Manatee Springs State Park, Florida - Campground Review

[@Laradoxx]

Very interesting and informative video! Great job i appreciate the hard work and dedication put into this mini-documentary👌

[@JohnMarucci]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Laradoxx]

@@JohnMarucci your very welcome

[@robertallen7186]

Great video John, thank you. We hope to spend 4-6 weeks in Florida next winter. Safe travels....

[@JohnMarucci]

Thanks! All the best!

[@vanbrendle]

Don’t miss the Treasure Camp on the Suwanee River south of Chiefland. Great food at a reasonable price. We enjoyed our stay at Manatee Springs. Good swimming area and if you listen carefully, you may hear an owl close to dusk.

[@JohnMarucci]

Van, thanks for the tips. I liked the park and campground and would likely stay again if I could get my bandwidth to work from. I now have Starlink satellite internet and maybe there is a campsite that might have the clearance to use it. Thanks for sharing your experience and all the best!

[@GK49245]

Nice review and video content. We enjoyed our stay in Loop MAG1, RV or tent site 014, full hookups, on January 4, 2023. Nice place, but site orientation was unexpected. You describe the site park well. We will return.

[@JohnMarucci]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I would stay there again if I could somehow get better bandwidth to work from. It was a very quiet relaxed park. All the best!

[@AndiS-dz4pq]

This was very helpful, thank you.

[@JohnMarucci]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ralphp3057]

Not sure how long ago you visited Manatee Springs! I just walked every camping loop on a day trip ! I only live 50 miles east of park! I’ve been camping at that park in and off for 45 years! Love the rail trail from the park! I’ve had some good 48 mile bicycle rides from the camp ground! Thanks for sharing John ! 😁👍

[@JohnMarucci]

Ralph, thanks for sharing. I really liked the campground, park and spring and would likely go back if I can get bandwidth to work from. Sounds like some great biking. Thanks again and all the best!

[@yankeesusa1]

This used to be our favorite campground in this area. Love the old Florida feel and being able to walk on that amazing boardwalk. Great for kayaking as well. But it's been left to rot. The people who managed the restaurant sold bad food. The sites were being neglected and roads have massive potholes and bad root damage. On top of that, whoever installed the sewer at the full hookup sites put them in wrong. They also removed the kids swimming area. It's just not the same anymore. But if you like kayaking and want to go for the day or tent camping it's not too bad.

[@Srussell516]

Thanks for the review of Manatee Springs State Park. We are residents of Central Florida and new to RVing. Always looking for places to go and reviews like this help us in deciding were to go next. We did go to Colt Creek State park this past weekend. Did you enjoy your stay there? We actully pulled in Friday evening almost across from you. Thought I might say Hi on Saturday, but you were gone. We thought the campground was real nice clean and new. But we seem to have a knack booking weekends when parks have events planned for Saturday. Similar situation happen to us when we went to Lake Louisa State Park a month earlier when they had the Triathlon. Keep the vedios coming

[@JohnMarucci]

Colt Creek State Park is probably my favorite Florida State Park given how quiet it is. I had to depart very early Saturday to head north and got out just before the race started. Maybe we'll cross paths sometime. All the best!

[@wcraig]

Thanks for the video. Was just looking at this park as a possible destination at some point down the road.

[@JohnMarucci]

It is very nice, quiet and remote. Worth a visit. All the best!

[@dominicmcbride7274]

I hope the "frustrating internet experience" keeps the crowds down. I wanna go! I wanna go!

[@JohnMarucci]

It is a very nice park and campground. Hope you can visit it sometime soon!

[@horizon42q]

Nice one

[@JohnMarucci]

Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jeremymcmichael7371]

What size trailer do you suggest for an F150 half ton.

[@JohnMarucci]

Depends on the cargo and towing capacity. The F-150s will have a sticker on the driver’s side door frame that shows max cargo capacity. Towing capacity is dependent upon your engine size and options on the truck. You likely can find these online for your year and trim. Then watch my video on towing with a Honda Pilot to understand how tow vehicle capacities are impacted by gear weight and trailer options.

[@jeremymcmichael7371]

@@JohnMarucci Would it be the GVWR? That I need to look at?

[@JohnMarucci]

@@jeremymcmichael7371 can we take this discussion to email. I have a pic of the sticker I can talk you through: [e-mail]

[@WilliamMoses-pd9og]

Live right down the street from the park.

[@JohnMarucci]

That’s great. Really beautiful and quite park.

[@floridamicrohomesteader3027]

Your rating of this park is really unfair to the park. I live about 20 miles away from the park and the cell service and Internet in this part of Florida is horrible, it's just not the park. Just fyi

[@JohnMarucci]

I tried to let people know who work remotely that Internet bandwidth was lacking, so they could plan accordingly. Was there something else about the review that seemed unfair?

[@floridamicrohomesteader3027]

If they are working remotely and bandwidth is a major thing to them then this part of Florida might not be a good fit for them. Cell reception is fair to poor. People have contacted the major carriers a lot because of the poor service and they do nothing to boost the signal. Most of us have to use satellite internet. BUT... The area is getting Fiberoptic internet so over the next year or two... This might be a possibility for Manatee Springs hopefully.

[@paulmarshall3099]

in other words "Stay Out Of Chiefland ! "

[@JohnMarucci]

We did have to drive to into Chiefland and to the Winn Dixie parking lot to upload a video!