northern Florida suggestions

A lot of nonsense in this thread

She grew up in Florida, and doesn't want to suffer like she did then. So the northern half of the state should be OK; we don't mind wearing a sweatshirt in the evening.

I hear ya! I am from up North and the first few times I stayed way south in FLorida. IMHO it was unbearable. Yes I wanted warm weather but geeze, just trying to keep the MH cool enough to be comfortable was a real pain.

If you don't have to be right on the coastal edge. North central is a good place to be. And the state is so narrow at that point a day trip to either coast is a breeze.

Check out the CG's within a 10 or 20 miles radius of Dunnellon or Rainbow Springs. Beautiful country and just above the hot humid weather line. There are a plethora of affordable, nice CG's in this area. .....IMHO WEST and South of Ocala is a nicer area to be in.:W

There area few forum members who stay in this area. Hopefully they will chime in with their favorites. I know a CG called Rock Crusher comes up a lot but I have never been there.

Re: Reservations:
As a full timer when I come down to Florida for the winter I have yet to make reservations.

BUT, I get to the CG's BEFORE the Snowbirds do by just a few weeks or so. I drive around and stay a night or two in a couple of CG's until I find one I really like. Then I check in for a week or two in the one that I like. I found that ALL CG's leave several sites open usually up front for short stays for travelers passing thru.

In my experience every CG I was at during my week stay I would check with the manager periodically and each and every time there was a cancellation of a snowbird reservation!! I might have to move to that site but then I am in for the winter!! And I already know what the CG is like!:C

Just a tip when looking at what the monthly CG rate is. Down here in Florida they charge EXTRA for electric on top of the monthly rate. So ask lots of questions about how they meter and/or charge for electric BEFORE you decide so you know just what your monthly cost will be.

Good Luck finding just the right CG. Come on down to North Central Florida the weather is fine!

Take a long look at Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park in Crystal River. All the amenities in a state park like atmosphere. As you look at rates, electricity IS included in their rates. Great area of the state.

Give North Beach Camp Resort in St Augustine a look. Lots of history; plenty of good restaurants (three within walking distance); the IntraCoastal Waterway on one end and the Atlantic on the other; spacious sites with vegetation; friendly staff; and semi-reasonable rates. Camp on!

If your a senior Citizen , 62 or older some parks give a Big Discount

Check out rvparkreviews.com and check out web sites for prices. Everyone has different budgets and different taste. We are just south of Ocala National Forest and it is what we were looking for but wouldn't due for someone wanting real hot or a beach. There are plenty to choose from so good luck and enjoy, no matter where you end up it will be warmer than home.

Try Kelly's RV Park in White Springs. Around $300/mo plus elec. clean, nice folks, fires in the evening. Club house with pot lucks etc if you want. Free wifi. You will see some cooler temps but way way better than Michigan. They have a repeat business of snowbirds that don't want to pay $800 mo.

Farther south between Ocala and Gainesville is Grand Lake RV Resort. More $$ but quite nice, more to do. High $600s.

There are a few campgrounds here in southeastern GA that are popular with Snowbirds, Coastal GA RV Resort and Blythe Island Regional Park and Campground.

Coastal GA is a relatively new resort. The entire campground is asphalt and every pad is concrete. Most of them are pull thrus, however the sites along the lake and the property boundaries are back in sites. The owners are real nice (one of them lives on property). They have full hook-ups, cable and wifi (not sure if WiFi is free). Dish would not be a problem. They are less than 2 miles off I-95, but far enough away that road noise isn't too bad. $600/month.

Blythe Island is more like a state park, except they have full hook-ups, cable and wifi (it is free). I don't camp there, but I do fish there and get wifi on the parts of the lake near the campground and it works. Sites are dirt, but pretty level. Except on the edges of the campground, Dish might be a problem because there is a lot of tree cover. The staff is very friendly. It is about 6 miles from I-95 and is super quiet. It's on the South Brunswick River with great fishing and their is a small man made lake. $477.30/month.

Although night time temps can dip below freezing, it doesn't usually get much colder than that. I think we only had like 1 hard freeze last year. Day time temps are usually in the 50s. Some times warmer, some times colder. Mid-January to Mid-February is usually the coldest part of the winter.

Coastal GA RV Resort was pretty crowded last winter. I don't think they were full, but they were pretty close. Bythe Island Regional Park usually has plenty of sites available.

-Michael

Hi Guys!

We have been bopping around Florida for years. Winters are tough as every one from the Midwest and Canada want to come to Florida for the winter. So, it's supply and demand! The parks can charge $600 - $1800/mo, depending on locale of course. They only have six months to make their money because no one wants to be here in the summer. We are currently paying $334/mo plus electric. That rate goes to nearly $700 when the snowbirds arrive. And this is an old park with mostly park models and very tight roads. We are around the Tampa area right now.

Certainly up in northern Florida it can be cheaper, but if you are any where near the water it's about the same as the rest of Florida. We have found the inland parks down the middle of the state to be fairly reasonable. If you don't care about being near the beach, the RV spaces are bigger and the rates are definitely cheaper.

We stayed at a park in Arcadia that was very nice: Cross Creek RV Resort. It is in the middle of orange groves. It is very peaceful if that is what you are looking for. It's a cute little town with everything you need. If not, Sarasota is directly west.

We use Woodalls.com to research parks as well as rvparkreviews.com to find places we want to try out. Google Maps satellite views also helps in checking out an area. Then a phone call can also help to sometimes find a better rate. Some campgrounds are not real good at keeping their website rates up to date.

The other thing you can do, if you can find a job, is to work camp. For 12 - 15 hours a week for each of you pays for your site. Some want additional hours, but you can pick nicer parks that way. Workamper.com is a good source for this kind of research.

Happy Hunting!

Highway 90 along the North Flordia gulf coast has many nice camp grounds.
We have stayed near Eglin AFB a few times along the strip...

I don't think I have ever been turned down from driving through any of the camp grounds to take a good look...

Doing this still dragging your trailer or in a MH might be a problem however...

Another thing we do is pull up the camp grounds on google maps. Using street view you can get some real good shots of how all looks... Almost driving down the roadway..

Roy Ken