Manatee Springs State Park
Park and Campground Sites
We enjoyed Manatee Springs State Park. As we arrived we quickly noticed the sites and roads to the camping area are sandy. They are well marked, however the sand creates dust. Our site was large and shady, we were comfortable with the distance between the sites. While we were there we had several deer wonder through our site and could see them throughout the campground. The bathhouse in the loop where we stayed was an older one, however the other loop has a new bathhouse. The park is a beautiful park that offers the opportunity to swim in a crystal clear fresh Florida spring; which we found to be cold (we were told it is 72 degrees all the time) but it was refreshing. Down by the spring there is a small store and concession stand. They offer canoe rentals and a boat tour. We enjoyed the beautiful boardwalk that goes down to the Swanee River. The park does have a large playground/picnic area.
Campground Amenities
Bicycling, boating, camping, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boards, fishing hiking, picnicking, snorkeling, and swimming.
Nearby Options
Topsail Hill Preserve state park
Park and Campground Sites
Topsail State Park is absolutely beautiful! We loved this park and would highly recommend it. They offer so much for every age group. Where to start with this park is simple, the park is on the gorgeous white sandy beaches in North Florida. The campsites are not directly on the beach, but the park offers a tram that goes around frequently to provide a ride. We could tell those that had been to this campground as they had two things that we did not - bikes and tent campers had a wagon. I’ll share about that later.
The campground has lots of paths to explore on bikes as well as a large bike parking area right next to the beach. Now, the sites are large and each tent camping site is spaced apart well. The challenge with the tent camping is you actually can’t park on the site - there is a parking lot (for most sites it’s close) where you park, but then you carry everything to your site (the reason some had a wagon). The bathhouse here was very clean and up to date. This park has a lot of amenities such as a swimming pool, shuffle board, and a playground. The staff and volunteers were fantastic! We really enjoyed this park.
Campground Amenities
Bicycling, Birding, Paddling, Fishing, Geo-Seeking, Hiking, Picnicking, Swimming
Nearby Options
Caddo Lake State Park
Park and Campground Sites
Caddo Lake State Park has very nice sites, however the pads for tent camping are not completely cleaned and cleared. They are marked, but just had a lot of moss throughout the tent pad area. I can imagine in a swamp area it would be difficult to keep up with the overgrowth! The area where we camped must have been near a highway because we could hear some noise - truck traffic at night. There are many hiking paths. The park offers canoe rentals. There are also some local people that offer swamp boat tours, however they do require reservations so plan ahead. We did hear wonderful things about them. They have a boardwalk that overlooks the main swamp area in the campground. The new bathhouse was being built while we were there so it was a temporary one at the time. They do have a nice store where you check in.