Ocala National Forest RV campgrounds and Jeep Trails

I can't comment on the campgrounds, only that there are many of them. They are too close for us to use.

There are also many trails, we've been up and down a number. For us tho they aren't that interesting just typical mid Florida scrub forest and palmettos. There are a few lakes and ponds. We prefer mountain trails, probably since we don't have any here...heh. But the trails themselves tend to be deep sugar sand in many places so be ready for that. We had no trouble using 4WD tho.

Silver River State park

Freightguy wrote:
Can you guys give your thoughts on RV campgrounds in Ocala? I want to go trail riding there with my Jeep and would like to figure out which RV campground is the best as far as ease of access for a large motor home, hook ups and proximity to the trails. Also what trails would you recommend? Thanks.

Hi Freightguy. If you don't find what you're looking for here, you might want to post over in the Toy Hauler forum. We don't have a ton of members in Florida, but it's still a pretty big group. Many of the Toy Hauler members are off-roaders and know lots of the hidden corners around the country.

Silver River SP is nice, we haven't camped there. Have they converted that park to FHU yet? Juniper Springs NF CG is closer to the trails but I'm sure it's no utilities. The same for Alexander Springs. Salt Springs is a very popular park too.

Salt Springs is FHU. Wilderness RV Park is good.
Check Ocala Jeep Club. They organize outings randomly.

agesilaus wrote:
Silver River SP is nice, we haven't camped there. Have they converted that park to FHU yet? Juniper Springs NF CG is closer to the trails but I'm sure it's no utilities. The same for Alexander Springs. Salt Springs is a very popular park too.

They converted some of the sites at the Silver River to FHU but not all. The FHU sites are almost always taken first as you can imagine. It's still a very nice park.

Silver River State Park was renamed Silver Springs State Park in 2013 when the state took over operation of the springs.

lap527 wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
Silver River SP is nice, we haven't camped there. Have they converted that park to FHU yet? Juniper Springs NF CG is closer to the trails but I'm sure it's no utilities. The same for Alexander Springs. Salt Springs is a very popular park too.

They converted some of the sites at the Silver River to FHU but not all. The FHU sites are almost always taken first as you can imagine. It's still a very nice park.

We've gone hiking there several times, a very nice park on the crystal clear Silver River. It's less than 50 miles from our home so we haven't camped there.

I’ve read that on other posts.
What’s the problem with camping close to home?
We camp close to home often.

Big Katuna wrote:
I’ve read that on other posts.
What’s the problem with camping close to home?
We camp close to home often.

Nothing wrong with it.

We do it occasionally but tend to do some State Parks with springs like Manatee SP. Or beach state parks which work out to be more than 50 miles. And these short run camping trips tend to be shake down trips before a longer trip. I think this may change tho as my wife nears retirement and we both have more free time.