Camel Lake Campground

My wife and I decided to rent a C-Class RV and see what traveling and camping in a RV was all about. This was our first time in a RV and boy did we luck out getting a reservation at Camel Lake Campgrounds in the Apalachicola National Forest. 12 miles south of Bristol on SR12. Entry road FR105 is a little rough in spots but can handle all types of campers. Small campground with only 10 sites, 4 with power and water hookups (#1 - #4). We stayed at site #3 and had a beautiful view of the lake. The campground has flush toilets and showers. All sites have a charcoal grill and firepit. Plenty of hiking and biking on the forest lanes and a nice 1 mile trail around the lake. Campground hosts Rick and Kay are the best and were extremely helpful answering all the questions we had about RV hookups and advice on a free dump station at Wright Lake campgrounds just down the road. We have Verizon cell service and could only get 2 bars at the day use area but that was the only negative. We would definitely stay here again.

Sometimes you just have to drive in and check. No AT&T service. Host was very nice and offered us to stay but we didn’t feel it would help as we would have to move to another place that had service but couldn’t search while we were there. Sites and campground area looked nicely kept. Day use area bathroom was pretty gross and destroyed (missing bathroom door). Sites are large enough for any rig. Cost is $20 dry camping, $10 if you are at an electric/water option site. If you are a senior or interagency/access pass holder, it will take $10 off the camping cost. He also mentioned a convenience fee of $8 for the online reservation. You can pay on site if there is an open site but you risk someone reserving the site and can get kicked out. It would be best to make the reservation online.

We stayed here after tromping around southern Florida from Big Cypress up to Orlando, staying at national, state and county parks along the way. This was such a nice and pleasant surprise! So glad we found this spot!

A small campground with only 10 sites, a few with W/E. Both we stayed at had NO hookups. Campsites with water & electric are $15 a night. The National Park Access Pass is accepted here. So $5. a night...nice!! There is no dump station here but there is one at Wright Lake CG. Also, make your reservations on line. The camp hosts can not do it for you here and they don't get site updates until 2am in the morning...crazy, huh? But, with that being said the camp hosts were great and JR had lots of helpful info for us!

We started out in site 9, which we loved! With a 40ft fifth wheel and two labbies, the bigger the site, the happier we all our. More than enough room to even put up a screen tent and not have it be on top of the fire pit. Picnic table and fire pit provided. Bathrooms and showers were very clean.

We had to move to site 6 because we extended our stay. A little smaller, but still plenty of room. I definitely prefer the sites on the outer ring better. The lake is beautiful and great for kayaking. Tons of dirt roads for riding and the FTS (Florida Trail System) goes right by this campground. So you do get hikers stopping in or over-nighting. Nearest town is Bristol.

While here did multiple day trips, hikes & rides. We even took the dogs and headed to St Vincent Island State Park for the day. We would absolutely stay here again.

*Word to the wise...Do NOT follow your GPS. Follow the directions on the confirmation letter you receive from your online reservation. Really. You will be happy you did.

Clean and quiet. Were quite a few campers, but the spaces each have room. Had a site with electricity and water (no dump) for $15. $10 is the non-electric site cost.

Was met by the camp host who was very pleasant and all was great. Nice lake! Beautiful sunset.

The cell coverage was 3g to 1x. Once I used the cell booster, the 3g was usable.

2 mile drive from the paved highway, but worth every minute.