Ya gotta see this place!! Located on the Gulf Coast of Florida in Citrus County, just about 80 miles north of Tampa. Woodsy, very rural setting in a very rural county, on the edge of a beautiful spring-fed river. Friendly folks manage this county park campground; just an easy-going inexpensive place to stay. Rent a canoe or a john-boat or bring your own. Our last trip we saw, very up-close & personal, a huge manatee, aligator, lots of fish, birds, & turtles. Paddle to one of the many springs that feed this river & swim in the crystal clear water. Last week a local crabber dropped of a few coolers loaded with blue crabs he trapped & cleaned; @ just $7/dozen, we had crab cakes & steamed crabs for dinner that night. Walk just a quarter mile & stop by at the local beer-joint for cool one with the locals.
http://citrus.fl.us/commserv/parksrec/chass_camp/campground.htm
Steve, Chris, the Rascal-doggie
1998 Winnie Chieftain 35'
We've been there to use their ramp to put our kayaks in at the river and took a look through the campground. Everyone there seemed to be having a good time.
When in the Crystal River area we usually stay at the Encore park on West Fort Island Trail or Rock Crusher Canyon (now calle Elite Resorts at Crystal River) so we didn't pay much attention to the campground itself.
Was the place cleaned up? My parents only live up US 19 from there and several years ago we drove through. We were not impressed at the time, it looked kind of "low rent". If I can remember right there were alot of older junky campers. Has it been cleaned up? How far from the gulf is the campground? Thanks....
2006 Dodge 3500 dually CTD Quad Cab 4X4 / 2006 290EFS Cougar FW
10' Utility Trailer Hauling (2) 2005 Harley Road Glides
Or Gone Fishing - 2002 17' Carolina Skiff 75HP Yamaha 4 Stroke.
Hmm...decisions, decisions. So little time, so much fun! Just Having Fun!
Dennis, good idea! I will post on RVparkreviews. Travel safe & happy!
JO, I think most of the sites should be easy enough for a 32' 5th wheel, (especially if I don't have to drive it).
Lap527: Yeah, there are still a few less than attractive campers scattered around but they seem to be sequestered away from us transient campers. What the heck, it ain't a KOA resort; no concrete & $18-$20/night. I would guess it is located about 15-20 miles east of the Gulf?
Terry, we will hold a good thought for your Granddaughter.
Now everyone and their brother will be going there.
We are avid canoers and kayakers and have been going there for years,
Last winter in that first little cove on the left about a half mile down river, there was a cow manatee with her calf, (as there is every year), but also a lone porpoise.
We played with the baby manatee for about a hour. It kept wanting to nuzzle our hands, and would roll over to get it's belly scratched, and while all this was going on, the porpoise came over looked us right in the eye, and then it flipped and rolled over.
We have awesome picures, but I don't know how to post them here.
hopefully you got up to the "crack" for a dip in that "Garden of Eden" like pool.
We will be there again this year.
Just don't go there on a weekend in the winter. You can't get near the launch area and both sides of the road leading to it are packed with boat trailers. It is a zoo.
On the weekends we take off and hit other wilderness areas that are just as good, but not as well known, or we do shopping.
If any of you paddlers want some good paddling trips there, just let me know and I'll e-mail you them with descriptions, GPS waypoints, and other pertinent info.
The river is awesome, but a local kayak/canoe outfitter has taken over the concession and has attracted many more people there. They take up the whole launch area when they go out making it difficult for others. The campground is in real need of updating. The restrooms are very old making it difficult to keep clean. We still go and put up with that because there are so few places that are not RV parking lots to go that near the water. The launch is about four miles to the flats/gulf. That area is part of the Chassohowitzka Wildlife Refuge.
Yes it is trashy, the bathrooms don't work, you can't fit anything longer than 8 feet into a space, your trailer will be broken into while you are two sites over getting drunk with the good old boys, everyone is sitting around smoking pot, and the alligators will come right up to your picnic table to eat the squirrels that are rabid and can't run away quick enough !
Now everyone please forget about this place that we discovered years ago and go to other places, so we won't have any problem getting our site.
In reality: I honestly would not recommend it for anyone who is not a paddler, boater or fisherman.
We are off exploring in our kayaks or canoe every day, and when we return we usually head directly into the TT so we don't have to fend off the mosquitoes.
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