Alafia River State Park

I stayed here Feb, 2015. There is not really a bad campsite in the place although some are better than others. They are all flat, many were pull through. There is no separating plant life although most of the campsites were not right next to each other giving some privacy. Bath house was clean and pretty modern. Great place to ride a bike around the campgrounds and I heard there were many off-road bike paths also but I did not use them. The campground had an area for horse camping so I suspect that horse trails also abound. Not to far from the campsites were huge electrical towers that had an abundance of predator birds in huge nests. Great for wildlife viewing. At night we were visited often by armadillos, that would wander into the campsite and be gone as fast as they came in. They never caused any problems and were fun to watch pretty close up. Bugs were not bad at all this time of year. I believe there is a swimming pool but of course it was closed for the season in February.

Not far up the road north toward Plant City are places to shop for food and do laundry. You are not far from fresh produce at one of several stands we found around the area.

Alafia has spacious campsites with a large network of mountainbike trails on site. There is ample space separating the sites as well, although I would not claim privacy. The campground is very quiet, and there is little light pollution at night.

The bathrooms are getting remodeled this year. There is a convenience store and pizza place at the corner of 39 and Pinecrest (just north of the park), although any supermarkets etc are about 30 minute drive away.

Although we tent camp, there are many large pull-through sites, and some of the sites cater for horse trailers. Each site has electric and water.

Note that during heavy Florida rainstorms, some of the sites on loop 2 (14-20) have a tendency to flood. I've seen site 15 and 17 under a few inches of water, which might not be the end of the world for a camper but would leave you drenched in a tent.

Nice state park, paved sites, 50 amp & water hookups, dump station on site. Nice space between sites, very quiet and dark = star-gazing! Lots of bike trails, not used by us. Horses & campers also here. No connectivity here and we opted not to stay because of that problem. If we were not working, this would be a great campground.

This park is famous for its extensive mountain bike trails, with many miles of trails ranging in difficulty level. There's even an on-site bike shop at the trailheads for rentals and repairs. We loved the hiking opportunities afforded in the terrain of the former phosphate mine, including the large network of equestrian trails. Another highlight was the abundance of bird life. Nesting ospreys were fun to watch, especially when they flew across our campsite carrying fish from the ponds in the park.

The campground itself is very nice, with all paved sites (water + electric, including 50A) and nice, clean bathhouses. I personally prefer all the back in sites on the outsides of the loops to the pull-throughs for privacy reasons, but all the sites are pretty nice. Large picnic tables are provided. Site spacing is good.

The photos on ReserveAmerica are pretty dated - our site photos showed a wide open pond view but we saw mostly marsh grasses and a sliver of water. On the plus side, there's a lot more vegetation between sites than shown on the photos online.

Access would be improved by turn lanes from County Road 39. There are some fast-moving big trucks on the road and getting slowed down for the tight entry turn was a bit hair-raising. Road noise from CR 39 and other surrounding roads was a distant hum, not too distracting. This park is not located close to many stores or services, so it's more of a destination for enjoying the outdoor attractions within the park itself.

I've biked and camped here for years. What a great place; undoubtedly one of my favorites. The main trailhead gets busy, but the campsite is well removed from the bustle of the day use area. Nice and quiet after everyone is done biking for the day.

Not specific to this campsite, but oh how I wish people would learn that their neighbors don't want their "cute" LED exterior lights shining all night...for once I'd like to be able to sleep at a campground with my shades up and windows open and not have the inside of my camper look like a rainbow! Turn off your lights, please!!

Water spigot was 3” above the ground. Ordinarily I’d never consider returning but this State Park is so awesome we’ll be back soon and often. We saw deer and had a bright red cardinal visit our RV repeatedly. Our video is here: http://anrvandadog.com/OurVideos.html

This is a gem of a park. Access the best bike trails in the state from your campsite. We participated in an excellent interpretive program, I love how the Florida State Parks strive to provide education as well as recreation.

We had low expectations and just wanted to escape the cold but found a gem in this state park.

The sites are spaced out beautifully with quite a few of them being pull-through. They were 50 amp, level, and paved. There is plenty of room in your campsite to relax outside.

The real draw is the trail network for mountain biking and hiking. The trails were beautiful and had a lot of elevation change. They are maintained very well by volunteers who have turned this old phosphate mine into a lush place to explore.

The campground is set away from the main mountain biking parking, so stayed quiet.

Verizon signal (with booster) was excellent.

Level sites (I stayed in 25 and then extended my stay and moved to 6), shade trees in most sites to block the mid-day sun, easy back-ins, decent bathrooms and spacious showers. TONS of trails for mountain biking or hiking! (I recommend getting the AllTrails app since some trails aren’t marked too well.) Beautiful lake with the sounds of red-winged blackbirds, more cardinals than you can count, Common Gallinules, mockingbirds, and countless others. Mornings are a symphony of birdsong, and even at night! Loved hearing the gators grunt from the lake nests while I sat at my site and worked during the day. So nice and quiet—could be because we missed the snowbird season. Will definitely stay again. Little bit of noise from big citrus trucks and the like on CR 39, but less so in the Lonesome Lake loop, so only four stars for the “Noise” factor. Verizon service fluctuated between 2-4 bars.

Agree with other reviews about campsites. Quiet and nice level sites. Bike trails were not as flowy as I love, but enjoyed them. The double black diamond trails are truly only for bikers who know what they are doing. High risk for reward.