FL questions

[kfp673]

Hello All,

We are considering booking a last minute trip to FL in December. With 3 kids < 12 most of our trips to FL in the past have been Disney related but this would just be a warm weather get away. That said, it would be nice to be within a few hours drive of the parks in case we decide to take a 1 day trip. However, what we are really looking for is a suggestion of areas to camp where we could kayak on the spring feed rivers where the manatee's go. I have seen some beautiful pictures but am unsure of the specific areas. I checked Manatee Springs state park and that (and all other state parks) are sold out most of the winter. I can find sites at private parks but looking for suggested areas. Ideally we would be able to kayak from our campground, but with booking this late we can't be too picky, so even if we were within a 30-45 minute drive.

To recap, FL camping with hookups, within a few hours of Orlando, and within 30-45 minutes of good kayaking with manatees. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[agesilaus]

Well what you are looking for are mostly in the Ocala National Forest. Alexander, Juniper and Salt Springs all federal parks. There some other possibilities: Rainbow Springs on the Rainbow River SP and Silver Springs SP on the Silver River. Most of the other state park springs have short runs or don't have campgrounds. Ichetucknee Springs SP has a fantastic run on the river but no campground but there are private cg nearby.
All of these parks have private cg nearby. All of these parks are about an hour or hour and a half from Orlando. There are other parks scattered further south but that is the main grouping.
Now I'm sure you are aware that these places are probably booked solid for the snowbird season. But I'm seeing reports that the lack of Canadians is opening spots since they cannot easily escape Canada right now. So that may open some spots.
I saw a report in the RV News that said Canadians are flying to Seattle and paying to have their RV's trucked across the border on flatbed semis. That works since the US isn't hunting them down and issuing $10,000 fines like Canada is doing. But that is just a trickle compared to the usual flood.