Harriet Vane Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 We are a family that likes to seriously camp and have spent a lot of time backpacking in the north woods. Dh is interested in camping in Florida, either near St. Augustine or, more likely, south Florida somewhere. I am scared of rattlesnakes and other such creatures. How realistic are my fears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Not very realistic. We camp a lot and have never had to deal with them. If you plan to camp in St. Augustine at Anastasia State Park, you'll need to make reservations months in advance. It's quite a popular site. I would not recommend camping here between mid-May and late October. It's too hot and wet. November to April are the best months for camping. You can get away with early May, but you take a chance on it being too hot and/or rainy. Since you mentioned serious camping and backpacking, I'm going to guess you're tent campers. Some of the parks have primitive camp sites if that's your style, but most also have full facilities. Our state parks are nice, as are the national parks here, but there are also plenty of private KOA types of campgrounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchel210 Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Ive lived here my whole life and didnt realize we had those here! LOL. I was more scared of the boars around the tent than snakes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Ive lived here my whole life and didnt realize we had those here! LOL. I was more scared of the boars around the tent than snakes! Yes, we have rattlers, and several other venomous species of snakes, but I've never encountered them while camping. Boars, yes! And racoons. We have some highly intelligent racoons who can figure out how to open coolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyLady Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 My DH tent camped many years ago in the Keys and absolutely hated it. He said the bugs were all over him, forcing him to literally zip himself inside of his sleeping bag and sweat all night long. After a night (or maybe 2) of this he paid for his whole family to stay in some swanky resort (the rest of them were in a trailer and apparently didn't have room for him in it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 We've tent camped in the Keys and it was fine. I think it was sometime during the summer too. We were young and didn't have kids though. My sister loves Wekiva Springs and they camp there often. Anastasia State Park is nice too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I've camped in Florida, but only in actual campsites, not in the wilderness (unless Disney's Wilderness Campsite counts) In campsites, there's enough human traffic that dangerous critters don't go there. However we were caught in a huge storm, and were issued a crocodile warning as the place literally got swamped! We didn't see any though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 We camped in the Everglades and loved it. We camped in a campground at Alligator Point and also on a chickee. We saw a lot of wildlife while canoeing and driving in our car, but never saw a rattlesnake. The no see 'ums were the worst part of the camping trip for us, but we would definitely do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 We've tent camped quite a bit in FL and loved every minute of it. Our favorite campgrounds include many of the state parks (usually need reservations way in advance for waterfront places), the Dry Tortugas (no reservations, but you need a boat to get there - absolutely worth it for us), and Fort Desoto (county park and campground - very, very, nice, but better during the week as it gets crowded with noisy folks on weekends). The Everglades campgrounds are so-so - and had the worst bugs when we were there, but we're dedicated campers and I'd probably camp there again. We've never once come across a rattlesnake or other dangerous critter. We're not KOA fans. We prefer more natural campgrounds with less amenities and noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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