Myakka River State Park Campground

Beware; come prepared. There is no potable water in the entire park! This is a long term condition until Park develops a reverse osmosis system. No completion date. Ranger station has free bottled water for campers at 2gal/day. Not convenient. There is no reduction in price.

Old Prairie Loop sites are close together with little vegetation for privacy. Bathhouse is dated but clean. “Hot” water is tepid.

There are many hiking trails BUT none leave from Old Prairie nor Palmetto Ridge Campgrounds. Campers need to unhook and drive to trail heads. Again not convenient.

Verizon was 2bars LTE. Many OTA tv stations.

Myakka River State Park near Sarasota Florida used to be one of our favorite Florida parks but like some other Florida State Parks, it has not been maintained and the problems keep getting worse. There is NO potable water in the park and the water system was supposed to be completed last February (as per the Ranger). Instead of fixing the issue, campers are told to pick up 2-3 gallons of water at the Ranger station. The lack of potable water is not indicated on the Florida booking site!
We have never seen a Florida state park campsite in such terrible condition as this site was!! When we arrived, our site stunk of pet urine and there were large stained, smelly sections of the gravel and pieces of twine (which looked to have been chewed through) right by where the door of the trailer should be. It had obviously NOT been cleaned or serviced in any way. My husband looked for the host who was not at his site. My husband had to shovel and rake the gravel himself to get it to the point we could even stand to stay there. He finally found and spoke with the host the next morning and reported the issue suggesting the gravel should have been raked and treated to make the site habitable. The host still made no effort to do so. The only positive was that the Ranger agreed to refund the last two nights of our 4 night stay.

If you go with a group of friends and kayak and/or ride bikes, this is a great campground. I went alone and while I could do things doing the day, nighttime was boring bc I had zero cell service. I couldn't read basic news or communicate with family. I have Sprint (TMobile) and it was atrocious, like unusable service. The other bummer was any launch site for my kayak had to be driven to, I couldn't launch near my campsite and since I'm alone, I need help getting my kayak on and off my roof. I can do that at the campground, but at the launch site, who knows who will be there when I arrive and depart.

Each site was really nice and private and quite level. The sewage was elevated which made it a little challenging to pitch correctly. I mean, I couldn't. I emptied tanks and then had to slinky up and down the hose in order to completely empty it. No bid deal. I never entered the restrooms, cannot comment. My site was far too sunny in the evening and made it such that you couldn't sit outside. This was late October when the temps were better but the blazing hot sun still carries a good punch of heat. The site across from me was wonderful bc it had great shade in the evening. You'd have to look at a map to see what number that was.

They were under a no potable water order but NBD, they had gallons of water you could retrieve whenever you wanted.

Check in process was easy, though they require you to park and go inside to complete check in. Our site (BF 16) was centrally located to the trails, boat tours, and concessions. Within the Big Flats campground we we close to the bathhouse though it was evident that site 16 was used as a not-so-subtle cut through from the campsite to the road leading to the concessions/boat tours. The bathhouse does have a dump station for portable containers behind it as well as a mess sink inside. The site had great sunset views of the Big Flats (due to the cut through) and had some trees/shrubs between sites. The fire ring was towards the rear of the site (adjacent to the cut through path) with picnic table. Overall a great site with good power and water, would definitely visit again! Google Fi (T-Mobile) was rather spotty switching between 4G and 5G regularly with frequent drop outs. It was fine for the occasional message but definitely not stable enough for regular internet.

Very quiet and large spots. $44 with fees and tax. If you aren’t staying in Big Flats you’ll need to bike or drive to get to boat ride and camp store as that’s 3 miles down the road.Tram was canceled mid week due to lack of drivers and boat was canceled due to wind. You can see alligator at boat ramp.Pink flamingo etc abundant. Our spot faced road but # 7 is nicest

We are in site 53 which is part of the Palmetto Loop. This section has full hookups. Sites are very well positioned with decent privacy and very level. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring and grill. Gravel for parking and patio. There is a $20 boat tour of Myakka Lake. Mixed reviews, although relaxing. There is a swinging bridge and observation tower in the park. Very nice. Shopping is about 10 miles away on hwy. 72. We got our Florida senior discount. This is truly a Florida gem!

The above rate reflects the base price plus the reservation fee and taxes divided over a four night stay.
It's too bad we were here shortly after Tropical Storm Elsa dumped about 12 inches of rain in the area. Unfortunately, most of the park was flooded, but Palmetto Ridge campground was dry. It left little to do in the park, but there is enough to do in the area in Sarasota and Siesta Key.
Nice, level gravel spots with plenty of room. Decent separation and privacy with interior roads which are easy to traverse. Big rigs would have no problem in this campground.
Yes, the sewer connection is raised up and you have to manipulate your hose to empty it, but having seen how much this park could flood, I can certainly see why the sewer connections were built this way. Good shower facilities with a handy washer and dryer at each bath house.
All in all a good camping experience.

In this video, we provide you a walking tour of Myakka River State Park; video uploaded here on Campendium for your immediate reference. We show you the best campsites at the Myakka River State Park campground and take you to the Myakka Outpost, Tram and Boat Launch Ticket Booth, and the birdwalk overlooking Myakka Lake. We encountered dozens of alligators along and in the Myakka River during our visit. Myakka River State Park is a great RV camping destination. It’s one of those places that is deserving of repeat visits with hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, and an abundance of wildlife all meshed into this state park. Verizon cellular service clocked in at 4.38 Mbps download speed and 1.92 Mbps upload speed. AT&T cellular service clocked in at 7.47 Mbps download speed and 0.10 Mbps upload speed. There was no reliable T-Mobile cellular service at the campground.