Best Florida State Parks for RV Camping This Season

Around this time every year, the license plates start to change. Michigan, Ohio, New York, Ontario. The snowbirds are rolling in, and if you’ve ever tried to find an open campsite in Florida in January, you know how fast things fill up.

Nobody can blame them. While the rest of the country scrapes ice off windshields, Florida has mild weather and long sunny days. The private resorts get most of the attention, but a lot of RVers will tell you the state parks are the better deal, and several of them are at their best in the cooler months, when the heat and bugs back off.

Here are a few parks to look at, and some advice on getting a spot.

Bahia Honda (Florida Keys). If you only get to one, make it this one. It sits at Mile Marker 36.8, with three camping areas that can fit rigs up to 40 feet. It’s also one of the toughest reservations in the state, so book the day your window opens. Pack the snorkel gear.

Blue Spring (Orange City). Come in winter if you want to see manatees. When the weather cools, the spring run belongs to them, and you can watch from the boardwalk. The campground has 35 sites with water and electric, plus showers and laundry.

Florida Caverns (Marianna). This is the one for people who’ve seen enough beaches. You get a cave tour (first-come, first-served, with an added fee) and a quiet Panhandle campground at a base rate that has run around $20 to $30 a night.

Anastasia (St. Augustine). You get the beach on one side and a few hundred years of history a short drive away. It’s a good pick if you like to wander around town and eat out after a day in the sand.

Grayton Beach and Topsail Hill (Panhandle). Both are on the 30A stretch. Grayton Beach has ranked more than once among the country’s best beaches, and Topsail Hill is a favorite with RVers.

Myakka River and Alafia River (central and southwest Florida). Myakka is all open space and wildlife, with old ranch buildings from the early 1900s still standing. Alafia River is closer to home for us in the Tampa Bay area and shows up on a lot of best-of lists.

Getting a spot

Florida residents can reserve up to 11 months out. Non-residents get 10 months. The popular parks go quickly, and winter dates go first.

If you missed that window, don’t give up. You can book as late as the same day before 1 p.m., and any site that isn’t reserved or occupied is open to walk-ins on a first-come basis. If you’re hoping to catch some peak season and didn’t plan ahead, try flexible dates, midweek stays, or a shorter trip. Sites open up more often than you’d think, especially with cancellations.

Check hookups and length before you book. Even within one park you’ll find electric-only sites, electric and water sites, and sites with no hookups at all, and several parks cap RV length somewhere around 30 to 40 feet. Measure your rig first. Expect a reservation fee and a nightly utility fee for RV sites on top of the campsite rate, and know that prices change.

Last, call or check the park’s page on floridastateparks.org before you leave. Storm damage has left some parks partly closed or limited in recent years, and this fall’s hurricane activity closed a few campgrounds along the Gulf Coast. The campground you’ve booked should be open, but the boardwalk or boat ramp you’re counting on might not be.