Flying A Campground

Nice but small primitive state forest campground. Only 10 sites and one is for the camp host. About half the sites are back-in and can hold small RVs. The rest are tent only although the parking space is large enough to put a van-sized RV in sideways.

All the sites are quite large and well separated from neighboring sites. With the right mix of campers, you could have a super peaceful night in the forest without having to bushwhack your way in. (Our night included a site with small kids the parents kept yelling at. Ugh.)

All sites have a fire ring and picnic table.

There are vault toilets available in the loop and there is a potable water spigot at the nearby ranger station (firewood also available there).

Nearby hiking trails are rated easy and moderate and the trailhead is just a quarter mile down the road.

The campground is gated (you get the lock code when you reserve a site). Note that this campground requires reservations.

If you're self-contained and looking for a nice quiet spot to camp, this would be a good spot to choose.

Cell service on Verizon was ok with a jetpack, better with a MIMO antenna attached. (1 bar without /2-3 bars with but data speeds with MIMO were decent).

T-Mobile service was good but kept bouncing between 4G and 5G on phone, which made it a bit erratic. On jetpack that only does 4G, had a strong signal with good data rates.

We stay here often because we enjoy primitive camping. You can’t beat the beautiful, natural surrounding, nature, and peace and quiet. There can be standing water except in the height of dry season (late March or so). The cell service isn’t great- phone calls and text and hit or miss at times (Verizon). There are mosquitos and ticks (normal Florida stuff), hogs, armadillos, beautiful birds, turtles, amphibians, and deer.
We love site 3. It’s very private and spacious. There is a fire pit, table, and a two trees perfectly spaced apart for a hammock. They removed the grills (I found a pile of them out in the woods on a hike). There are plenty of hiking trails, but it becomes fewer in the wet season.
This is a gated campground. Before you enter, there is a ranger station and bathrooms (no showers). There is a spigot for drinking water and a dumpster.

Our site was large, level, very private and included a grill, firepit and picnic table. Plenty of room for all our stuff - our Aliner Scout, a large canopy, cooking table, privacy shower, toilet, etc. Very quiet. Lots of room for our puppy to run around, sniff and be a happy baby. We booked for three days and would have enjoyed them all - except without air conditioning, the nearly 100 degree weather chased us out after the first night! Should have known better. But we will definitely return when it cools off a bit. Note: No phone or internet access.

Only the first loop of this campground was open during our on-site visit. A reservation is required to obtain the gate code to access the campground. There was not a usable cell signal on either Verizon or AT&T from the campground. I parked up the forest road in a small parking area and scouted this campground on foot.

There was still standing water on both sides of the campground loop road from rains that occurred the week prior. The road is narrow and while height clearance isn’t an issue within the campground loop road, most sites with the exception of Site Number 8 are too narrow to maneuver a fifth wheel into the site. Smaller campers or trailers less than 25 feet should be able to use most of the sites. There are several walk-in only sites and a central parking area is available at the rear of the campground loop.

Sites are spacious, quite far from each other, surrounded by palmettos, palm trees and pines.
Each site has a grill and fire pit.
Gate is closed and always locked; so security is good.
Only 20 minutes to Englewood with plenty of stores and services. The Thursday Market is great with local produce.
Site host and rangers are friendly, making period rounds of the Campground.
We stayed in site number 9 which is partly shaded;
On the downside there is no dump station or water supply in the Campground. Potable water is available at the ranger station about 3/4 mile away.
There are two portable toilets between sites 7 and 8.