-site, please pack it out so these places stay open. Non-potable water and either vault toilets or port o potties are available.

We camped at Ashley campground in our 38ft 5th wheel. Lots are large and fairly flat. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table and covered area. It is an Equestrian campground, so there was some horse manure, which means bugs & flys. We biked some of the roads around the swamp, seen some wildlife, but no gators! Fairly easy access, big rig friendly, but low hanging trees in some areas. Not all sites had solar access, but the campground was empty when we arrived, so we got to pick our spot. Toilets, non-potable water available. We did not use.

Free Camping in Florida at Ashley Campground provides big rig friendly free camping in a country setting. This free camping location in Florida is convenient to Dade City with easy access to a Walmart and other amenities in town. A free permit is required and may be obtained online. A vault toilet is located at the entrance to the campground. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 123.0 Mbps download speed and 22.9 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 40.7 Mbps download speed and 6.22 Mbps upload speed. T-Mobile cellular service clocked in at 19.9 Mbps download speed and 3.57 Mbps upload speed. Grid coordinates for this free camping location are as follows: 28.3615, -82.1178

This is a free camping experience without hookups. Non-potable water available at each site. Reservations are required to obtain the gate code. This campground shares the same gate as Compressco Campground. The road in was an unpaved washboard experience but doable when going slow. The road to Compressco seemed smoother as I hiked part of it.

There was considerable shade from the live oaks on nice, flat sites, but some open areas were available for solar.

Beware if approaching from the south or southwest. Google insisted on taking me on washboard gravel roads to get to the campground. I had to turn around twice and head further north on Rt 301 and get on River Road (Dade City)—this will minimize the dirt roads.

My internet worked fine most of the time.

Reservations are required to get the gate code but the park had plenty of space!

Ashley is supposedly the Equestrian campground but when we visited there were no horses around. Plenty of space to let the dog run around on the trails and stuff. Florida Trail is right near by with many route possibilities. Plenty of space for our 40ft Class A, with good level areas, no designated spots really, just leave space around others. Fire pits, water for horses, pit toilet, and covered picnic tables were provided. There are some spots that have good solar collection.

Internet Speeds: ATT with Pepwave Router: 5-10 MB/S, Verison Hotspot: 25+ MB/S

A neighbor saw a Cottonmouth/Water Mocassin one night. Beware, you are right near a swampy area and there could be a few of these critters roaming about. Take a flashlight with you at night.

Do your part, Leave No Trace and keep this place open!

Stayed at Ashley campground, which is free with a reservation through Southwest Florida water management. They provide a Lock code for you to enter upon entering so there’s always a locked gate during your stay. The sites are very well-kept and I’ll have a firing and covered picnic table. The sites are a little close as there are not a lot of trees for privacy but overall a really nice camp spot. Has two vault toilets which were relatively clean. Mixture of equestrian campers and non-equestrian campers. Barely any cell service so wasn’t ideal for my work situation and had to go into town. 1-2 bars of 4G via AT&T.

Beautiful place to camp, fairly easy access, big rig friendly, but low hanging trees in some areas. Non-potable water available throughout the campground, and a pit toilet. A fairly large field for solar, but mostly shaded sites. Most sites had picnic tables and fire pits. Able to take long walks along a dirt road that had some woods, and swamps on both sides.The first night was very quiet, and peaceful. I suspect that this was the norm, but the second night, a group (10-15) of young people came in, and broke nearly every rule in the park, including urinating on trees in front of other campers. We didn't see the host until we were packing up to leave the third day, two days short of our intended stay. I don't understand how the host could not have heard the noise, but apparently they did not. Anyway, All in all, it was a nice campground to dry camp in. We would camp there again.

Most sites were well shaded with a metal fire ring, non-potable water spout & covered picnic table. With nice weather, we didn't bother with a rainfly. Cellular signal was inconsistent, especially data, which was disappointing when you're hoping to work or play online.

There were several RVs and tent campers, but no horses. Thankfully the huge amount of manure next to our site wasn't too pungent. Voices carried across the campground but the adjacent trail was silent except the sound of birds and great for a casual nature hike.

Fire lovers should bring a saw to cut up felled trees at the campground. Most of the smaller logs, branches and kindling had been picked over pretty well already. Managed to prepare enough fuel with a camp ax and a lot of sweat.

This is a Equestrian campground, so most likely you will see horses.(75% of spaces where filled with horse campers)

Spaces are large and wide, most have a table and fire pit. Some spaces have a small covered structure. Pit toilet at entrance to campgound. Non potable water spigots spread throughout Campground. (Water for horses. ). Make sure to check out your spot before parking. The horse people spread out the poo, but it’s everywhere.

Six day max stay, must register online prior to camping. They will give you a gate code, there is at least a dozen pad locks on the chain. Look for the lock that says REC.

Plenty but of room for big rigs. (we are 40’ motorhome plus a toad) Suggest coming in from the south if you are over 35’ (Enterprise Rd. to Auton Rd) Auton is 1.5 miles of washboard gravel road.

Cell service was spotty for AT&T, barely usable with a WeBoost OTR. Verizon worked great.