Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Nice little park with a campground and tubing area run by Orange County Parks department 400 E Kelly Park RDApopka, FL 32712 It's about a 40 minute, 36 mile drive from WDW up 429. Points of Interest:Kelly Park features a free-flowing natural spring (68 degrees year round), full-service concession, picnic pavilions and playground. Tent and RV camping are available at this park. Park Admission Fee: $3 per vehicle for 1-2 people; $5 per vehicle for 3-8 people; and $1 for additional person/walk-ins/motorcycles/bikes. Here's a link for complete information http://www.ocfl.net/Portals/0/Library/Culture-Recreation/docs/Camping%20at%20Orange%20County%20Parks.pdf Camping fees are reasonable CAMPING AND RELATED FEES Site Rental, per night (County resident)…. .................................................................. $ 18.00 Site Rental, per night (non County resident)………………………………………….$ 23.00 Primitive Site, per night…………………. .................................................................. $ 15.00 Group Camping Fee (per person, per night, includes entry fee) .................................. $ 3.00 Group Tent Camping Fee (per person, per night, includes entry fee)………………...$ 3.00 Group Camping Deposit, per group per night………….. ............................................ $ 10.00 Additional person, per night ......................................................................................... $ 2.00 Additional vehicle, per night ........................................................................................ $ 3.00 Non-registered sanitary dump fee ............................................................................... $ 5.00 Firewood (when available—bundle of 25) …………………………………………..$ 10.00 A cancellation fee of one night will be charged for all cancellations received less than three days in advance. A processing fee of $10.00 or 25%, situation dependent, will be charged for all other refunds. In the case of no show / no call cancellations, all fees are non-refundable. Senior Citizens (55 years and over) and active military may be allowed a 25% discount against camping fees. Disabled Veteran Entry Discount: Veterans with documented 100% My wife had heard about the park and tubing from a mother at one of my granddaughters dance gym classes. She enjoyed camping there, but said if you wanted to just go tubing, it fills up early on the weekends and they close the gates. So armed with that information, my wife asked if I could get a day off yesterday (Monday) and we could go over Sunday and camp.She called for reservations on Friday and got an answering machine. Left a message and never heard back from them. I tried calling, got a lot of different recordings but ultimately got to the same one about leaving a message. I had taken the day off, so we decided to just go over for the day on Monday. It was about an hour and 45 minute trip over from Tampa. We took the slightly longer route up I-75 and over, instead of I-4 and going near Orlando. Google maps said it was the best route based on traffic. Got to the park, paid out entry fee and got a decent parking spot. We inflated our tubes and headed to the water. There are a couple of different places to launch from. One is the beginning of the run, and another one is about 1/2 way down where the beach and concession stand is located. We chose the beginning. The water was cold, but it actually seemed warmer than the pool at the Dolphin last weekend. It's about a 30 minute 1+ mile float. At the end where you get out is a boardwalk/concrete path that leads you back to the beach area then back to the beginning. Makes it nice, since a lot of the tubing in FL is 1 way and you either get dropped off at the beginning or picked up at the end with a car or vendor transportation. This is all self contained in the park itself. We no sooner got to the end and my granddaughter was ready to go again. We ended up walking at least 6 or 7 miles yesterday between the back and forth trips on the water and walking to the car and bathrooms. Later in the day it started getting a little crowded, but it still wasn't too bad. A lot less crowded than the lazy rivers at the water parks, but more crowded than Dave's JW Marriot one. Of course you still encountered people that decided to stand in the middle of the stream instead of to the sides. We saw nature Spider and it's lunch Spider later in the day after lunch was gone An otter (it's in the middle of the picture). They are hard to photograph, especially while you are floating or trying to stand in the current. I had two swim past me, but the camera wasn't ready. A mermaid on Ariel's rock An old fat guy The water was clear, we saw fish and turtles besides the otters Someone decided to hitch a ride on my tube She tried snorkeling After we packed up we went to check out the campground. A few feet after leaving the main park road, the road to the campground turns into packed dirt. There are 24 sites in one big loop. Each site seemed pretty spacious, had water, power, table paved slab for the table and a FIRE RING!! No paved pads for your rigs. So since we hadn't gotten a call back, we figured they were booked up. Nope, there were 3 maybe 4 sites occupied, the rest were empty. There was a sign at one of the spots advertising for Camp Hosts. Looks like you get to stay free if you want to do some chores around the site. Definitely a campground to get back to nature, no golf carts, trading posts, boat rides, fancy railings, etc. I would like to try and camp there another time. All in all it's a great spot to visit (during the week) if you want to relax and enjoy real Florida. There is another park a woman was telling us about, Blue Springs up near Deland/Orange City. They have tubing, kayaking, camping and it has cabins also. They run $95 a night and have a screened porch! Looks like another day trip for us in the future. About 20 minutes into the trip home Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 What a great little report! Thanks for sharing. I've never heard of this park or campground, but it looks great. And I love the prices. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 What a great little report! Thanks for sharing. I've never heard of this park or campground, but it looks great. And I love the prices. TCDIt would be a shorter trip for you probably. We went over on 48 and came back on 50. There are a lot of parks in the general area. This is in the area of Wekiwa Springs State Park There is also a Rock Springs Run Reserve It's a nature preserve area. Hiking, horseback riding, primitive camping on islands in the Weekiwa River accessible only by canoe/kayak. No swimming allowed at the park Leave it to Florida to name two places similar but are not alike at all. Gets a little confusing. We want to try Blue Springs next. It's about 2 hours from Tampa, or about an hour from my daughters place in Avalon Park off the Beachline. Problem is I have to take days off during the week since they get crowded on the weekends. Well I guess that's what my 10 weeks of vacation time is for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BeckersDadJohn 44 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Thanks for the detailed report and link. Spider looks to be a female Golden Silk Banana spider. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Thanks for the detailed report and link. Spider looks to be a female Golden Silk Banana spider.Whatever it was, it seemed content with that beetle stuck in it's web. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Wow... the water was so clear! How neat! An otter?! That would have been neat, but also make me nervous as I think they can be aggressive? Looks like a really fun day :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Goodness... our internet is having issues Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Wow... the water was so clear! How neat! An otter?! That would have been neat, but also make me nervous as I think they can be aggressive? Looks like a really fun day :)They seemed to be used to people. they were just doing their own thing every time we saw them. Just swimming along the stream or playing in the weeds along side. Of course they are wild and I wouldn't want to corner one or make it feel threatened. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ajcjmom 8 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Nice report! We went a few years ago with some friends and had a great time. In the summer it fills up fast and they do limit the number of people in the park. So be there early! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Nice report! We went a few years ago with some friends and had a great time. In the summer it fills up fast and they do limit the number of people in the park. So be there early!That's why we went on a weekday. We had heard that you had to be in line when it opens on weekends or you don't get in. We got there about 10:40, got a parking spot fairly close to the concession area. It did seem to get a little more crowded in the afternoon, but when we left around 4:00 cars were still arriving. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Mark (or anyone else who knows)- I heard from a couple of different sources that there's a park in central Florida (I believe it's a state park) where the restaurant has griddles at the table and you can make your own pancakes. Ever heard of it? TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Travisma 1,317 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Mark (or anyone else who knows)- I heard from a couple of different sources that there's a park in central Florida (I believe it's a state park) where the restaurant has griddles at the table and you can make your own pancakes. Ever heard of it? TCDDeleon Springs Park601 Ponce Deleon BlvdDe Leon Springs, FL 32130 Old Sugar Mill Grill and Griddle http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-sugar-mill-grill-and-griddle-house-de-leon-springs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Looks like a lot of fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Deleon Springs Park601 Ponce Deleon BlvdDe Leon Springs, FL 32130 Old Sugar Mill Grill and Griddle http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-sugar-mill-grill-and-griddle-house-de-leon-springs Thanks! I want to check that park out some time. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LORNADUCK 261 Posted June 10, 2015 Report Share Posted June 10, 2015 Looks like another good place to camp close to home. I have been to blue springs it a pretty park. We had reserved a camp site but rich wasn't feeling well so I went and stayed with my friends in a cabin which was nice. Note as nice as the one at lake louise but not bad. On the way out I we t and looked at the site we reserved and it would have been hard to vet into after dark. Im not sure it would have been ok in the daylight. But it was late October a d we would have come after I got off from work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CJHokie 43 Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 We stayed at Blue Spring and loved it. We have a 40 ft. MH, so it can be a challenge sometimes to get to campgrounds and in sites. The site we reserved was plenty big and we didn't have any problems. We were there in Apr. '14 and some in our group tubed in the spring. FTR, they get a lot of manatees in the winter so tubing/swimming is not allowed then. Would love to go there then and see them all. The water was amazingly clear like in the OP pics of the other park and the trees draping the spring were beautiful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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