Lake Griffin State Park, FL.
Set on Lake Griffin, about 40 minutes north of Orlando, this small state park caters for campers and boaters. There is a small boat dock and a place to launch from. The park is about 20 minutes off the I75 and is well situated for a fair bit of central Florida, if you don't mind driving a little. Scroll down for the gallery.
The official State Park website can be found here.
General Stuff
We picked Lake Griffin to stay because we were going into Orlando but wanted to be camped a good distance away. The park itself is really the lake but it has a neat and compact campground in a lightly wooded area. The entry road is flanked by Old Oaks that are festooned with Spanish Moss, which makes you really feel that you're in Florida. There is a large bath house with laundry, and a dump station on site. The sites have a concrete pad and some have full hookups. The park is just a few minute's drive from Leesburg where there are shops and restaurants in abundance.
Opinion
Our initial site was very narrow but had a level concrete pad and was surrounded by greenery; the Geckos running around were a real bonus. Unfortunately, we had to move sites as the electricity hookup died and was not repairable immediately. The second site was bigger and had full hookups but wasn't as private at the first. The bathhouse was big and, although not as clean as it could be, certainly had plenty of hot water. We made full use of the laundry facilities here, too. The site wasn't busy and we surmised that as it was July and really hot, people tended to stay away. Late in the afternoon of each day of our visit there was some really heavy rain, which proceeded to wash away large swathes of the campground's dirt roads. The park staff clearly knew this was going to happen and used a tractor each day to put the dirt back onto the road! We ate a couple of times in Leesburg and used the McDonald's in Fruitland for free Internet access. For our purposes, this campground was just right and we'd have enjoyed it even more had we not had to move sites. Last stayed July 2011.
The official State Park website can be found here.
General Stuff
We picked Lake Griffin to stay because we were going into Orlando but wanted to be camped a good distance away. The park itself is really the lake but it has a neat and compact campground in a lightly wooded area. The entry road is flanked by Old Oaks that are festooned with Spanish Moss, which makes you really feel that you're in Florida. There is a large bath house with laundry, and a dump station on site. The sites have a concrete pad and some have full hookups. The park is just a few minute's drive from Leesburg where there are shops and restaurants in abundance.
Opinion
Our initial site was very narrow but had a level concrete pad and was surrounded by greenery; the Geckos running around were a real bonus. Unfortunately, we had to move sites as the electricity hookup died and was not repairable immediately. The second site was bigger and had full hookups but wasn't as private at the first. The bathhouse was big and, although not as clean as it could be, certainly had plenty of hot water. We made full use of the laundry facilities here, too. The site wasn't busy and we surmised that as it was July and really hot, people tended to stay away. Late in the afternoon of each day of our visit there was some really heavy rain, which proceeded to wash away large swathes of the campground's dirt roads. The park staff clearly knew this was going to happen and used a tractor each day to put the dirt back onto the road! We ate a couple of times in Leesburg and used the McDonald's in Fruitland for free Internet access. For our purposes, this campground was just right and we'd have enjoyed it even more had we not had to move sites. Last stayed July 2011.
