Canoeing/Kayaking

Sugarloaf Key RV Resort and Cottages

51 RV Sites, 20 Cottages

Sugarloaf Key RV Resort and Cottages in Summerland Key, Florida, offers 51 full-hookup RV sites and 20 cottages at Mile Marker 20, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 45 feet behind a gated entrance. Premium Cabana, lakefront, premium back-in, and premium pull-through categories join a private shoreline, marina, pool, and poolside pub. Fifty-one sites span lakefront back-in, premium back-in, premium Cabana back-in, and premium pull-thru categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 45 feet, with picnic tables. The Cabana and lakefront tiers are the ones to request. Twenty cottages round out the lodging. A general store, dump station, restrooms, showers, and a snack bar handle the practical side. A private shoreline on open water anchors the property, with a full-service marina offering boat, kayak, and paddleboard rentals for boating, water sports, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, and fishing. A year-round outdoor pool with an adjacent poolside pub, walking trails, a lake, dog park, corn hole, biking, and live music fill the rest. A state park is nearby. Pets are welcome, with plenty of open space for them. Twenty miles from Key West puts guests close enough for Duval Street and the sunset celebration but far enough out to sleep in genuine quiet. This is one of the Keys' most beautiful properties, in the Lower Keys where the backcountry flats, Looe Key reef, and Bahia Honda's beaches are all within reach. Winter is decisively the season in the Keys. Book as far ahead as you can for January through April.

from $49/night

Leo's Campground

47 RV Sites

Key West, the southernmost city in the continental United States, is a four-mile island at the end of the 113-mile Overseas Highway where the character of the Florida Keys reaches its most concentrated and most celebrated expression — a city of Victorian "conch houses," legendary sunset celebrations at Mallory Square, world-class snorkeling and diving on the coral reef system, and the particular subtropical atmosphere that has made Key West a destination of enduring fascination since the nineteenth century. Leo's Campground is a family-owned Key West property that gives RV travelers and vacation rental guests direct access to all of that without the driving logistics that make Key West stays complicated for guests parked further up the Keys. Full-hookup RV sites and vacation rental accommodations cover the primary accommodation options, with boat docks and a kayak launch providing direct water access from the property. A dog park, free Wi-Fi, and on-site laundry serve practical guest needs, and the central Key West location puts the city's primary attractions within walking distance or easy bike ride distance — rental bikes available near camp make the island's human-scaled geography ideal for independent exploration at a pace that captures more than any guided tour manages. The family-owned character of the campground provides a personal attention to guests that contrasts with the transactional experience of Key West's larger hotel properties. Pets are welcome throughout. The turquoise water surrounding Key West's island environment is one of the defining visual and experiential characteristics of any stay — the transition from the dark-green mangrove channels to the open aquamarine of the Gulf and Atlantic flats surrounding the island happens within minutes by kayak, and the marine life density in the shallow backcountry flats supports snorkeling, kayaking, and light-tackle fishing experiences of extraordinary quality without requiring a long boat ride to reach productive water. Mallory Square's nightly sunset celebration — an outdoor festival of street performers, artists, and spectators that has gathered every evening for decades — is one of Key West's most uniquely local traditions and requires no ticket or reservation, just a walk to the waterfront before the sun drops below the Gulf horizon. Duval Street's live music bars, fresh seafood restaurants, and the particular energy of Key West's nightlife extend the evening options indefinitely. The Key West Lighthouse & Keeper's Quarters provides historical context for the island's maritime significance, and the Southernmost Point Buoy at the end of South Street is the obligatory photograph of any Key West visit. The Dry Tortugas, 70 miles west by seaplane or ferry, add Fort Jefferson National Park and a genuinely wild coral reef experience to the broader day-trip roster. Leo's Campground operates year-round in Key West's subtropical climate, with the winter season from December through April representing peak tourism and the most competitive accommodation window on the island. Reserve well ahead for any stay — Key West's limited land area means accommodation options of all types are finite and in consistent demand, and Leo's position as one of the few campgrounds on the island makes advance booking essential regardless of season.

from $75/night

Sun Outdoors Islamorada

73 RV Sites, 3 Houses

Sun Outdoors Islamorada in Florida offers 73 full-hookup RV sites and three houses across 12 acres at Mile Marker 85 in the Keys, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 59 feet, open all year. Elite, premium, deluxe, waterview, and standard categories join back-in and pull-through tiers, with a marina, outdoor pool, fitness center, and beach. Seventy-three sites span standard back-in, standard pull-thru, deluxe back-in, deluxe pull-thru, premium back-in, elite back-in, and waterview categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 59 feet, with picnic tables. Seven tiers give real budget range on some of the most expensive real estate in Florida, and the waterview category is worth requesting. Three houses round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. A marina and beach open the water for boating, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, water sports, swimming, and fishing, with an outdoor pool, fitness center, clubhouse, pavilion, billiards, and a community fire pit filling the rest. Planned activities run through the season. Islamorada is the Village of Islands, where the Atlantic and Florida Bay converge around a fishing town that Zane Grey's early-20th-century expeditions and the backcountry flats' bonefish and permit made the Fishing Capital of the World. Theatre of the Sea, the History of Diving Museum, and Robbie's are all close. Winter is decisively the season in the Keys. January through April fills completely. Book as far ahead as you can.

from $108/night

Sun Outdoors Key Largo

18 RV Sites, 8 Motel Rooms, 13 Park Models

At Mile Marker 97.5 in Key Largo, Florida—at the northern gateway of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway where the first true island experience of the island chain begins and the coral reef ecosystem of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park puts the most accessible and most diverse underwater landscape in the continental United States literally beneath the surface just offshore—Sun Outdoors Key Largo offers 35 full hookup RV sites with cable TV and WiFi, a marina with boat docks and boat ramp, duplex and motel room accommodations, vacation cottages, bike rentals, and a beach in a year-round Keys resort that provides the full waterfront experience at the island chain's most accessible and most coral-reef-proximate point. For RV travelers who want a genuine Florida Keys stay with marina infrastructure and walkable coral reef access, Key Largo's Mile Marker 97.5 is the starting point. Full hookup sites with electric, water, and sewer alongside cable TV and WiFi accommodate 35 rigs in a resort that extends the accommodation options into duplex and motel-style rooms and vacation cottages for traveling companions who prefer a structure to an RV. A marina with boat docks and a boat ramp serves the boating community that comes to Key Largo for the backcountry fishing, reef diving, and island-hopping that the marina infrastructure enables, and bike rentals provide the non-motorized alternative for guests who want to explore Key Largo's Overseas Highway corridor under their own power. A beach, pavilion, community fire pit, laundry, and showers complete the resort infrastructure in a pet-friendly, year-round property. Key Largo occupies the northernmost 30 miles of the Florida Keys at the point where Monroe County's island arc begins its southwesterly arc from the Florida Mainland toward Key West—the first in the chain of 1,700 islands, islets, and mangrove hammocks that stretch 120 miles across the Gulf and Atlantic. The surrounding coral reef ecosystem, part of the Florida Reef Tract—the only living barrier coral reef in the continental United States and the third largest barrier reef in the world—begins just offshore and creates the snorkeling and scuba diving conditions that make Key Largo the undisputed diving capital of the continental United States. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, adjacent to the Mile Marker 97.5 position, was established in 1963 as the first underwater state park in the United States—a 70-square-mile park that extends three miles offshore to protect the living coral reef, the mangrove forests, and the seagrass beds that form the ecological foundation of the Keys ecosystem. The park's glass-bottom boat tours, snorkeling excursions, and scuba diving trips from the park's concession provide the reef access for guests who don't have their own dive equipment, and the Christ of the Abyss bronze statue in 25 feet of water at Key Largo Dry Rocks is one of the most photographed underwater attractions in the world. Sun Outdoors Key Largo operates year-round in the Florida Keys' subtropical maritime climate, where the consistent 75-85°F year-round temperature range and the minimal seasonal variation make every month a viable Keys vacation month. Winter is the drier, slightly cooler season and the peak period for both the snowbird community and the reef diving conditions when water visibility reaches maximum clarity. Summer brings the warm water and the thunderstorm season, but the Keys remain accessible and the reef beautiful. Reserve your site, cottage, or motel room at Sun Outdoors Key Largo and let the coral reef at America's doorstep deliver the underwater world that makes the Florida Keys genuinely unlike anywhere else in the country.

from $66/night

Chokoloskee RV Park

64 RV Sites, 10 Cabins

On the isolated shell mound island of Chokoloskee—a prehistoric Calusa shell midden that rises above the surrounding Everglades estuary in Collier County at the southwestern edge of Florida—Chokoloskee RV Park sits at the gateway to one of the most biologically extraordinary landscapes in North America. Three miles south of Everglades City on Chokoloskee Bay, the park provides 40-plus full hookup sites, kayak and boat rentals, a heated pool, a private beach, a renovated marina with boat launch, and the immediate proximity to Ten Thousand Islands and the Everglades National Park backcountry that makes this tiny island one of the premier paddling and fishing destinations in the entire country. Full hookup sites accommodate 30 and 50-amp rigs with water, sewer, cable TV, and WiFi, and a fish cleaning station serves the serious fishing culture that defines Chokoloskee's guest demographic. The renovated marina, boat launch, and kayak and boat rental operation make the surrounding waters immediately accessible, and the heated pool and private beach provide rest and relaxation on days when the fishing and paddling are done. A general store, laundry, and playground round out the amenity set for families and extended-stay guests who want everything within walking distance. Travel trailer and cottage rentals are available for travelers seeking additional accommodation options on the island. Chokoloskee Island itself is a marvel—a 150-acre island elevated 8 feet above sea level by more than 3,000 years of Calusa shell midden accumulation, the archaeological remnant of a sophisticated culture that occupied this coastline for millennia before European contact. The island connects to the mainland by a causeway across Chokoloskee Bay, where the mangrove-lined waterways begin their intricate transition into the Ten Thousand Islands archipelago to the west—one of the largest mangrove estuaries in the Western Hemisphere. The bay is a nursery for snook, redfish, sea trout, and tarpon, and the backwater fishing here is widely regarded as the finest inshore fishing in Florida. Ten Thousand Islands, accessible directly from Chokoloskee's marina, encompasses 195 miles of paddling routes through mangrove-lined channels, open bays, and shell beach islands that provide camping opportunities along the Wilderness Waterway—a 99-mile paddling route through Everglades National Park's Gulf Coast section. Manatees drift through the channels, roseate spoonbills glow pink in the mangrove canopy, osprey and bald eagles claim the highest perches, and the alligators and American crocodiles of the brackish transition zone make for wildlife encounters unavailable in virtually any other environment. Everglades City, three miles north, offers air boat tours, ranger station programming, and the Rod and Gun Club's history as a sportsman's retreat since the 1920s. Chokoloskee's winter season—November through April—delivers Florida's finest weather alongside the peak fishing and paddling conditions that draw serious outdoors people from around the country. Tarpon season peaks from April through June as the giant fish migrate through the backcountry channels. Summer brings heat, humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms that are part of the Everglades ecosystem's annual rhythm. Reservations are essential for winter stays; the island is small and the park fills with regulars who return year after year to the same quiet outpost at the edge of the American wilderness. Book your site at Chokoloskee RV Park and discover why this tiny island at the end of the road is one of Florida's great outdoor secrets.

from $40/night

Timberline Glamping at Naples

Timberline Glamping at Naples in Collier County, Florida, delivers safari-style tent accommodations with air conditioning, heating, comfortable beds, and a coffee maker in the natural setting southwest of Naples — a glamping property that gives guests the outdoor camping connection with the southwest Florida landscape without the infrastructure gap between deluxe hotel accommodation and primitive camping that the Naples area's visitor market has consistently shown it is not interested in bridging on its own. The safari tent format, combining canvas tent enclosure with genuine modern comfort systems, creates the specific outdoor-indoor hybrid experience that the glamping category delivers at its most satisfying when the natural setting outside the tent justifies the accommodation format itself. Air-conditioned and heated safari-style tent accommodations give guests the complete modern comfort systems for year-round Florida outdoor stays — the air conditioning specifically addresses the reality that southwest Florida's summer humidity and heat make unaided outdoor sleeping uncomfortable in a way that reduces camping's appeal to the substantial non-camping fraction of the Naples visitor demographic. The coffee maker and comfortable bed infrastructure give the tents the turnkey morning experience that glamping guests specifically cite as the category's primary experiential advantage over conventional tent camping. The property's natural setting provides the outdoor connection — birds, warm nights, and southwest Florida's distinctive subtropical vegetation — that the indoor amenity infrastructure supports rather than replaces. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, 30 miles northeast of Naples in Collier County, preserves the largest remaining old-growth bald cypress forest in North America — a 13,000-acre Audubon Society sanctuary whose 2.5-mile boardwalk trail through ancient cypress trees, some over 500 years old and 130 feet tall, with knees rising from the dark swamp water below, delivers a natural landscape experience of genuine profundity that has no equivalent elsewhere in the continental United States. The sanctuary's winter wading bird nesting colony, concentrating wood storks, great blue herons, anhingas, and roseate spoonbills in the cypress canopy, is one of the most spectacular wildlife aggregations in Florida. Big Cypress National Preserve, northeast of Naples, protects 720,000 acres of the South Florida freshwater watershed that sustains Everglades National Park's flow regime and the Florida panther population that the preserve's vast, undeveloped landscape supports in the largest concentration remaining in the eastern United States. Airboat and swamp buggy tours through the Big Cypress cypress strand and wet prairie habitat give visitors the immersive Southwest Florida wetland experience that the Everglades' more managed visitor infrastructure channels more rigidly. Timberline Glamping at Naples operates year-round in Collier County's subtropical climate, with the winter dry season from December through April representing the most comfortable outdoor recreation conditions and the primary snowbird season that sustains Southwest Florida's hospitality economy through the cooler months. The summer wet season from June through September delivers daily afternoon thunderstorms and higher temperatures but also the lushest tropical vegetation and the active birdlife that follows South Florida's summer monsoon rains through the freshwater wetland systems. Reserve safari tent accommodations ahead for the winter peak season from January through March, when Naples's accommodation market is at its most competitive and the outdoor glamping experience is most comfortable in the subtropical outdoors.

Meadowlark Shores RV Park

Meadowlark Shores RV Park in Moore Haven, Florida, offers full-hookup RV sites steps from Lake Okeechobee, with boat docks, a boat ramp, an outdoor pool, and a hot tub behind a gated entrance. A clubhouse, recreation center, and personal mailboxes serve both travelers and longer-stay residents on the Big Lake. Full-hookup RV sites carry water, sewer, and electric. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, restrooms, showers, firewood, personal mailboxes, and a pet washing station handle the practical side, with WiFi throughout and a gated entrance controlling access. The mailboxes and washing station point clearly at the extended-stay guests the park serves alongside travelers. The lake carries the recreation. Boat docks and a boat ramp give direct access for fishing, boating, canoeing, and kayaking, with an outdoor pool and hot tub as the managed alternative. A clubhouse, recreation center, game room, arcade, pond, walking trails, playground, dog park, pavilion, horseshoes, shuffleboard, biking, and picnicking fill the grounds, with strong birding along the shoreline. Pets are welcome. Moore Haven sits in Glades County on US-27 and SR-78 on Lake Okeechobee's northern shore — the largest freshwater lake in Florida and the second-largest natural freshwater lake in the contiguous United States. Glades County is among Florida's most rural and lightly developed, and the Okeechobee bass fishery is the main draw. LaBelle River Rentals and Gatorama are nearby on the Caloosahatchee. Winter and spring bass season drive the heaviest demand. Reserve ahead.

from $53/night

Fisheating Creek Outpost

44 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 69 Tent Sites

In Palmdale, Florida—in Glades County on Fisheating Creek where the tributary that flows northwest into Lake Okeechobee through one of the last free-flowing undammed creek systems in South Florida sustains the bass, catfish, and panfish fishery, the sandhill crane and limpkin populations, and the cypress swamp and prairie ecosystem that the surrounding conservation lands protect in an area that Florida outdoor enthusiasts access specifically for the natural character that the coasts and the theme park corridor cannot provide—Fisheating Creek Outpost offers 48 full hookup RV sites on concrete pads with water, sewer, and electric, 68 tent sites many positioned directly on the creek or near the swim lake, a furnished cabin with private bedroom, kitchen, air conditioning, and bath, two bathhouses with hot showers, laundry, a well-stocked camp store, and a fleet of 80 canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddleboards available for hourly rental, creating the most complete paddle outpost on one of South Florida's most ecologically significant waterways. The creek is the destination. The canoe fleet has 80. The 48 full hookup RV sites on concrete pads with water, sewer, and electric provide the infrastructure alongside the 68 tent sites—many positioned directly on Fisheating Creek or near the swim lake for the water's-edge experience that the non-hookup camper seeks in the creek bottom's cypress-and-oak setting. The furnished cabin's private bedroom, kitchen with stove and refrigerator, air conditioning, and bath provides the enclosed accommodation for the guest whose comfort requirements exceed the tent but whose gear doesn't include a motorized rig. Two bathhouses with hot showers, laundry, and the well-stocked camp store create the daily support infrastructure. The 80-canoe, kayak, and paddleboard fleet—available by the hour—eliminates the need to bring paddling equipment to one of Florida's most rewarding paddling waterways and creates the access point that the Fisheating Creek Water Management Area's multi-day paddle camping trips begin from. Fisheating Creek flows 70 miles from the prairies of Highlands County northwest to Lake Okeechobee's northwestern shore in Glades County, draining the last significant free-flowing undammed creek system entering Lake Okeechobee. The Fisheating Creek Water Management Area's 22,000-plus acres of upland pine, wet prairie, cypress swamp, and creek floodplain protect the wildlife corridor that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the South Florida Water Management District have preserved as the Okeechobee watershed's most ecologically intact tributary. Lake Okeechobee, 20 miles east, provides the 730-square-mile lake's largemouth bass fishing—the trophy-class bass fishery that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's management program sustains in the shallow, vegetation-rich lake creates the supplementary angling destination for the Fisheating Creek visitor whose creek fishing appetite extends beyond the outpost's immediate waterway. Highlands Hammock State Park, 40 miles north near Sebring, provides the ancient live oak hammock—one of the oldest and most pristine natural communities in Florida—and the Civilian Conservation Corps' 1930s-era infrastructure in one of Florida's original state parks. Sebring International Raceway's 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race and the Highlands Hammock's visitor center create the cultural and natural attractions accessible from the Glades County position. Fisheating Creek Outpost operates year-round in Glades County's subtropical climate, with the winter and spring months from November through May the most comfortable paddling and camping season and the summer wet season from June through September bringing the afternoon thunderstorms and the wading bird activity that the creek's flooded margins sustain at their most abundant. Reserve your RV pad, tent site, or cabin at Fisheating Creek Outpost and let the 80-paddle fleet, the free-flowing creek's bass and panfish fishery, and the Glades County natural landscape deliver the South Florida outdoors experience that the coasts cannot provide.

Shell Creek Sun RV Communities

154 RV Sites, 1 Cottage

Shell Creek in Punta Gorda, Florida, is a 55-plus community offering 154 full-hookup RV sites and a cottage with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet, open all year. A 24-slip marina, outdoor pool, hot tub, and fitness center sit on the banks of Shell Creek in Charlotte County. One hundred fifty-four standard full-hookup back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp with site WiFi, sized to 50 feet, with picnic tables. The sites are spacious, and the 30- and 50-amp service covers most rigs comfortably. A cottage rounds out the lodging. A laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, and recycling handle the practical side. The marina is the distinguishing amenity — 24 slips giving direct waterway access to the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor beyond. An outdoor pool and hot tub and sauna anchor daily recreation, with a fitness center, recreation center, game room, and on-site dining besides. Pickleball, shuffleboard, billiards, horseshoes, a beach, and a dog park fill the grounds, with boating, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and water sports from the creek. Pets are welcome. Shell Creek's freshwater-to-brackish transition supports genuinely varied fishing, and Charlotte Harbor is among the most productive estuaries on the Gulf Coast. Winter is decisively the season for Florida's 55-plus communities. Book well ahead for January through March, when snowbird demand fills the Charlotte County corridor.

from $55/night

Myakka River RV Resort

24 RV Sites, 2 Tent Sites, 21 Park Models

Directly on the Myakka River in North Port, Florida—in Sarasota County where the Myakka River's blackwater flow through the flatwood prairie, cypress swamp, and tropical hammock creates the most wildlife-rich river corridor in southwest Florida—Myakka River RV Resort offers big-rig-friendly full hookup sites with 30 and 50-amp service, patio slabs and picnic tables at every site, high-speed WiFi throughout, cable TV, and both riverfront and nature-preserve sites in a resort that provides direct access to one of Florida's most extraordinary natural waterways in the community between Sarasota and Port Charlotte that has become one of southwest Florida's fastest-growing residential and visitor destinations. For guests who want the Myakka River in the backyard rather than as a day-trip destination, this is the park that provides it. All sites run on full hookup service—30 and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer—on the concrete patio slabs that Florida's year-round outdoor living culture demands as a baseline, with picnic tables at every site providing the outdoor dining and relaxation space that the Myakka's wildlife parade makes genuinely rewarding to occupy. High-speed WiFi serves the remote workers and extended-stay guests who use the North Port corridor as a winter base, and cable TV provides the indoor entertainment option that Florida's occasional rainy afternoon necessitates. Riverfront sites provide direct visual access to the Myakka River's wildlife—the alligators, river otters, anhinga, and wading birds that use the river's undisturbed banks as year-round habitat—while nature-preserve sites offer the wooded privacy of the adjacent upland habitat. Big-rig-friendly infrastructure ensures that the resort's largest guests arrive and depart without difficulty. North Port occupies Sarasota County in the Charlotte Harbor estuary watershed, in the geographic transition between the coastal resort communities of Sarasota County and the Charlotte Harbor area's fishing and boating culture. The Myakka River flows south through North Port from its origin in the Green Swamp toward Charlotte Harbor in one of Florida's most ecologically significant river corridors—the blackwater chemistry produced by tannins from the surrounding vegetation creates the dark, tea-colored water that supports a distinctive aquatic community and the river's exceptional clarity despite its dark color. Myakka River State Park, approximately 20 miles northeast of North Port near Sarasota, protects 57,000 acres of the Myakka River's upper watershed in one of Florida's largest and most ecologically diverse state parks. The park's two lakes, the guided airboat tours, the tram tours through the dry prairie and hammock habitats, and the boardwalk through the floodplain forest create a wildlife viewing experience that consistently delivers alligator, sandhill crane, roseate spoonbill, and the concentrated waterbird populations that the Myakka's backwater floodplain supports. Sarasota's cultural infrastructure—the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, the Bayfront Park and Marina Jack waterfront—and Venice Beach's shark tooth fossil collecting on the Gulf shore extend the day-trip options. Myakka River RV Resort operates year-round in Sarasota County's subtropical climate, where the prime season from November through April delivers the mild, dry weather that makes southwest Florida camping genuinely comfortable and the winter snowbird community fills the campground with the extended-stay guests who make the Myakka River their winter home. The summer wet season from June through September brings the river's alligator and bird activity to its peak as the floodplain fills with water and concentrates wildlife in the management that Florida's seasonal hydrology produces. Reserve your riverfront or preserve site at Myakka River RV Resort and let the Myakka's wildlife corridor, the big-rig-friendly infrastructure, and the North Port position between Sarasota and Charlotte Harbor deliver the southwest Florida RV experience with a river view.

from $50/night

Cross Creek RV Resort

17 RV Sites

On the Peace River in Arcadia at the heart of DeSoto County's ranch and citrus country, Cross Creek RV Resort has earned one of the rarest distinctions in North American campground quality—a Good Sam 10/10/10 rating, one of only six resorts in all of Florida to achieve the scoring system's perfect marks for facilities, restrooms, and visual appeal. The resort's 50-amp full-hookup sites measuring at least 38 by 75 feet, two swimming pools, spa, boat launch, fishing docks, miniature golf, and the Peace River frontage that places guests on one of Florida's most famous fossil hunting rivers create a resort experience that the Peace River valley's unique prehistoric heritage makes genuinely irreplaceable in the broader Florida campground landscape. All full-hookup sites feature 50-amp electric, water, sewer, cable TV, and Wi-Fi on pads at least 38 by 75 feet—large enough to accommodate the widest and longest rigs on the road today with room for double slide-outs and full outdoor setup. Riverfront and waterfront site configurations give the most desirable locations direct Peace River access, and the boat launch and fishing docks provide the on-water infrastructure for guests who want to explore the river by canoe, kayak, or powerboat. Two pools, a spa, miniature golf, shuffleboard, bocce ball, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, a dog park, camp store, pavilion, recreation hall, and planned activities complete one of the most comprehensive resort amenity packages in southwest Florida. The Peace River, flowing past the resort's waterfront sites southward through DeSoto, Hardee, and Charlotte Counties to the tidal estuary at Charlotte Harbor, is one of Florida's most paleontologically significant river systems—a shallow, dark-water river whose acidic sediments have preserved Ice Age megafauna fossils in extraordinary condition for millions of years. Fossil hunters wade the Peace River's gravel bars and shallow bottom in search of mastodon teeth, giant ground sloth bones, megalodon shark teeth, and the remains of Pleistocene horses and camels that accumulated in the river's prehistoric shoreline environments when south Florida was dry savanna during the ice ages. Guided fossil hunting excursions from Arcadia give campground guests professional interpretation that transforms fossil hunting from a lucky find into an educational introduction to Florida's extraordinary prehistoric fauna. Arcadia, the DeSoto County seat, maintains the western flavor of Central Florida's ranch country in its historic downtown and the All-Florida Championship Rodeo—one of Florida's oldest and most authentic rodeos, held each spring and fall in a county that still runs cattle on the flatwoods and palmetto prairies covering DeSoto County's undeveloped interior. Myakka River State Park, about 30 miles northwest, provides one of Florida's premier wildlife watching destinations with resident alligators, Florida sandhill cranes, and the roseate spoonbill and wood stork nesting colonies that make the Myakka River marshes one of the state's most biologically productive wetland habitats. Sarasota, with world-class arts institutions and the Gulf beaches of Siesta Key and Lido Key, lies 50 miles northwest. The Peace River valley's subtropical climate supports year-round camping at Cross Creek, with the winter season from November through April drawing the largest concentration of snowbird guests who fill the resort's riverfront and waterfront sites for weeks and months at a time in south-central Florida's mild winter conditions. Fossil hunting is most productive after summer rains have washed new material from the river banks, making the late summer and early fall months—when the Peace River's thunderstorm season has freshly eroded the gravel bars—the most rewarding time for a fossil hunting visit. Reserve riverfront sites well ahead for the peak winter season when the resort's 10/10/10 reputation and Peace River location create demand that the limited number of prime waterfront sites cannot satisfy through the most popular weeks.

from $62/night

Timberline Glamping at Sarasota

4 Glamping Sites

Within Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey, Florida—on the Sarasota County coast where the scrub-oak landscape, the South Creek paddling corridor, and Lake Osprey's warm-water swimming create the specific habitat mosaic that scrub-jays, gopher tortoises, and the bird diversity of a Florida state park's managed natural environment support in one of the most ecologically significant preserves on the Suncoast—Timberline Glamping at Sarasota provides four luxury safari tent accommodations on 10 acres at the edge of Oscar Scherer's trail network, combining the immersive park experience of a state park stay with the interior comfort of a 320-square-foot furnished tent that includes a king or queen bed configuration, air conditioning, a Keurig coffee maker, and a mini-refrigerator. Rates starting at $152 per night reflect the specific combination of park access and furnished comfort that the property provides in a market where Sarasota hotel rooms at comparable rates offer less natural experience and considerably less square footage of outdoor living. Four safari tents—available in Deluxe configuration (king bed and two sets of bunk beds) and Double configuration (two queen beds)—accommodate single couples, families, and the range of group compositions that a 320-square-foot luxury tent can serve across the Sarasota glamping market. Interior furnishings include floor rugs, multiple lamps, high-quality bed linens, comfortable seating, heating and air conditioning units, electrical outlets for device charging, and the Keurig coffee setup with Timberline-branded mugs that makes morning coffee in a tent genuinely pleasant rather than an expedition logistics problem. Each tent's gravel-base exterior features two hammocks for tree-hung lounging, a charcoal grill with cooking grate, a wood fire pit, a picnic table, and string lights that create the warm evening ambiance that fire pit camping and glamping guests specifically seek. The pet-friendly policy—with an additional fee for furry companions—extends the welcome to the dogs and cats that Sarasota area travelers bring. Oscar Scherer State Park's ecology provides the glamping experience's natural programming. Lake Osprey—warm enough for swimming through the Florida season—provides open-water swimming and fishing access from the park's beach area, with largemouth bass and panfish in the lake's vegetation-lined shallows. South Creek, winding through the park's interior, offers kayak and canoe access (rentals available through the park) through a paddling corridor that the park's scrub-oak forest and freshwater marsh flank with the specific ecological transition that makes Oscar Scherer's natural character distinctive among Sarasota County's preserved areas. Fifteen-plus miles of multi-use trails through the park's pine flatwoods, scrub habitat, and marsh edges provide the hiking and biking access to Oscar Scherer's wildlife—Florida scrub-jays (a threatened species whose oak scrub habitat Oscar Scherer specifically protects), gopher tortoises, sandhill cranes, and the year-round diversity of the Sarasota County bird community. The park's scrub-jay population is accessible for wildlife photography along the scrub-edge trails with a consistency that serious bird photographers travel specifically for. Timberline Glamping at Sarasota operates year-round in Florida's mild Suncoast climate. The park's spring wildflower season, summer lake swimming, and fall bird migration create distinct natural seasons within a year-round operating environment. The Sarasota cultural infrastructure—the Ringling Museum, Sarasota Opera, Siesta Key Beach (routinely ranked among the finest beaches in the United States)—provides the day-trip programming from a glamping base that the park's natural setting complements rather than competes with. Reserve your safari tent, pack a paddling outfit for South Creek, and let Oscar Scherer State Park's scrub and creek ecology deliver what Florida glamping looks like when the nature experience is the point.

from $185 $161/night