Ochlockonee River State Park

Nice trails along river and thru the pine stands..looks to be an excellent park to canoe and kayak out of..a couple of tight sites,We have a 24 ft trailer..was able to maneuver without a problem..longer equipment or motor homes may not be as easy to maneuver..clean showers , restrooms and sites..friendly staff..most sites are in the shade and are separated by palmetto’s and scrub brush.
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The one thing this park likes to boast about is their White Squirrel population here. They were intentionally introduced to the area in the 1950s. They are not albino, just white with a touch of grey on their heads, really, I'm not making this up. Anyway we saw just one on our first day here in the campground, suspiciously hanging out at the campground host site, hmmmmm?

The one mile road from the highway to the check in station is horrible. The half mile road from the check in station to the campground is a little better. But the worst is saved for last, the campground itself is a circular drive with deep ruts and potholes everywhere.

Once into your site all that goes away but some of the sites are at odd angles and ours was an "L" shape to make entry even more difficult. They have two pull through sites, #26 & #28 which looked fairly accessible. Also watch out for some lower hanging branches on the trees. Stay away from sites #18 - #20 if you have a big rig.

We visited this campground from 02/14/19 until 02/18/19.

The Ochlockonee River State Park at first sight is amazing. The white sands, pine needle forest floor, the abundantly tall and distinguished sentinels, scrub understory, and a two mile drive into the forest before you even get to the ranger station make this park special before even arriving to the campground. The sites are small and the camp road remains sand. We had no trouble backing our Oliver into #13. The sites are partly shaded and include water and 30 amp service. There is a dump station near the ranger entrance. The restrooms are the typical Florida State Park design. Hot showers and clean stalls. There are not as many hiking trails in this park compared to our recent stop in Florida Caverns, but the walks are easy and beautiful. The adjacent river is widely used for canoeing and kayaking.

But in three short days, we were won over! What we liked and didn't like are at the end of this narrative. We started off on the wrong foot. This is a small and somewhat primitive campground. The one-way road around the campground is narrow in spots and there are lots of trees. We were checked in by the ranger and he told us to enter the park on the first road we see as it is one-way. But my husband looked at the map and we were the last site so it made no sense to drive all the way around. So we went in on the "wrong way" and that worked the day we arrived. But we were on that site only one night and had to change to the site next to us the next day. (That was the only way we could get in this fully booked campground!) We had a very hard time squeezing into this site, # 29, between the trees. And once in, we realized the electric and water are on the opposite side from all the other campgrounds we have stayed. In order to plug in, we had to pull our 5th wheel up to the front of the lot. Not ideal as we were concerned our "hitch" would get hit if someone left early in the morning and wasn't able to see clearly.

When we changed sites, we did have to drive all the way around the campground. We haven't seen the damage from scrapping a few trees, hopefully there are no marks. Since we hope to sell our RV soon, that was not a fun sound to hear!

There are a few prime sites that will hold a 40 foot rig. We saw one couple heading here while we were out walking. They were going to be across from us. We advised them to stop before pulling into the campground, walk around and access their site to decide the best way in. They were pulling a 40 foot 5th wheel! Their site is one of only 2 or 3 pull throughs but it did have a power line across the back of it, so he had to watch for that. His site was 26. Site 28 is actually the best for an easy pull through. Site 20 maybe one also. We will upload a picture of the campground map which is a little more telling than what you will see on Reserve America.

What did we like: Very secluded and quiet campground. You wake up to the serenading of a multitude of birds! Each site has a fire ring, clothes line, water and electric. The sites are flat and a hard sand base. The camp host was readily available and very helpful. The bathrooms/showers are clean, a little dated, but at least clean. The nature trails are beautiful and if you are a kayaker or use a canoe, this is a good place to be.

What we did not like: Arriving when all the no-see-ums were hungry. It was 4:00 pm on a Saturday and the weather was cool. They don't like it hot, so eventually, they disappeared. So they were swarming us like a bad Alfred Hitchcock movie. We each have many bug bits and that has been a bit miserable. The couple across from us arrived a little before we did and they were also ready to leave. We did try to stock up on all our food, but needed a few more things. There is only one small grocery store, an IGA, in town and it is closed on Sundays. And the worst thing for us was that the water and electric are on the "wrong side" of the site, unless you want to come on backwards and that worked for the people in the pull through across from us. Our electric cord is 25 feet but our camper is 30 and the electric was up by the nose of our RV.

We wrote a blog about our time here with lots of pictures of the beautiful nature trails and more.

The road to the park is dirt, and moderately bumpy, but at the posted speed limit, it was fine. Checking in was dead simple. Site 8 is "double" wide - in that there's room for your RV next to the power pedestal, and it seems like room for a second RV next to that on the other side of a tree,
They have canoe, kayak and bike rentals available for a very reasonable price, as well.