Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp Area
Water Management District
Write a Review US-98 Lorida, FL 33857 866-433-6312 Official WebsiteGPS: 27.4004, -81.1641
Overview of Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp Area
A free camping reservation/permit is required and must be displayed. Get it online or call 866-433-6312. The gate code will be provided with the permit.
Accessibility is not guaranteed, always scout ahead before driving down dirt roads. Learn more: Boondocking 101.
Last Price Paid: $0
Reported by The Combes on 3/1/2023
Longest RV Reported: 40 feet
Reported by Explorking on 5/1/2018
Pad Type gravel
Elevation 32 ft / 9 m
Max Stay 8
Tent Camping Yes
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Q&A - Ask the Community about Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp Area
To ask questions of the owner or manager please contact the campground directly. 866-433-6312
handyman asked on 9/10/2023
Is the 2 reservation limit at one time specific for each of the 3 Florida Water Management Districts or is the limit ...
Julie H asked on 12/29/2022
Is there a trailer dump station nearby Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp?
SilverDawg asked on 9/24/2021
Does anyone know what site to use to get a permit? Thanks!
Reviews of Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp Area 20 people have reviewed this location.
Cell Phone Coverage
Confirmed by 7 Users
Last reported 2/29/2024
Confirmed by 9 Users
Last reported 2/29/2024
Confirmed by 5 Users
Last reported 3/29/2022
“Very nice facility, fire rings, bbq and table at most sights.”
Reviewed 10/31/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 5 |
Overall Rating
This is our 3rd SFWMD campground and they do not disappoint. Well maintained and organized, the new hosts are into every detail. They even gave out Halloween treats to all the guests. Wild Turkeys run through the campground regularly. The only drawbacks would be occasional noise from the air boats being launched or the train going by.
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T-Mobile 4G
247Boondocker would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Free Camping with a Trailhead”
Reviewed 6/19/2021
| RV Length: | 36' (Fifth Wheel) |
|---|
Overall Rating
In this video, I share our latest free camping location in Florida, Istokpoga Canal Campground; video uploaded here on Campendium for your immediate reference. Free camping at the Istokpoga Canal Campground is administered by the South Florida Water Management District. A free online permit is required. I provide you a walking tour o... more
In this video, I share our latest free camping location in Florida, Istokpoga Canal Campground; video uploaded here on Campendium for your immediate reference. Free camping at the Istokpoga Canal Campground is administered by the South Florida Water Management District. A free online permit is required. I provide you a walking tour of the campground, boat ramp, and picnic and day use areas. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 0.92 Mbps download speed and 0.05 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 12.4 Mbps download speed and 0.76 Mbps upload speed. T-Mobile cellular service clocked in at 2.64 Mbps download speed and 0.72 Mbps upload speed.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
T-Mobile 4G
LivingOurDreamNow would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Nice Campground, But Very Noisy”
Reviewed 3/23/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 7 |
Overall Rating
If you don’t mind noise; this is a nice campground. The campground is settled back behind the boat ramp and parking lot. If you have a boat; this is the place for you! The weekends are very busy for the boat ramp with locals, and the air boats especially make a lot of noise. You can see (and hear) the cars from the main highway. There ... more
If you don’t mind noise; this is a nice campground. The campground is settled back behind the boat ramp and parking lot. If you have a boat; this is the place for you! The weekends are very busy for the boat ramp with locals, and the air boats especially make a lot of noise. You can see (and hear) the cars from the main highway. There is also train tracks directly on the other side of the highway, which you will hear many times throughout the day/night.
Besides the noise, one of my dislikes is the lights in the parking lot for the boat ramp are always on. For security that’s nice, and it also is nice to have light when walking up to the restroom, but it makes nice stargazing impossible. There isn’t a lot of “coverage” to this campground, it’s very open and most of the time other than the tucked back tent campers, you get that “anyone can see you” feeling. Perfect for people who like the classic “campground” vibe, not so perfect for people who want privacy. We stayed sun-mon, and even on the weekends it wasn’t “crowded”, but I’m not sure if that’s because the time of year or because of the SFWMD limiting the number of people here because of Covid. Like other south Florida water management managed sites, you have to reserve online and you get a gate code. 7 nights max, you have to leave on the 8th day. It’s a nice sense of security having a locking gate. There is walk through spots though so people are allowed to park outside the fence and walk in. You can access the Hickory Hammock Trail (Red Blaze) via an opening in the back. There is potable water by the camp hosts. Toilets are in the parking lot (pit toilets). Most of the sites have a fire ring, picnic table and/or stand-up charcoal grill. You can fish (with a license) on the boat ramp. Saw lots of wild turkeys and a pair of cranes with their babies. Didn’t see any bats though so not sure if the bat house is occupied. Pretty sure I heard wild hogs one night too.
Only 1 (sometimes 2) bars of Verizon LTE.
Overall a nice free spot; just not as secluded as I’d like.
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Verizon 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Fantastic”
Reviewed 1/20/2021
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 8 |
| Site Number: | 1 |
Overall Rating
Wide open space looks like a park. Host very nice. Portable water available at host site. Bathroom short walk over in day use area. Plenty of shade and good sun spots for solar. Wonderful to have a dumpster. Beautiful sunset visible. Plenty of picnic tables, fire rings and grills. No trash laying about.
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Verizon 4G
Tricia would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Nice place but a little far from anything”
Reviewed 2/7/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 7 |
| RV Length: | 40' (Fifth Wheel) |
Overall Rating
Nice little campground. With non potable water available by the pump house on the side of the camp hosts. Solar is available as long as you are away from the trees. We stayed in the field by the large bat house and did get some but not great cell service.
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AT&T 4G
ChancyU would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Amazing”
Reviewed 1/12/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 7 |
| Site Number: | N/A |
| RV Length: | 30' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
From beginning to end, this has been a great hidden gem. The camphost checked in frequently, and other campers were very courteous. Even when the airboats did their thing Saturday and Sunday it wasn't so bad to be unbearable.
We will stay here again, when we are down this way.
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AT&T 4G
RVLivingInTheMoment would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Lots of space, bad cell coverage ”
Reviewed 1/2/2020
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 4 |
Overall Rating
Our experience here was quite pleasant. PROS: The campground host came by on New Year’s Day with a tray of goodies for each camper! There were 4 other campers while we were here and all sites are well spaced from each other. Each spot has a fire ring and picnic table. There are bathrooms over by the boat launch area (no showers). Fa... more
Our experience here was quite pleasant.
PROS: The campground host came by on New Year’s Day with a tray of goodies for each camper! There were 4 other campers while we were here and all sites are well spaced from each other. Each spot has a fire ring and picnic table. There are bathrooms over by the boat launch area (no showers). Fairly level spots and big rig friendly. Incredibly quiet and you can see a ton of stars at night.
CONS: This one wasn’t too much of a bother but thought it worth mentioning:During our stay, a train came through about 9pm each evening (tracks are across the main road leading into the campground). We have both Verizon and AT&T - cell coverage was poor, internet quality better with AT&T.
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AT&T 4G
Verizon 4G
The Roads We Roam would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Questionable characters”
Reviewed 5/1/2018
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 2 |
| RV Length: | 40' |
Overall Rating
A lot of people that... haven't made the choice to live in tents or old, old RVs. The spot is well-maintained but made it hard to enjoy with people that live in the woods and at other sites.
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AT&T 4G
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Lovely. ”
Reviewed 4/17/2018
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
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| Days stayed: | 3 |
| Site Number: | 0 |
| RV Length: | 28' |
Overall Rating
Lovely campground. Confused as to why there's nobody here except for 1 tent camper. Camp host lives in a fifth wheel on the way in and is pleasant. Didn't check out the restrooms. There is a dumpster for garbage. People who are sensitive to noise might not like the road noise or the two or three trains that go by in a 24-hour period, b... more
Lovely campground. Confused as to why there's nobody here except for 1 tent camper. Camp host lives in a fifth wheel on the way in and is pleasant. Didn't check out the restrooms. There is a dumpster for garbage. People who are sensitive to noise might not like the road noise or the two or three trains that go by in a 24-hour period, but I tend to be pretty oblivious to that. 98% good Verizon coverage. Very rare and infrequent one- or two-minute periods of no Verizon MiFi for some reason, but I do mean rare and infrequent. Overall, a lovely place and can't believe it's free!
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Verizon 4G
Julie Burgess would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
“Hidden Gem Great Free Camping ”
Reviewed 3/10/2018
| Nightly rate: | FREE! |
|---|---|
| Days stayed: | 2 |
| RV Length: | 32' (Class A) |
Overall Rating
This was a gem of a find. They have camping for tents and RV's. The tenting area is separate. Sites are not numbered so don't know which site we stayed on. However sites have picnic tables, fire ring and grill and are a nice size. There is a well where you can get water for jugs. Campground was very clean, and quite. Campground hos... more
This was a gem of a find. They have camping for tents and RV's. The tenting area is separate. Sites are not numbered so don't know which site we stayed on. However sites have picnic tables, fire ring and grill and are a nice size. There is a well where you can get water for jugs. Campground was very clean, and quite. Campground host is very nice.
Several other RV's were there during our stay perhaps 6 and there were spaces for a few more. There was also one van camper in another area and one tent camper more in the woods.
There are bathrooms towards the boat launch the building looked fairly new although I did not go inside.
The only thing that keeps me from giving it a five star rating is extremely spotty cell service. There was only one corner of our picnic table that we could get a signal (T-Mobil) and it had to be right in the spot.
Pets are allowed in this campground
Lovely campground for dry camping.
antiquehippies would stay here again
This review is the opinion of a Campendium member and not of Campendium.com
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16 reviews
Istokpoga Canal Boat Ramp Area, Lorida FL - Explorking
We left Tampa and headed out to do as much boondocking as possible. We’ve felt like we’ve been in cities way, way too much lately and are getting pretty fatigued over the whole thing. Our goal from n...
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Amenities
Hookups
- dry camping
Recreation
- boat ramp
- fishing
- picnic area
- recreation trail
- water access
Site Amenities
- fire ring
- picnic table
Facilities
- restrooms: flush
- trash
Pets
- pets
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