This week, we took the RV to camp at Wekiwa Springs State Park for three nights, and we will be going back for another three nights later this month. The park is located in Apopka, which is in the Orlando area. It's summer time, so for us that means camping where we can cool off (e.g., the springs). In the cooler months we like to camp where we can hike, because cooler weather means hiking season. Wekiwa Springs State Park does have 13 miles of hiking trails, but we didn't use them because it was around 100 degrees outside every day. I would have hit those trails had it been cooler outside (which also means less mosquitoes), but it was hot, so it was spring-swimming season! 

The spring at Wekiwa Springs State Park is great. Its a pretty big spring area that has some shallow areas that come to about my waist. In July 2017, they built a small shallow area for little kids. The water is nice, clear, and super refreshing on a hot day. From the campground, it is about 1.2 miles to the spring area. You can bike ride there from the campsites (and we did several times), but I must warn you in that some of it is quite challenging. Part of it is downhill and a breeze, but when it goes uphill it's quite challenging. I saw some kids pushing their bikes up that hill (which barely seems visible when you are in a car, but kicks your butt on a bike or running it). You can also just drive the car over to the spring from the campsite. 

One of the great things about camping at the springs is that you can go early in the morning and about an hour or so before closing and your family will be about the only ones there. We do this at every one of them and love it. At some times there may be 3-4 other people, but there have been times when our family has it all to ourselves. Aah, paradise! They do also offer kayak rentals, a nature center, restrooms, picnic tables, and pavilions in the springs area.

The Wekiwa Springs State Park campgrounds are beautiful! They are well maintained/clean, surrounded by beautiful woods, and are covered with shady trees. We loved it! We saw lots of wildlife at the campground, too, including many deer, wild turkey, gopher tortoises, birds, etc. We also saw turtles at the spring. 

We were in campsite 45, which I had picked after researching online using google Earth. It worked out great. The campsite has a picnic table and a fire ring (with a fold over grill). It's a great site that backs up to all woods. The only thing you can see behind your trailer is the woods. I love sites that back up to the woods, so personally, I think the best sites at the campground are 44, 45, 46, 48, 6, 8, 9, 11. Others outside of that tend to back up to campsite roads, and the ones in 23-29 area back up to a major road outside of the campground, so you can hear a lot of traffic near them. Where we were was lovely. Very shady, wooded, and quiet. Most sites at this campground are full hookups, so we didn't need to use the restroom. I did go check it out though and it was all clean. If you need to use the camp restroom you may want to get a site on the inside of the circle that backs up to the restroom area. If you are tent camping and want very close to the restroom, sites 59 and 60 are a great option.

While staying here, we went over to Kelly Park/Rock Springs Run to check out that spring. It was only around 15 minutes away. If you want to leave the park, there are also lots of restaurants and stores within a few minutes away.

Two thumbs up for Wekiwa Springs. We loved this beautiful campground and will be back! 

---- Jacqueline Bodnar

Note: They are closing the entire campground from September 2016-September 2017 to upgrade all of the electrical there. 

Note: We actually went back the very next week to do it all over again. Stayed for three nights in the same spot! On that trip, we also visited Wekiva Falls. Had another great camping trip. Wekiva Springs is a great campground and beautiful spring... We'll back back to Wekiva Springs State Park next year!

Here are pictures of our stay at Wekiwa Springs: