Salt Springs, FL - 02/27/14

Thursday – February 27, 2014
Salt Springs Campground
Ocala National Forest
Salt Springs, Florida

We departed E.G. Simmons Park Campground in Ruskin, Florida at 8:30 a.m. this morning. A cold front moved in late yesterday afternoon producing strong wind gusts and a steady rain that lasted from around 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Fortunately, a cold front here in Florida only dropped the temperature from the mid seventies during the day to the low sixties in the evening. We had hooked up the trailer earlier that day so we were prepared to get off to an early start this morning.

We had planned to stay a few days at the Ocean Pond Campground in the Osceola National Forest near Lake City, Florida. Nearing Ocala, we called the Osceola NF Park Ranger and were abruptly informed that there were no electric sites available. Unsure if we were given good information we decided not to chance it. We took Exit 352 on northbound I-75 and took Florida Route 40 eastbound to see if any campsites were available at the Silver River State Park in Silver Springs. Upon our arrival there, we were informed that no campsites were available for the number of days we required.

We continued our journey eastbound, on FL-40, in route to the Ocala National Forest. There are several campgrounds located within this forest that we were confident would have campsites available. We called the Salt Springs Recreation Area and were informed they had several campsites available. We arrived there at 12:30 p.m. We secured site #73 for five nights. This site has full hookups (electric, water and sewer).

Salt Springs has 106 campsites with full hookups (electric, water and sewer) and 54 primitive campsites (no hookups). Long term, full hookup campsites (six months) are available during the winter from October 15 to April 15.
Sites 1 – 8, 32 – 63 and 95 – 104 are designated long term.
Sites 12 – 31 are designated reservations only.
Sites 65 – 94 are designated first-come-first-serve for up to a two-week stay.
Campers can switch to a long-term site (pending availability) if they have either reserved a site in advance or purchased a first-come-first-serve site.

This is a very scenic campground. In the campground area with full hookups, each campsite has paved pads and shade trees. There are two restroom facilities with flush toilets and hot showers. There is a dump station located in this area for use by the campers that camp in the primitive campsites.

We receive slow Internet service at our campsite, through our T-Mobile service provider, using a smartphone tethered to our laptop. Our smartphones get an E signal (Edge Network) with 2 to 3 bars signal strength using a signal booster. However, there is free WiFi available inside the campground office.

Camping Fees:
Full Hookup Campsites: $29.00 ($18.00 with Golden Age Pass)
Primitive Campsites: $20.00 ($10.00 with Golden Age Pass)

Sunny skies, with temperatures in the low eighties is forecast for this weekend. Nice!

Total miles traveled today: 171

Tomorrow another adventure begins.