Florida SP's Still Available

Nice work, to those who are diligent there are rewards

Just wondering, what is your average monthly cost for using this technique? I assume you have only W/E, no - cable, WIFI or pool.

Did stay at Topsail once and was amazed at how nice it was for a state park. I assumed they all are not at that level with FHU, pool, and paved landscaped sites.

We average about $20/night for our January to April Florida visit. That includes a 5 week stay at the Escapees owned FHU park near Bushnell, FL at about $14.50/night member cost, and a couple of NPS/COE parks at about the same with our Senior Pass. The rest of the time we're in state parks at about $25/night on average, with some full hookups and others W/E only. We stop at a few private parks for a night or two as fill-ins between reservations sometimes, but we do try to keep that to a minimum by back to backing the other reservations as much as possible. We budget $800/month for park fees, but rarely spend that much.

John and Joey, Florida state parks are generally about $24 a night, plus taxes. The cost of reserving with Reserve America is $6.70 per transaction, irrespective of the length of stay. Most often you'll only get water and electric (and hot showers)as far as amenities go. The up side? You usually can exit your rig and look at the some greenery instead of the side of another unit.

Hope this helps.

Paleo Ron wrote:
Just as a follow-up to my recent posting in which I voiced surprise at how some Florida State Parks are booked solid for next winter, I've been able to work my way down the east coast, over to the central area, and up the west side by booking pretty well state parks only (my preferred type of camping), all just by staying north of Highway 70. I've done this before and while yes, it can be cool at times, generally it's still quite warm. (I guess having worked many years in the Artic helps.)

By the way, if you attempt this, don't expect to finish in an afternoon. :)

Question - do FL State parks have limits on time you can stay?

Paleo Ron wrote:
Just as a follow-up to my recent posting in which I voiced surprise at how some Florida State Parks are booked solid for next winter, I've been able to work my way down the east coast, over to the central area, and up the west side by booking pretty well state parks only (my preferred type of camping), all just by staying north of Highway 70. I've done this before and while yes, it can be cool at times, generally it's still quite warm. (I guess having worked many years in the Artic helps.)

By the way, if you attempt this, don't expect to finish in an afternoon. :)

Ron, what parks did you get in? When we made our reservations months ago there were only one or two spaces remaining in the parks we will be staying in. One of our parks we normally stay in was all ready full and others parks we were not able to get our normal space and had to accept a lesser space.

rocmoc n AZ/Fld/Baja

Paleo Ron wrote:
... The up side? You usually can exit your rig and look at the some greenery instead of the side of another unit.

Hope this helps.

I call this Florida's dirty little secret. The private parks really like to pack you in unless their price is through the roof. There's always exceptions to the rule, but you got to really work to find them.

Thanks for the update.

For the questions posed above, I believe 2 weeks is the maximum limit for state parks, but you'll have trouble staying 2 weeks straight at any park at this point in time. (I got one place for 2 weeks, but I'll be in 3 different spots.)

If you get to Florida on the I-95, make sure you stop at the Welcome Center and get a map (and any info) of the state parks. I was able to get sites in several parks along the east coast, then over to Highlands Hammock in the central part, then up to Lake Louisa, O'Leno, Suwannee River, Henderson and Topsail in the Panhandle.

Perhaps I'll add that I'm trying Florida again, but I've been in Arizona for the last 3 winters and have enjoyed it very much. Happy trails.

You've probably already have done this, but if you get tired of FL give this a try:

• Gulf Shores, AL
• Galveston Island TX
• Port Aransas
• South Padre Island
• San Antonio
• Fredericksburg
• out of TX and over to the Natchez Trace trail back toward Canada.