O'Leno State Park Campground

O' Leno State Park is a great place for walking and relaxing. Although the ticks were everywhere, it felt good to have protecting sprays and feel nothing.

While walking, we heard dog barking and the kids got ecstatic to see the dogs that were in the area, as they are animal lovers, but unfortunately we heard the Park's staff complaining to the dog owners about the barking. We immediately felt uncomfortable by the way those people were treated.

Despite all these, the place is very good for a day off.

I came here with my family on a trip to visit Ichetucknee Springs and fell in love! The park is beautiful, the bathrooms are extremely clean and the playground is in a perfect spot for all the campsites. Close to the springs with the lowest price per night. The park also has geocaching which we enjoy. We recommend!

I loved this park.

If you care to read on, here's why:

Our site was fabulous. Very spacious, and we could only just barely make out our neighbors through the jungle that is the forest here.

That stuff is important to me, but not as much as learning about nature. And this place is all about that. There's a river that you can hike around. That's right, "around", because at one point it goes underground. Fun stuff. They also have tons of trees and other fauna marked with pedestals on the ground so you can begin to experience everything from live oak to magnolias to the different types of palms in the state.

There's a little nature center with an elderly ranger who is more than willing to entertain your kids, and you, with his knowledge of the various types of turtles. They warn against swimming--though a designated area in the river does allow it--due to alligators, but we didn't see any.

It's far enough from civilization that it doesn't feel like many Florida parks (where airplanes fly over every 3 minutes or you can hear the bustle of highway traffic from your campsite), but at the same time there's easy access to restaurants and decent grocery stores maybe 15 minutes away.

The rangers, I might add, are particularly informative and helpful. Always a bonus in my book.

This is our second time here and undoubtedly won't be our last. There are two camping loops. The Dogwood loop is hilly, curvy and much tighter for manuevering but has more privacy because of all the vegetation. The Magnolia loop is level and the sites are generally bigger. We have stayed in both and would probably stick with Magnolia, but either is fine. There are nice trails for hiking and canoe rental was only $5. It's an easy hike to River Sink where the river disappears underground. On our first stay the Sink looked like a large, quiet pond. On our second stay, when high water closed the swimming area and canoeing, the Sink had quite a vortex going. We also drove 3 miles down the highway and hiked the 1 mile in to see River Rise where the river emerges from underground. There are lots of trails, including equestrian trails, at River Rise. However for short hikes, the trails around the campground and River Sink satisfy us. There is a suspension bridge built by the CCC and history going back to Indians and early 19th century settlers.

Our cell reception was Verizon LTE with 2 bars. Phone calls were fine. The hotspot for Internet was a little slow but perfectly adequate.

We only stayed here one night, in route to Blue Spring State Park, but I wish I would have stayed longer! It was a beautiful park with tons of trails! There were a lot of water activities too, but I didn't have time for them. The suspension bridge is beautiful and leads to some amazing trees if you head to the right after crossing it. The camp site itself was also very nice. It's a long walk to the hiking, but a nice one. There were no problems fitting into the spaces. They were spacious and it was quite there. I woke up at 6am to go take pictures and ran into a couple deer on the trail. It was so beautiful and I would encourage you to stay at least a couple days!

There are two camping loops, Dogwood and Magnolia. The Magnolia loop is closer to the on-site CCC Museum (interesting!), group camp, dump station, and hiking/biking trailheads, but the Dogwood loop sites seem to have a bit more foliage, hence privacy. The Dogwood sites are anything but level, with tree roots, uneven ground, and some inconveniently located little trees, but with a bit of maneuvering, it’s doable. And the setting definitely makes up for it.

The restrooms are modern and sparkly-clean, the best I’ve seen in over a year of being on the road. Shower stalls are roomy with convenient benches and hooks and they keep them spotless. (We learned that the host who cleans them was once punished by his drill sergeant, who made him put his cot in the latrine, so he learned how to clean bathrooms!)

Most of the trails (and there are many) are multi-use: hiking and biking, and some equestrian. Some mosquitoes and lots of no-see-ums to plague you, but not unbearable. The town of High Springs is fairly close for restaurants, shops, etc. We had good cell service, but use a booster.

Dog's perspective: Trails, trails, trails! But watch out for ticks.

This campground has a lot to offer. It is flat and has a clean shower room, but the shower room does not have AC. When it is in the 90's, that is an issue. The dumpster needed dumping but it does have recycling. Plus and minus.

O’Leno State Park is one of Florida’s gems. Located on the Santa Fe River in the north-central part of Florida’s wang, there is so much to do in the park that it’s a beautiful vacation destination on its own. Hike, bike, kayak, swim – there’s a little something for everyone.

The campground is quite a drive into the park. Once you get off the paved portion, it can be a little bumpy. Some of their sites are not very level and will be a doozy to try and accomplish. With that said, the park is awesome and we will be back for sure.

O'Leno State Park in HIgh Springs Florida was developed by the CCC in the 1930's. It has miles of horse back riding, hiking, and biking trails. The Santa Fe river runs by the campsite, then disappears underground, reappearing a mile later. The campsites are nicely wooded and feel secluded.

more info available on youtube video: https://youtu.be/Z8zWy1ALg-4

cell phone data download/upload (Mbps) tested with Speedtest
ATT 1.92/0.08
Verizon 4.13/0.53
T-Mobile 8.65/0.06

With Weboost cell phone booster
ATT 0.96/3.38
Verizon 3.00/4.56
T-Mobile 7.18/5.14

We had a couple of days open up on our trip through FL so we found this little gem and stayed 2 nights. It was only a short drive off of the interstate which made it very convenient. Check-in was easy (we arrived around 5:30 and they were still open) but they advise to call ahead if you're going to be late.

There's 2 campground loops here, Dogwood and Magnolia...and they're drastically different. .
If I could give the Dogwood loop a 1 or 2 star I would, while I would give the Magnolia loop a 4 star. The Dogwood loop felt grungy and unpleasant, especially comparatively. It felt very disconnected from the rest of the park. Sites were smaller and felt stacked more on top of each other.

Magnolia loop on the other hand had a very nice feel to it. It was pleasant to go for a walk or a bike ride down to the river from here. While most of the sites were just ok, sites 4, 14, 27 and 31 seemed the best and largest. The sites are gravel and have really nice 2-rail fences outlining your space. The fences honestly really gave the sites a homey feel, something that was absent in the Dogwood loop (which didn't have fences). The Magnolia loop is tight if you have anything big...if you have a big 5th wheel you'll have to be REALLY careful and backing into your site might be a challenge. All sites are very wooded and offer some privacy from your neighbor.

Restrooms were clean and nice, as was the playground. The walk to the recreation area was very pleasant down a compacted sand/dirt road. The recreation area had a good playground, a small nature center (open at 10 am), trails and the bridge. The bridge was beautiful! The last morning we were there we went for a trail run around the yellow loop. It was AMAZING! Whether you run, hike or walk it, just make sure you do it. It's about 2 miles round trip from the campground.

We went here, Disney, Key Largo and St. Augustine on this trip and one of my top two favorite things we did the whole time was paddle the Itchetucknee River!!! It's about 15 minutes from the campground and was insanely beautiful, fun and relaxing. Highly recommended!

I'd stay here again in a heartbeat, especially if I wanted to spend a few days exploring all of the springs in the area.