Florida is one of the hardest states to visit if you're planning on staying in parking lots or hoping to find cheap campgrounds. Public campgrounds in southern Florida are $40.00+ a night! We've stayed in Florida through the winter months three times over the last four years and have found some really good places to stay.
Walmarts which welcome RVers in many other states can not be counted on because most cities along the coast and in high tourist areas have banned overnight parking. Check Allstays - walmart to rule some out. Even if that doesn't eliminate a Walmart don't count on the lot not being signed " No Overnight Parking". Rural Walmarts are often okay and we have stayed in them.
If you want to visit a specific city the best place to stay is at Cracker Barrel. Florida has over 50 Cracker Barrels. Most are located right off of an interstate and have long RV parking spaces in the rear of the restaurant. We usually only stay a night or two and are gone all day so that we don't wear out our welcome and ruin a good thing. The best way to locate one is by googling cracker barrel + the city name and then map.
Casinos are usually a good overnight stop. Most in Florida are in the cities and do not allow RVs but there are two where we've stayed. Miccosukee Resort & Gamingwest of Miami, has a large lot and signs for RV parking. We've stayed days in a row without a problem. The other casino is the Seminole Casino in Immokalee We've stayed at that one days in a row too.
If you want to stay in a campground the national forests are the cheapest.
Prices range from $3.00 a night at Apalachicola to $21.00 at Ocala. Everglades National Park is $16.00 a night. 14 days is the maximum stay at any campground. If you are 62 or disabled camping is half price. Most dispersed camping is tent only accessed by boat, horse, OHV or hiking. We found this to be true at the Wildlife Management Areas too - no RVs allowed.
The least expensive rate that we've found for longer stays at a public campground is $321.00 a month with electricity and $267.50 without electricity at Pioneer Park, a Hardee County park.
Completely free campgrounds are rare in Florida but there are a fewhttp://freecampsites.net/#!3273&query=sitedetails. We just camped at DuPuis Management Area - shady with lots of room. We would stay there again. Blue Cypress Lake is on our list and we'll be staying there in a few days.
Walmarts which welcome RVers in many other states can not be counted on because most cities along the coast and in high tourist areas have banned overnight parking. Check Allstays - walmart to rule some out. Even if that doesn't eliminate a Walmart don't count on the lot not being signed " No Overnight Parking". Rural Walmarts are often okay and we have stayed in them.
If you want to visit a specific city the best place to stay is at Cracker Barrel. Florida has over 50 Cracker Barrels. Most are located right off of an interstate and have long RV parking spaces in the rear of the restaurant. We usually only stay a night or two and are gone all day so that we don't wear out our welcome and ruin a good thing. The best way to locate one is by googling cracker barrel + the city name and then map.
Casinos are usually a good overnight stop. Most in Florida are in the cities and do not allow RVs but there are two where we've stayed. Miccosukee Resort & Gamingwest of Miami, has a large lot and signs for RV parking. We've stayed days in a row without a problem. The other casino is the Seminole Casino in Immokalee We've stayed at that one days in a row too.
If you want to stay in a campground the national forests are the cheapest.
Prices range from $3.00 a night at Apalachicola to $21.00 at Ocala. Everglades National Park is $16.00 a night. 14 days is the maximum stay at any campground. If you are 62 or disabled camping is half price. Most dispersed camping is tent only accessed by boat, horse, OHV or hiking. We found this to be true at the Wildlife Management Areas too - no RVs allowed.
The least expensive rate that we've found for longer stays at a public campground is $321.00 a month with electricity and $267.50 without electricity at Pioneer Park, a Hardee County park.
Completely free campgrounds are rare in Florida but there are a fewhttp://freecampsites.net/#!3273&query=sitedetails. We just camped at DuPuis Management Area - shady with lots of room. We would stay there again. Blue Cypress Lake is on our list and we'll be staying there in a few days.
