Chassahowitzka River Campground

The campground is set in a beautiful forest and right on the river. There are quite a few trees, so larger rigs may have trouble navigating. We stayed in site 49, which was fairly deep. The showers are clean and bathrooms well maintained.

The internet is rarely usable, and it kicks devices off a lot.

Overall a great campground, and in a great location.

Nice campground. Kept clean as well as bathrooms. Female shower has low pressure. Sites 42-44 are good for big rigs for sure. I like that you can pick your own site. The park has lots of shade.
It’s a quiet park with a relaxing mode.
The main check in office is at the docks further down the road (maybe .2 of a mile but a 7 minute walk or unhitch your bike) we brought our kayaks and did the near by springs. You can rent one there. Also pet friendly if your dog likes water.

Not built for big rigs!! The office is located down the road at a spot that you can turn around at in a big RV, however you must go back to the highway to turn around to make the turn back into the sites. We made the mistake of going to the office first. It does recommend against this in their welcome email. This was our fault.

We were originally given site 10 which is listed as a 45 ft back in. Not even close! If you tuck the back of your rig into the trees and have it on the road…maybe. But there’s no way you would get a 40 footer in there because it’s a 120 degree driver side back in, in between camp sites on a curve in the road with trees and other sites across from it. I called the office, they were able to give me a new spot. I weave through their narrow road littered with trees. I had to stop and multi point turn at least once to get through. Find spot 33 and similar issue. I would have had to go back to the highway to turn around to even have a chance to get in, but there are 2 trees on the corners of the road that prevent larger trailers from getting in. Oh and this trip back to the highway is about 3-4 miles down a narrow residential road.

If you have a 40 ft fifth wheel get a pull through or don’t bother. Beware any large rig when driving in this park. They need to take out a few trees.

Site 18 was the only site available when we booked. It was listed as being 40 feet long x 35 feet wide. That is very misleading because it doesn't take into account trees that are very close to the gravel pad and were challenging to fit between so that we could have both slides out. It was 30 amp only with water and sewer and was level with a gravel pad surrounded by dirt. The camper across from us had to buy quite a bit of extra sewer hose to reach to his sewer connection, but site 18 had the sewer right on the pad. Site 18 was on the end of a row and next to the dog walking area.

The site was next to the trailer where the "security" person lived. They had their TV going very loudly for hours with their doors open, so sitting outside to read was difficult due to the loud TV.

Many of the other sites were crowded very close together. There are a lot of trees which are pretty and kept the area shaded, but in many sites you could not put out an awning without it hitting a tree or encroaching in the neighbor's space.

The plus was being able to walk to the boat ramp where we saw manatees swimming a little ways away. You are not allowed to park there without an extra $5/day charge. There are kayak rentals there. The water was not as clear as some other spring areas nearby and there were fishing boats who went through the surrounding area full speed, so that may affect the water quality.

We were charged an extra person fee for our daughter staying with us, but we saw some campsites that had multiple cars/people/etc.

We love the Chassahowitzka River for kayaking with manatees. But the campground is full of huge rigs that stay monthly. And nightly folks are overcharged. For an overcrowded park it is relatively quiet and not too much air pollution from campfires.

Front desk attendants were either really nice and helpful or really nasty. Somebody needs to retire...

We loved it there and the young girl and older lady in the store/registration so so friendly and funny. Great with my granddaughter showing her the spider shell in the window. The gentleman helping everyone get in and out of their boats safely was awesome and loved the campground. Thank You so much for everything especially your great hospitality.. Will visit again for sure

Camped in a 35” motorhome. We are self-contained so cannot comment on restrooms/shower facilities. This is not your normal private campground. There are trees. The site sizes vary. It’s almost as if they built the sites to save the most amount of trees – love it.
Pros –
- Lots of shade in many of the sites.
- Good cell and internet coverage on Verizon, sporadic T-Mobile
- Full hookups though some have 50amp, some 30amp – so if this is important to you read the description before booking
- Right on the Chassahowitzka river where you can rent or drop in your own kayak/canoe.
- The River is clear except in the very deep areas. You can see Manatees (depending on time of year) and is a bird lovers paradise.
- Laundry is reasonably priced and machines worked well.
- The people working in the office are very helpful and friendly. Very different experience than our stay 2 years ago.

Cons –
- Sites are very inconsistent on amount of space between sites though none are on top of each other. Read the notes in the reservation system carefully.
- No cable and no television reception with a normal RV antennae. This is actually not an issue with us but know it will be for some.
- Many ruts and potholes in road within the campground.

A unique area, with 72 degree (all year) springs, fishing, manatees on “winter break”, and a mature wooded atmosphere. Fantastic nearby restaurants all around. A few minutes from groceries and sundries at major chains. We’ll definitely return here in the future.
A couple of notes:
Try to check in during daylight and office hours. We arrived just after dark when the office was closed. We were unaware that an email with late checkin instructions had been sent to us while we were driving. There was no “late checkin station”, so when we arrived, we had no idea what our site number was, where it was, how to get to it, etc. The caretaker lived in a permanent residence just inside the front gate, however, and she cheerfully facilitated the late checkin. We felt bad about having to disturb her after hours, but she didn’t seem to mind.
Navigating the heavily wooded campground in the dark in our big rig was somewhat of a challenge. We had to take it slow, watching high and low to avoid trees. It was well worth it, though, as our site (no. 29) was a large, wedge-shaped back-in lot with lush vegetation behind, ample space on the utility side, and a huge “yard” on the front side. It was quite difficult, however, to find the sewer connection which, on our site as well as the one next door, was actually in the “wheel line” of the site, and had become level with the ground. Once we found it, it was easy to connect to, and actually made for a nice, compact sewer hookup.
The camp WiFi is strong, but does not connect to the internet. Phone service (AT&T) is weak, but sufficient for internet connection. (5G, 1 bar) I did have a couple of voice calls drop. I was unable to pick up any local television stations on my on-board antenna, and only two stations on the cable provided at the site. The only television we could get was that which I was able to find using the internet from my personal hotspot...that worked fine, despite the low telephone signal.
Our experience at this campsite was very quiet and peaceful at ALL hours. The park is pet-friendly. I found very little evidence of inappropriate “pottying”, or any other kind of litter. All sites are within walking distance of the Chassahowitzka rifer, and a well-stocked General Store with friendly, helpful staff.
Bathhouse clean, maintained, and secured by coded locks.

This park was very loud, even during the quiet time. People were letting their pets use the bathroom in the empty lots and not picking up after them. My husband stepped in a big pile of dog poo that was left there by someone at our campsite. They only had one TV station and it played the same shows over and over again, repeating each show multiple times a day. My husband and I have decided that this is one campground we will never visit again.