Myakka River State Park Campground

The wife and I stayed for two weeks at Myakka River February, 2015. There are three camping loops in the park. We stayed in the one furthest from the entrance, Big Flats campground. This is an OK campground for tent or trailers or smaller motorhomes. Turns are a little tight for large motorhomes. Sites 1 to 5 backup to a pumping station. The pump cycles on and off until about 10PM. As one camper put it “you get used to it”. Well we didn’t in site 5. Sites 21-26 would be best for tent campers, but really anything other than sites 1-5 are good. All of the sites as far as I could tell got some shade sometime during the day from the many trees. I heard stories that sites 10 to 14 often would get bombarded by buzzard turds as they roost high in the trees above these sites. There are hundreds of buzzards in the area, and when they are all in the sky in the afternoon it it quite a sight. There are also signs around that buzzards will attack windshield wiper blades and other rubber items for some reason. I did not see or experience this.

There is the Palmetto Ridge Campground which seemed to me to be best suited for larger motorhomes and trailers. Not so good for tent camping. This is the most modern of the campgrounds with not much shade. The other campground, Old Prairie, seemed like a relic from the past. The campsites are small and close together and the facility seemed dated. I did not use it so I don’t know how modern the facility is, but it did not look promising.

Myakka River has many things of interest going on inside the park. The Big Flats loop is close, easy walking distance, to the camp concession area that provides a WIFI hotspot. That area has picnic tables, and a chidrens playground. The concession area rents canoes, bikes and there is an available one hour airboat ride around the lake which was pretty much full most of the time when I was there in February. There is a guided riding tour on a truck pulled train, and 2 separate gift concessions besides one at the park entrance. There is a tree walk trail where you climb high into a tower and walk over a bridge into the tree top canopy to another tower 100 feet away where you climb down on stairs. There is a bridge over the river where many people bird watch and fish. There seemed to be many local visitors to the park besides just campers.

I have to also add that in nearby Sarasota, there is a fabulous Amish farmers market called Detwilers Farm Market that should not be missed. Get there EARLY. The best strawberries when in season. Check out reviews on Tripadvisor for exact location. Parking is tight and you should NOT go there while hooked up with a trailer or driving a motorhome. I will go to Myakka River campgrounds again if I can get another reservation for this popular camping spot.

I stayed here 04/18-04/21/2016 in site 58. This is part of the newer camping loop called Palmetto Ridge. The campground has paved roads and the sites are hard packed gravel. It was very roomy in general with a lot of space. I found it easy to get in and out of with my 34 ft class A. for you experienced campers, maybe that's no big deal but this was only my 2nd trip and on my 1st trip I tore a small hole in my awning due to the low hanging branches while backing in. So, for me, I appreciated this.

There are restrooms and laundry machines. In general Myakka is a very clean place. They keep the grounds in very good condition.
I would not want to stay here in the summer though. There was hardly any shade at all and it got pretty hot.

If you're looking for natural Florida habitat this is a good location. Gators everywhere! Lots hiking trails. This is a very large park and you could easily spend a week here wandering around.

The cell signal for ATT was pretty much non existent. I would randomly get 1 bar but it was not usable. My verizon jetpack worked about 1/2 of the time. For connectivity, this park is not good.

We loved this place. Palmetto Ridge sites are quiet, almost private, full hookups. Long walk to the Canopy Bridge Trail but worth it.

Great park. Biked all over. Did the 5pm river boat ride. Great sunsets

Park is huge with lots of wildlife to see, especially gators. The Palmetto ridge loop sites are full hookup. Sites are lage and private.

Located near Sarasota, FL with easy access off I-75 via SR 72 to South entrance. North entrance open only weekends and holidays. Check-in flawless and easy. Site (72 Palmetto Ridge) was roomy, private, and (mostly) level covered in coarse gravel. Good separation with lush vegetation, canopied tree cover, fire ring, and picnic table. Bugs not an issue. Concrete loop road, and exceptionally clean and new bath houses. Full service hook-up. Electricity (30A), water, and dump onsite, but you may need longer hoses and cables to connect everything all at once. Firewood ($6.00 tiny shrink wrap package) picked up from Myakka Outpost three miles away. This place is massive! King Jack found two dozen OTA stations. Digital streaming above average. Great place to hike, bike, or kayak. No swimming allowed as Myakka contains one of the largest gator populations in Florida. You can take a boat tour ($25.00), enjoy an ice cream cone ($4.99), grab hot snacks and souvenirs, or rent a canoe from the Outpost. NOTE: There are two other (entirely forgettable) campgrounds here, Old Prairie and Big Flats. These are very old (inexpensive) facilities that have appeal to tenters, and the high density, loud music party crowd. Potholed dirt roads, sketchy facilities, and trash laying about everywhere. Yuk.

If you, I recommend Palmetto Ridge when booking here, The sites are much more spacious and most (if not all) have FHU. The bathhouses are very nice in this loop as well.

The park itself is very busy and for a good reason. There's tons to do here and more wildlife than I could have imagined. Absolutely beautiful place to camp and enjoy the outdoors.

We loved this park and will definitely be back. The campsite was beautiful and we didn’t feel like we were on top of our neighbors. Easy in and out.
The trails, bridge and gators were awesome!

This was our first trip to Myakka River State Park. We were concerned that it would be completely flooded due to all the rain over the last few weeks. While the water was still high, the campsites in the Palmetto Ridge loop were dry (mostly). The Palmetto Ridge Campground is the full hookup loop of Myakka River State Park, and site 64 was huge! Most all of the sites were large and easily accessible. The Canopy Walk Nature Trail was a neat experience as well! We would absolutely stay here again!

Myakka River State Park gets five stars as a park. But this is a campground review and the Big Flats campground only gets three stars. It is possible that the other campgrounds within the park are nicer, we did not tour them. The campsites at Big Flats are smaller than average for Florida State Parks and there is no vegetation screening sites from one another. The true failure of the campground is the sewage system. The odors from the system permeate the entire campground. It's not pleasant. The campground also has a fire ant problem, though the park staff do try and keep it under control. On a positive note, the campground is within walking distance of the concession area. You can take boat tours, rent canoes, and grab a meal at the location.