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4.5
529 votes

Highlands Hammock State Park Campground

5931 Hammock Rd., Sebring, Florida 33872 USA

Closed Now
Opens Sun 5a
  • Independent
  • Credit Cards
    Accepted
  • Pet Friendly
  • Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
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“hike along 9 trails, bike a 3 mile path”

One of Florida´s oldest parks, opening to the public in 1931, this park was established when local citizens came together to promote the hammock as a candidate for national park status. During the Great Depression, just prior to World War II, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) developed additional park facilities and the beginnings of a botanical garden. Many visitors enjoy bicycling the scenic 3-mile loop drive or hiking along the park´s nine trails. An elevated boardwalk traverses an old-growth cypress swamp. Picnicking is another popular activity as are ranger-guided tours of the park. Highlands Hammock offers a full-facility campground, as well as a youth/group tent campground.  A recreation hall is available for rental, as are several picnic pavilions.

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Reviews of Highlands Hammock State Park Campground

37 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

4.1 Access
3.9 Location
3.7 Cleanliness
2.9 Site Quality
3.2 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G

Confirmed by 14 users | Last reported on January 08, 2024

AT&T 4G/5G

Confirmed by 9 users | Last reported on January 16, 2024

T-Mobile 4G/5G

Confirmed by 8 users | Last reported on January 11, 2023
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  • 2 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
March 27, 2013
Rated

Good place for gator viewing. Don't forget the bug repellent.

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
cjhudock

  • 11 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
January 14, 2020
Rated

The hiking trails are very interesting. A lot of wild life, old trees and swamps.

Camp sites are very close to each other. They should thin out the sites and expand the area.

The bath house in the center is old and should be replaced. The bath house on the perimeter is new and very clean.

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cjhudock would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $28.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 55

5 Access
4 Location
3 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

February 18, 2020
Rated

The loop drive and short hikes off the loop, as well as longer trails in upland pine areas, are beautifully preserved areas of native Florida habitat and easily accessible from the campground. The CCC museum in the park is well done, and there are lots of activities happening regularly at the park. Unfortunately, the campground itself leaves much to be desired.

The only sites that we would consider normal and acceptable for a state park are the sites along the outside of the campground, 114 through 138. Of these, numbers 114 through 122 are the only ones with a reasonable amount of foliage separating the sites and providing a little privacy. The interior sites are extremely close together with no clear boundaries, so larger families end up spilling into neighboring campsites or just having their tents literally under the windows of neighbors. Many of the sites share utility posts so half the sites have utilities on the wrong side of the rig (bring your long cords and hoses). We really liked our site (#114) and enjoyed our stay, but we would have absolutely hated being in one of the interior sites.

The good news is that there are enough bathhouses to serve the large campground, and they are cleaned sequentially so you can always find an open one. But they vary considerably in quality. The best (newest, most modern) restroom is on the northeast corner of the campground (the one with the laundry facilities). Campground roads are extremely narrow, as others have noted, and should be one-way. The dump station setup is poor, since the first rig waiting in line blocks one of the roads into part of the campground. Our stay required plenty of patience, and also planning just to pull out when our exit was blocked by the dump station line.

Larger rigs MUST NOT enter the park from the west side (Hammock Road / CR 634) -- this is an unpaved road with a single lane, weight limited bridge and lots of low overhanging trees. Enter from the east side.

There are plenty of services available in Sebring -- numerous gas stations, all the big box stores, numerous grocery stores. As you would expect given the close proximity to a reasonably large town, cell service on AT&T was very fast: Download 29.27 Mbps Upload 8.75 Mbps. However, there was very little over the air TV (reception was very poor) since this location is on the outer edge of the Tampa Bay market.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 7

Site Number: 114

3 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

March 01, 2020
Rated

We had an overall good experience in this park due in part to our site and the staff and volunteers. The park is far enough from roads that we heard no road noise, which was a special treat for us. We loved the trails, although some of the narrow boardwalks, railed on one side only (Big Oak and Cypress Swamp trails) were unnervingly in need of attention (and questionable in design). The park offers a lot of choices for biking and hiking. The campground store was really nice with a good variety of essentials and souvenirs. The specialty orange ice cream or pie is a must try.

The volunteers are very friendly and helpful. They organized pot-luck dinners, paid breakfasts, and a dinner where they served 8-10 different homemade soups while we were there. There was live music and dancing following the soup dinner.

Other reviews have covered the site spacing issues and campground layout and I agree there is only one good bath house. Some of the laundry machines in the newest bath house need replacement. The worst part of the campground layout is the dump station. As soon as a second camper lines up to use the dump station, three loops of the campground are inaccessible from the entrance. If there is a way to separate the entry to sites 105-138 from the dump station it should be done. The entrance to the dump station is uphill and on a tight curve, steep enough that the hood of our truck obstructed my view while pulling over the top of the hill.

Because we were in the site across from the laundry and best bath house, at least once an hour someone would cut through our site, which I thought was bad etiquette for campgrounds. This is the only place we’ve experienced this behavior to this extreme, so I was disappointed in my fellow campers. If this behavior bothers you, think twice about this site.

On a side note: We went to Bok Tower Gardens (https://boktowergardens.org), about an hour north of the campground, and we can definitely recommend it if you’re up for an excursion this far away from the campground. They have beautiful gardens, a very unique stone tower, an excellent café, and a museum-like visitor center and shop. We got in half price on Saturday morning (entry between 8-9 AM). They had an excellent 4-piece jazz band playing during lunch.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 14

Site Number: 130

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

June 05, 2020
Rated

First stop, back on the road since COVID-19. Overall nice park. I didn't use any bathrooms bc COVID. Sites separated by plants but not private. Trails aren't bad, especially the Cypress Swamp trail with it's fun wooden bridges.

Quiet but it was not full. Saw lots of deer, tons of birds. Squirrels are not timid.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 120

4 Access
4 Location
5 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

September 07, 2020
Rated

If you like being snug with your neighbors then this is the place for you! Sites are small and hookups are all over. Be prepared with an extension cord! Our site was just big enough for our camper and picnic table. The fire pit wasn’t usable since it was basically on our neighbors campsite right next to their trailer. We figured best not to have it catch fire 🤦🏻‍♀️ We went Labor Day weekend so the park was sold out. All 138 spots. It was a busy campground, which is fun but not as much since the playground wasn’t open for the kids. They “clean” the facilities, but not very well from the amount of spiders in the showers. Obviously your camping and there are bugs, but watching them crawl up and down the walls as you shower isn’t my idea of fun.
They have a few short trails to hike. They are pretty and you can see lots of cool things. Definitely can all be done in 1 day. This park was a been there done that park for us and we will most likely not return.

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Nightly Rate: -

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 69

3 Access
3 Location
3 Cleanliness
2 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Reviewed by
msarki

  • 146 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
December 08, 2020
Rated

After reading the reviews I was expecting a beautiful campground. What we got was an older, original CCC Camp with tight spaces and hardly any privacy. But the campground is not what makes camping here special. The landscape surrounding the campground, the hundreds of acres of old Florida forests and swamp, the many bike trails and hiking trails, the beautiful loop through the prettiest of single lane roads. We were fortunate to hike at least half of the trails including Young Hammock Trail, Fern Garden Trail, Cypress Swamp Trail, and our favorite Ancient Hammock Trail.

We had site 119 which backed up to an open view of pines and sawtooth palms. Beautiful sunrise. We had neighbors the first night but then none the last two. Plenty of young children playing and riding bicycles, kicking soccer balls, and being kids. I guess with Covid there are more kids on the road being home-schooled but it did seem to quiet down after the weekend. One interesting social phenomenon were the large flags being flown. We saw plenty of Trump flags and no masks.

The toilet and shower rooms were classic CCC, old but well-kept, plenty of hot water, and attractive architecture. The cell service reportedly was poor but AT&T provided a good and dependable two to three bars and streaming the TV was no problem at all. Temps at night dropped down into the mid thirties, but the days were pleasant and full of sunshine. The sites are pretty much non-private. The water and electricity is often just out of reach without extensions. A lot of dirt and sand to track into the trailer. But all in all a great place to be because of the many trails, negative ions, and decent cell service. Publix is ten minutes away on the main road through Sebring. Definitely be back.

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Nightly Rate: $18.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 119

5 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

AT&T 4G

Reviewed by
jameshardrick

  • 4 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
December 08, 2021
Rated

Great place spacious,clean,quiet (for the most part noise from highway)excellent cell service…Nice friends staff. Will definitely stay again.

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jameshardrick would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $17.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 15

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

T-Mobile 4G

  • 2 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
January 02, 2022
Rated

Old bathhouses 2 of 4 we're closed. The open ones were in serious need of updating and repair. Extremely close campsites with ok picknick tables.
Camp store is exceptional, well stocked with a variety of a little bit of everything you might need plus souvenirs, clothes and ice cream.
This place could be nice with some staffing as repairs and updating are needed. The park itself is typical Florida state park nature at its best.
Not for old folk during a school vacation week but then no state park really is.

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Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 5

Site Number: 69

3 Access
2 Location
1 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
1 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

T-Mobile 4G

Reviewed by
Trekers

  • 34 Reviews
  • 2 Helpful
March 08, 2022
Rated

A decent state park overall with neat trails to go on and a nice Civilian Conservation Corps museum. It's Florida's first state park, opened in 1935, and the facilities in the campground are definitely showing their age.

The campsites vary greatly in size and shape, so getting a spot may be trickier if you have a larger rig not just due to the site but also access to it. Most sites are right on top of one another so there zero privacy.

The bathrooms are all quite outdated and in disrepair although the team tries to keep them clean. (A more modern bathroom building exists, but as of March 2022, it's closed for repairs.) The water connections and electric hookups at each site are old and many are in need of replacement soon.

The trails are nice, all of them are quite short but there are enough to make a day of it as you travel from trailhead to trailhead. You could walk the whole thing if you're up for it, but it makes for a nice bike ride, too, since there are bike racks at each trailhead.

Also, consider taking the tram tour since you get to see parts of the park that are restricted to the public. When we took it, we saw a lot of wildlife, including alligators, turtles, birds, and deer.

Overall, I'd like to give this park a higher rating, but the aging infrastructure of the campground really needs to be addressed. So maybe 4 stars for the park as day use, but only 3 stars if you're staying there.

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Trekers would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $22.00

Days Stayed: 5

Site Number: 70

5 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
2 Site Quality
3 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

T-Mobile 4G

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Highlands Hammock State Park Campground

5931 Hammock Rd.
Sebring, Florida
33872 USA
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Hours

Closed Now
  • Sun: 5:00 am - 9:00 pm
  • Mon: 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
  • Tue: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm

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  • Unavailable
    Parking
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    Pets Allowed
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    Restrooms
  • Unavailable
    Wifi
  • Check
    Wheelchair Accessible
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    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
State park or forest
Back In RV Sites Count
30
Last Nightly Rate
24.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
36.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
2.0
Max Length
50 ft
Max Stay
14
Pull Through RV Sites Count
25
Sites Count
143
Standard Tent Sites Count
26
  • Unavailable
    Paved Sites
  • Check
    Fifty Amp
  • Unavailable
    Full Hookup
  • Check
    Rec Facilities
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    Pull Through
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    Tent Sites
  • Check
    Dump Station
  • Check
    Big Rigs
  • Unavailable
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
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    Back In RV Sites
  • Unavailable
    Boondock
  • Unavailable
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Check
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Check
    Group Tent Sites
  • Check
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Check
    Potable Water
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Check
    Public Water
  • Check
    Pull Through RV Sites
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    Reservations
  • Unavailable
    Sewer Hookup
  • Check
    Showers
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    Sites
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    Standard Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Vehicle Wash Permitted
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    Water Hookup
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