Top 10 Florida RV Camping Spots near Palm Harbor

Great camping spots within a 1-1/2 hour drive of Palm Harbor, Florida

Whether it’s in the middle of summer, or during that one “cold-snap”, Florida camping can be enjoyed all year round.  In this article you will find that I have compiled a Top 10 list of our favorite camping spots within an hour and half drive from our home in Palm Harbor, Florida.  Additionally, since we camp year-round (in a camper with very cold a/c), I’ve included tips in the event you want to camp at these places during any of those hotter months as well.  Enjoy and happy camping!

10 - Camp Margaritaville 

• Full Hook-ups
• Dog Friendly
• Free Wifi
• Full Amenities
• Family Activities
• $$$$

Camp Margaritaville is an RV park located in Auburndale, which is just east of Lakeland, Florida.  It SHOULD take you about an hour and 35 minutes to get there…however, you would be traveling along I-4, which everyone knows can be a mess!  But I digress… this place is awesome!  

This full hook-up RV resort has all of the amenities… a tiki bar, restaurant, 2 pools, a community fire pit, putt-putt course, entertainment stage, playground, dog park, food trucks on the weekends, and so much more.  Wood burning fire pits are not allowed.  

Don’t go expecting wooded sites and nature…that’s not what this family park is about.  

Go expecting a resort style stay with some sites featuring your own tiki hut with fan, sink, and tv.  If you have non-camping friends that want to join you, there are vacation cabins available for them. 

They even have golf carts and e-bikes available to rent or bring your own bike to get to the pool and other activities.  You can also shop your favorite Margaritaville gear at the on-site store, and they have an indoor market on select Sundays.  They offer discounts to Florida Residences, so check their website for more information. 

This is not a cheap park to stay in but it sure is fun!  

9 - Royal Coachman RV Park 

• Full Hook-ups
• Pet Friendly
• Wifi Available
• Laundry On-Site
• Full Amenities
• Family Activities
• $$$

Royal Coachman is one of our favorite RV parks.  This park is located just north of Venice, Florida in Nokomis, which is Sarasota County.  

All sites are full hook-up.  There is a minimum 2 night stay all the way up to a year! Military discounts available as well (Thank you for your service).  At this park you are surrounded by nature with all kinds of trails, trees, and the serene Dona Bay.

Not to mention, there’s something for everyone to enjoy including a pool, mini-golf, pickle ball courts, volleyball, basketball, fitness center, shuffle board, fishing, horseshoes, you name it. They even have a wood-shop! 

And IF you time it right, they have special activities on certain weekends.  Once we were there during a holiday weekend, and we got to enjoy a pool party with a DJ, hot dogs and popsicles.  Boy was that fun.  

8 - Hunsader Farms KOA 

• Full Hook-ups Available
• Dog Friendly
• Free Wifi 
• Laundry On-Site 24/7
• Game Room
• Family Activities Available
• General Store
• $$

Hunsader Farms KOA is a fun RV park located in Bradenton.  Falling under the KOA umbrella, this farm is convenient to find and has a lot of family friendly activities. 

It’s on a family owned farm so they have pick-your-own veggies and a produce market!  The kids will enjoy the petting zoo, train ride, farm buggy ride, gem mining (all at extra costs). 

All sites have water and electric and some have sewer hook up. 

There are several other options to choose from besides RV sites, including camping cabins, deluxe cabins, silos, covered wagons, and glamping tents.  

Only an hour and 20 minutes south of Palm Harbor. 

7 - Camp Venice RV Resort 

• Full Hook-ups 
• Pet Friendly
• Free Wifi 
• Laundry Facility
• Partial Amenities
• $$

Camp Venice is a private RV park in Venice, Florida on the Myakka River.  

All 100 RV sites are full hook-up with water, electric and sewer.  

There are a few sites that back up to the inlet where both a boat ramp and a canoe launch are available.  You will really feel Florida Nature at this park.  The river is peaceful and beautiful with lots of wildlife to view. There is also a heated pool, multiple places where you can fish, and you can bring your pets!  Keep an eye on them though, because you are next to Wild Florida.

Additionally there is a full campground that has primitive sites available, a bathhouse, as well as 2 cabins (The White House, or The Blue House).   

The Venice beaches are a short 20 minute drive away.

6 - Myakka River State Park 

• Full Hook-ups Available
• Pet Sites Available
• Free Wifi 
• Activities Available
• $$

Myakka River State Park is a beautiful state park located a little over an hour and a half south of Palm Harbor.  

They have 3 camping loops with 2 of them being dirt-based with electric and water only, and one loop that is gravel-based with electric, water and sewer hook ups.  

 And if camping isn’t your thing, you can rent a cabin that was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1934 and 1941.  But know that there is a 2 night minimum and no pets allowed.

There are a lot of outdoor things to do in this park…kayaking, bird watching, fishing, trails to walk, and even a boat tour on the lake (which was not running after the hurricanes, so I’m not sure of what they’re plan is with resuming that).  

Make sure to bring your bicycles or e-bikes so you can ride through this huge park.  

One of the trails has an observation tower you can climb and get a bird’s eye view over the trees.  As of now this is still having to be repaired due to hurricane damage.  

The camp store also has a food concession if you don’t feel like making lunch.  

If you are camping here during the summer months, keep in mind that the waters around this park are full of alligators and you won’t be cooling off in them!  

5 - Oscar Scherer State Park 

• Electric and Water Hook-ups Available
• Pet Sites Available
• Amenities Available
• $$

Oscar Scherer is another favorite state park of ours.  It’s about an hour and 15 minutes south, in Osprey… close to Venice, Sarasota County.  

There are several bike/walking paths and a swimming pond.  Yes you read that correctly.  It doesn’t get much more natural than this park. You can fish in the lake or creek, swim in the lake, kayak in the creek (they rent them or bring your own) or ride your bike on one of the many trails.  

Make sure when booking one of the sites that you check the size and how far your hook up will be to the water.  Some will require you to have an extra hose.  While there are no sewer hook-ups, there is a bathhouse.  You will also have electric and water along with a fire ring and picnic table.  

There are 4 “glamping” sites available in this campground if you don’t feel like setting up your own tent.  

Pets are welcome at state parks, but some of the sites here are designated with “no pets” as they are on the creek which has alligators in it.  

While camping here in the summers, we have taken the 20 minute drive to the beach and gone shark tooth hunting, which is something that the Venice area is known for.  

4 - Hillsborough River State Park 

• Electric and Water Hook-ups Available
• Pet Friendly
• Amenities Available
• Trails and Rapids
• $$

Hillsborough River State Park is located in Thonotosassa, which is about an hour and 10 minute drive from Palm Harbor, and it is one of the most beautiful state parks that we enjoy visiting.  

Camp sites include electric and water, a fire ring and picnic table.  And yes, there are a few “glamping” sites available as well.  These sites have permanent tents set up with beds, coffee makers, air conditioning, mini refrigerators, etc.  Bougiee 

There is a pool, but in the many times that we’ve camped here, it has never been open and currently says closed until further notice.  While camping here, we have enjoyed the many walking trails.  There is even a trail along the river where you can see a class II rapid!  

We’ve also enjoyed Foster Fort.  It’s not open all of the time, but once while camping in December, we were fortunate to be there during their reenactment.  

We’ve never kayaked but that’s an option as well.

3 - Mary’s Fish Camp 

• Full Hook-ups Available
• Free Wifi Available
• $$

Mary’s Fish Camp is a little over an hour drive, north up US 19 and west of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.  This spot has so much local pride and history making it a real special place. 

Mary’s is a small campground with 17 full hook up sites, 8 cabins and 4 primitive sites.  Half of their cabins are still being renovated from Hurricane Helene.  Kayaking, boating and fishing are the activities at this campground, as life at Mary’s is all about being on the water.  They offer kayaks for rent or you can bring your own boat and launch at their boat ramp for free while staying here.  It’s a short distance to the Weeki Wachee River and a 10 minute boat ride to the Gulf.  

While staying there, we tried to go to Pine Island to the beach, but the parking lot fills up quickly on the weekends during warm weather, and we were turned away.  

Mary’s is well known for its mullet fishing, as well as mangrove snapper, snook and redfish along the seawall.  All delicious fish.

Prior to the 2024 hurricanes, there was a nice camp store and they even have live music some weekends!  

We’re hoping they bring that back!   

2 - Chassahowitzka River Campground 

• Full Hook-ups Available
• Pet Sites Available
• Free Wifi Available
• $

Chassahowitzka is about an hour and 20 minutes north of Palm Harbor, west of where US-98 meets US-19.  

We’ve been camping here since the early 1990’s.  Some things have changed but a lot has stayed the same.  One of the things that changed is that if you are tent camping, you can only reserve in the tent area.  The tent area does not have electric hook ups, and there are 6 communal water spigots.  

However, each site does have a fire ring and picnic table though.  The RV sites are full hook-up with electric, water, and sewer.  It appears that they have also jumped on the “glamping” train, but instead of tents, they have small campers that are suited out. 

There is a bath house on site and a “leisure pavilion” where our teenagers once watched one of their shows that they “couldn’t miss” when we didn’t have a TV in our camper.  

Pets are welcome in the campground (2 per site).  

When booking a site, pay close attention to the size and details because each site is a different size and doesn’t accommodate every type of RV.  

Prior to the hurricanes of 2024, you would find the office/camp store down by the river.  Now you check in at a little trailer at the entrance to the campground.  You can rent kayaks, paddle boards or canoes there, or bring your own.  

The river is beautiful and a cool 72 degrees due to the springs so plan on spending time there in the hot months.  

We’ve kayaked with MANY manatees right where you put your kayak in in the winter months.    

1 - Fort DeSoto Campground

• Electric and Water Hook-ups Available
• Pet Sites Limited
• Free Wifi 
• Coin Laundry Available
• $

And finally at #1 is Fort DeSoto.  This may very well be the most popular camping area in all of Central Florida, and for very good reason.  It has a bit of everything.  You have the Gulf, you have the Bay, you have woods, you have the actual Fort…

Approximately a 50 minute drive south from Palm Harbor, Ft. DeSoto is the largest park within the Pinellas County Park System and is located in Tierra Verde.  Within this 1136 acre park is a 236 site family camping area which consists of 3 loops.  

One loop is designated for tents, vans, trailers 16 feet or shorter and pop-up campers only.  

The other two loops are set up to accommodate any type of camping unit, with one loop specifically pet friendly.  Each loop has some sites that are waterfront.  

These sites are typically harder to reserve and are generally booked as soon as they are available…especially in the cooler months when Florida’s snowbirds arrive.  Which, honestly is true of the county and state park campgrounds in the entire state.  

There are 2 bath houses in each loop with showers, toilets, sinks and a washer and dryer.  

Water and electric hookups are at each site in Ft. DeSoto but no sewer connections.  

There are 2 dump stations, which can be very busy on Sunday mornings!  

Ft. DeSoto allows Pinellas County residents to book 7 months in advance of their stay and all others 6 months in advance.  And the maximum stay on site is 14 nights in any 30-day period.. 

While camping there, you can enjoy the great outdoors!  There are miles of bike paths, fishing, kayaking, an old fort to explore and of course, one of the area's most beautiful beaches.  

You will definitely see dolphin, manatee and numerous different types of birds if you are lucky enough to score a waterfront site.  

Swimming is not allowed in the campground, so if it’s hot and you’re needing to cool off, plan to hit the beach which is a short car ride or a long bike ride away.

And there you have it folks.  These camping sites are a mere convenient hour to an hour-and-a-half drive away from our Palm Harbor home, and really serve well as a vacation or staycation spot.  There really is something for everyone when it comes to Florida camping.  No matter your lifestyle, budget, or family size, Florida Camp Life has you covered.  So next time you only have a tank of gas and a couple days off, or are looking for that family summer trip spot, or just really need to get away, skip the flight and park it at one of these spots.  It’s just that easy.