Campgrounds south of Naples FL

My wife and I plan to spend a week or 2 next January near the Everglades. We want to stay on the western side south of Naples. Anyone recommend a good campground for Class As

Presume your reference to “western side” is to the state of Florida and not to Naples:C. I’m also not sure how to interpret a couple of other phrases in your wish list. You want to be on the western side (of the state) and south of Naples but near the Everglades. Generally speaking, the Southern third of the Florida Peninsula are often referred to as the “everglades” (small “e”) and managed by the S. Florida Water Mgt authority. It includes Naples and surrounding areas which have been reclaimed from the glades. The capital "E" Everglades (a slow – ¼ mile/day moving river through saw-grass) runs from Okeechobee south to Cape Sable and is 60-70 miles wide. Adjacent to the Everglades on the west is Big Cypress Swamp (non moving water) and on the south, from Cape Sable to Marco Island, is Ten Thousand Islands. On the northern side is a large area known as the Devils Garden and all, generically, are known and pretty much look like the 'everglades'.

Within the southern part of this everglades are formal, legally boundaried, areas which include the 1.5+ million acre Everglades National Park, the nearly 750,000 acre Big Cypress National Preserve, the 35,000 acre Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, several state parks and preserves (the 7,300 acre Collier-Seminole State Park, the 20x5 mile Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and others) and the 26,000 acre Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. For the most part, one cannot differentiate one area from the other except some water is very slowly moving and some is not and some areas support stands of hardwoods (hammocks) or islands of mangroves and others do not. Don’t mean to get to technical but don’t know if you are referring to a general ‘everglades’ flavor or to the National Park itself.

You also say you are looking for a ‘good campground for Class As’ which may mean you are looking for a campground that has hookups vs. tent camping or may mean that you are looking for motorhome exclusive resort facilities.

Campgrounds on the east side of Naples would include Collier-Seminole State Park (nice to see you there in Nov Teacher’s Pet & Dale) which is about 8 miles east of Rt 951 on US 41 (Tamiami Trail). A nice, treed campground. Other campgrounds would include Naples Gardens and Club Naples. Naples Gardens is on Rt 951 about midway between I-75 (exit 101) and Tamiami Trail and Club Naples is just east of exit 101 off Rt 951. All three would be in the ‘realm’ of being in Naples though none actually are within the city limits. About 30+ miles or so east of the Rt951/Tamiami intersection is Midway Campground located within the boundaries of Big Cypress Nat’l Preserve. I think it is a nice campground but further from shopping, beaches etc.

There is no shortage of resort RV parks. Pelican Lakes (motorcoach only) and Silver Lakes Golf & RV Resort (Class A and C plus 5vers) are neighbors located basically on Rt 951 and 2 miles south of Tamiami Trail on the way to Marco Island. On Tamiami Trail but a mile east of Rt 951 is the Naples Motorcoach Resort which is a couple of years old. The only negative to this park is that Tamiami Trail is being reconstructed at this time (which will last through 2015) and the park entrance is involved. Traffic should be unimpeded for the most part on Tamiami Trail but I’m not sure of the impact on park ingress and egress. Paradise Pointe (Class A, C and 5vers), which is nice but a step down, IMO, is another 1.5 miles east on Tamiami Trl and will be similarly impacted by the construction.

Further east of Naples, in Everglades City, is Everglades Isle, another very nice motorcoach only resort park (new) right on the Barron River (access to the Gulf). A plus for me would be that it is an easy walk to my favorite super-casual fresh seafood eatery (City Seafood) but that’s just me. South of Everglades City, 5 miles, is Chokoloskee Island and the Outdoor Resorts (ORA) RV resort and marina. These two RV resorts are closer to the “Everglades” but are further away from other more touristy things. In fact, the eastern visitor center for the Everglades National Park is in Everglades City on Rt 29 between these two RV parks. There is a park concessionaire operated boat that slowly takes you out to (not in) the Gulf and there is a plethora of airboat rides in and around Everglades City. If you happen to be in the area in early February, the Everglades City Seafood Festival is not to be missed.

We spent our last 6 winters of our 15 full-timing years in the area (we owned a lot in Silver Lakes) and love the area. After we hung up the keys, we bought a condo in the Port of the Islands Resort development- midway between Naples and Everglades City. POI is a grandfathered development sharing its boundaries with the 10,000 Islands NWR, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve SP, Big Cypress Swamp Nat’l Preserve and the Everglades NP. The nearest neighbors to the POI resort is an airboat ride 3 miles west and an indian village 3 miles east. A flavor of the POI area might be described by area signs seen almost daily and unbelievable sunsets.