salt springs recreation area

The campsites were immaculate and nice. We stayed at site #16 and this was away from mostly everyone close to trash and area were our 3 dogs could potty. The staff was nice and helpful, so were the people staying around us. Close enough to walk to the spring and the spring was well kept and beautiful. This is totally worth it!

Just came back from a weekend at this campsite and it was fabulous! Perhaps the staff that previous reviewers encountered were different than the ones currently working there, but I can't state it enough: they were very friendly and informative all throughout our stay. The primitive campsites are well kept even if they can feel a little too close together--a point which Bytheforest has already brought up. However, I do agree with Laura32034 that the spots near the treeline are much roomier (sites 142-149 were nice, although, next time I stay I'll be sure to snag site 160, which seemed to offer the most privacy--to me, at least). The spring was beautiful although we didn't go in as we chose the coldest weekend out the year so far to visit. Next time, though, we're gonna make it happen, capt'n! Instead, we walked the Bear Swamp Trail which took a little over an hour to complete. So if you're thinking about visiting Salt Springs, don't hesitate; you'll have a blast!

Wonderful campground! Very well maintained. Rented a Carolina Skiff and took it out to Lake George. The trip through the river was so beautiful.

We went to visit to see about Kayaking,,,The mouth of the river is a picture postcard,and though it was a windy day, there were quite a lot of kayakers on the river..I could have set at the park and watched the mullet and water all day...looking forward to a kayak tripsoon

My son and I camped there last summer. I allmost didn't stay cause of the bad reviews. I'm glad we went. Sites are a bit small, but it has full Rv hook ups. Nth spring is great and lots of paved roads to ride bikes. Like others the list of 57 rules they provide you is pretty crazy. Only had one bad encounter with a grumpy camp host. My dog was barking for about 60 seconds and he came over on his golf cart and with his best retired angery police face, told me that they have a three bark rule. Any thing above three barks the owner has to stop the dog. I tried to apologize, but was quickly shut down and told to "Go take care of your dog." Knowing where this was going, and knowing that it was only going to get worse I just said "Yes sir"'and walked over and put the dog in the RV. He made a few other rounds, over the next couple of days. It really did make me feel like I was being watched. So overall, nice place, might go back, but they have a lot of rules and I can see how some of the camp hosts get mean. If you don't have kids, or dogs, and plan on staying in your RV most of the time you should fine. Really, it is a issue of management. It no longer ran by the national forest, it's clearly the lowest bidder contractor.

We camped here for 3 nights during the Christmas week. Overall it was a great experience. We will definitely come back in the future. We camped in tents in the primitive camping area. Though most of the sites are a good size, you don't have much privacy. It is one big open space. The bathrooms weren't horrible, but one day the toilet paper had run out and there is a big presence of bugs and spiders. Yikes. The first employee we met was during check in. She was very friendly. But on Christmas Morning an older guy drives up in his golf cart and without a "hello" starts saying "We've got a couple problems here. First, we don't allow clothing lines. Second, the logs have to be inside the fire ring and not be longer than 18inches." I think one of ours was 19" lol. But the thing with the clothing line was a bit unreasonable. It had rained the Evening and Night and was ice cold, and we had wet blankets and clothes and tried to dry them out. But rules are rules, I guess. The creek and springs are beautiful. There weren't many people at all. It was so empty in fact, that they didn't even open the little store. At times we had the springs to ourselves. We were there with 4 kids, 2 of them preschoolers. Our family really enjoyed this visit.

Let's start with the good, this camp ground is beautiful! We camped in the rustic sites for four nights, the trees, the moss, the stars, absolutely incredible! They have a boat launch that gives you access to the water and you have access to the springs as well. When we were there, there were so many manatees in the water it made maneuvering the boat a little tricky! Which made for amazing days of snorkeling as manatees are such beautiful gentle giants. If you are camping you also get access to the springs which is really cool to, the water is so clear you almost have a hard time knowing your in it! Now to the negative, the bathrooms are old and showing wear, from the looks of it they are only cleaned once a day, and not very well, I recommend you bring your own toilet paper so you don't get caught in a embarrassing situation, yes I know this from experience :( the showers only stay on as long as you keep the button pushed in and I wore sandals in them because they weren't the cleanest. But all of that I can overlook because of how pretty it is, what could be the deal breaker for all of us was the camp host himself! Most camp grounds the host are friendly and helpful, this bitter old man here rides around on his golf cart and spreads misery threatening to write fines for the most sensible of things! For instance, "you can't lean you axe against the tree because it could trip someone" or "you can't have that tackle box out because someone could get hurt" and those are just two of the ignorant complaints he had! And yes we were very rudely told that we could face fines because of this! No where in the rules did we read any of that. What we found interesting was that our neighbors were literally screaming abs yelling till 2am the night before and yet I guess that was ok! As we have camped many other places and have never heard of anything so silly we were a little put off by this and are considering switching to a different campground completely! Had he only come around once we could have looked over it, but he kept coming by and yelled at us multiple times! Even after we corrected our major infractions! I was surprised he didn't bring up the fire puts they have cemented into the ground as a tripping hazard, or even those dreaded tent lines that secure my rain fly! So in summation, if he's not there and you don't mind a older bathhouse, you will have a blast! If he is there, you might want to sleep in your car so he has nothing to complain about!

Let me start by saying that we did not have a bad experience with the staff, as some other reviewers have said; in fact, the staff were very helpful and friendly. We reserved a tent camping spot that was marked as handicapped-accessible on the map. When we arrived, we discovered that the site was paved over with concrete, which would be great for someone who needs it but was not what we wanted! We talked to the staff and were moved to another site with no problems. Best thing about this campsite: Bring your boat, because the water access is close and the manatees came right up to us (don't touch them or bother them, but you can observe them). 2nd best thing: Our site was quite large compared to other campsites I've been to. Reserve a spot along the tree line, not in the middle area, unless you want to be stuck out in the open like reviewer Bytheforest mentioned. Worst thing about this campsite: The bathrooms were often out of toilet paper, dirty, cold water only in the sinks, and no outlets for your hair dryer. The second worst thing was that the pathways in the tent camping area are sandy rather than packed dirt or paved, which makes bicycling difficult for young children. We brought our bikes but hardly used them due to my daughter wiping out in the sand. Good or bad, depending on your point of view: Very limited connectivity, as in no cell phone coverage and only some texts went through. All in all, I liked this campsite, although I have been to better ones.

I love this springs. For camping it is just like a open field everyone close to one another. It's not but it can seem that way. Bring your snorkeling equipment. There are all kinds of things to see in the water. As always remember that I grew up in Florida I can be bias. I went to this springs a lot. I don't taste the salt but some say they can.

We've camped at this location in the tented area about half a dozen times so far and continue to find this to be one of our favorites in the Ocala National Forest. There are trails into the woods and direct to the Springs. The showers are always hot. There is a pretty good grocery store about a mile away and a convenience store just outside the entrance.

This place could have been a wonderful place to camp, beautiful springs and some wildlife to see, however the sites are ridiculously close together. It's extremely open, without many natural shrubs or trees to divide sites. You are just stuck out in the open. Sound carries extremely well when your tents are about 20 feet or less apart. No one enforces the 10pm quiet time so a few inconsiderate campers can bother everyone. This is the first campground we have ever visited that did not let you feel like you had your own little space. The springs are beautiful and the only bright spot in a disappointing trip. Unfortunately the steps to the water are very slippery and though there is a guide rail it's hard to be able to use it for all the kids just hanging on it. They need a rail dedicated to be used by people actually going to the springs for a swim.

My husband and I visited this lovely park. I was tempted not to go after reading some of the reviews. However, I am glad that we went ahead and camped. The park itself is beautiful. Some of the staff weren't the nicest. However, we did meet a couple that works there, Cassie and Ray, they were polite and very friendly and helpful. We had a couple of questions and they answered them and if they were unsure they went and found out the answer and came back to our campsite to give us the answers. They treated us like friends. We really appreciated that. The springs are cold, but gorgeous. It is obvious that the staff cares about the up keep of the park, they were constantly present working, whether cleaning bathrooms, or picking up trash that inconsiderate people threw down. We will be returning. WE ENJOYED OUR TIME. DON'T TAKE SOME OF THESE BAD REVIEWS TO SERIOUSLY COME CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF.

Crystal clear 72 degree water, great snorkeling, tons of fish, crabs, & turtles. Even saw a 5’ alligator, but it stayed away from the main swimming area. Have been here many times for the four springs and the chance to do a little shallow cave diving. Water is probably 2-4 feet in most of the swimming area, but the springs themselves are probably about 15’. One of the springs has a small cave you can enter that goes back about 6’ and one of the others is quite a bit larger, but it was too dark in there to tell how far back it goes. The staff has always been nice to us, and even gave us a refund when a thunderstorm forced them to close the park. If you can, go during the week because weekends can get very crowded. We always go on weekdays and usually have the place to ourselves, with the occasional visitor, who usually doesn’t stay long. The only thing we don’t like about this place is that it is not covered by the National Parks Pass.

Sunday September 21 was to be a day of fun! Thanks to the wonderful staff at the park this was not to be. Im still so mad .Our families have visited salt sptrings campground for 40+ years. we have weathered all the staff changes and all the craziness. On this day we had planned My mothernlaws 80th birthday.This was her request.She wanted a day of fishing swimming and family.We arrived at the Park early requested aprimitive camp site and explained our plans.We were told we couldnt picnik in that area even if we rented 3 sites.Our tent was to big new rules 3 days before tents not over 6-8 people .Ours sleeps 10 . they would assist us in the day use area .our quests that use electric scooters couldnot use them regardless of their needs.New rule no turkey fryers or outdoor fryers.We were told several times Federal Regulations! Well aren't Parks required to be Handicap acessible. What a waste of our government dollars.The day was not atotal loss we regrouped and spent day at Rodman Dam.

We love all of the springs and travel the country to enjoy them. This is one of our very favorites. 52 million gallons of 72 degree sparkling clean water a day gushes forth into magic pools. The waters are teaming with huge mullet, lady fish, turtles and many species I can't identify. The grounds are impeccable kept as are the bath/changing rooms. Nothing more relaxing than floating or snorkeling here on a toasty hot summer day.