BY DEJA HOLLEY
I would like to preface my experience on camping at Silver Springs State Park, located in Silver Springs, FL, with the fact that I have been camping before but, that trip was more along the lines of glamping and the trip I took this past weekend was semi-primitive camping. So, this was my first real camping trip. Now that I’ve made that disclaimer, let’s dive right into it.
Initial Planning
Well. To start, I do not recommend planning a four-person camping trip (two couples) with less than two weeks time beforehand, in fact I do not recommend planning overnight camping trips with less than a month between the initial planning date and the day of departure. And, I say this because I planned this particular camping trip in exactly nine days.
10/10 would not recommend. Now, onto the nitty gritty details.
There are a TON of freshwater springs in Florida, 700 as of a report released in 2001 by the Florida Geological Survey — which makes Florida home to more freshwater springs than can be found anywhere else in the world. So, you could say, picking a state park with a spring to camp at was not an easy decision because, let’s face it, they are all beautiful and I literally want to visit them all. However, with such short notice, the two initial parks/springs I wanted to camp at did not have campsites available and therefore, our decision on which state park to visit was made by seeing what was available for the dates we decided on through Reserve America*.
Reserving a campsite at Silver Springs State Park cost $24.00 per night. After the non-refundable reservation fee of $6.70 and taxes, our one night/one day camping trip cost $33.34. Split between two couples, the cost of the trip for each couple was $16.67. Now, as compared to the more popular springs (like Ginnie Springs which charges a per person, per night camping fee) this was pretty reasonable. However, my boyfriend couldn’t grasp the concept of paying to sleep outside. But, that’s a story for another time.
*Reserve America is an online booking tool that handles the reservations for a large majority of the state parks in Florida, as well across the U.S., for campgrounds, parks, day-use facilities, lodging, activities and more.
On Food
I think that at this point it is necessary to point out that one of the four people on this trip is vegan, and the other three are not. So, planning meals and buying groceries was a challenge and ultimately we failed to buy/bring enough for the vegan in our group.
We planned to cook dinner the first night, breakfast the following morning and then eat at the cafe on site of the park. So, we placed a grocery order for pickup at Walmart on the morning of departure to ensure everything was fresh. Our grocery list was as follows:
- 12 pack Budweiser beer (necessity)
- 2 bottles of pinot grigio (another necessity)
- 8 steakhouse seasoned ground beef patties
- 1 bag of Martins sandwich potato rolls (the best hamburger buns)
- 1 pack of sliced sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce
- 2 28oz Bush’s brown sugar baked beans
- 1 32oz deli potato salad
- 1 280z Bob Evans macaroni and cheese
- 1 bag of Mission soft taco tortillas
- 1/2 dozen eggs
- 1 16oz pack of bacon
- 1 box of graham crackers
- 1 box of Nilla Wafers (the best way to make a s’mores)
- 1 12oz bag of Jet-Puffed marshmallows
- 6 9.3oz Hershey’s milk chocolate bars
- 1 pack of assorted disposable cutlery
- 1 pack of disposable cups
- 1 pack disposable plates
- 1 pack of napkins
- 1 pack of matches
As you can see, not many vegan options. Also, we didn’t need the second can of beans because we didn’t even finish the first can, and we could’ve gotten a smaller potato salad and macaroni and cheese because we had a hard time making a dent in the sizes we got. The guys thought they’d eat more burgers than they did, so we had two left over that we ultimately had to throw away. We devoured the beer, but we didn’t need the second bottle of wine, and the s’mores.
Pro tip: Sandwich your roasted marshmallow and chocolate between two Nilla Wafers. You’ll thank me later.
Gear and Packing
Ah. The hardest part of our trip was gathering all of the correct gear, which I had most of already, and playing a game of tetris everytime we packed and unpacked the car. We brought one four-person instant tent (because no one has time to set up a real tent, c’mon now), two tarps (one for underneath the tent, one for right in front of the tent), two portable battery-powered fans (a MUST), four battery-powered lanterns (next time we’ll bring two to four more), a cooler and four bags of ice to keep the food and drinks cold/fresh, three lawn chairs, two citronella candles (another MUST), bug spray, sunscreen, a portable propane match-light stovetop and two mini propane tanks, two bags of charcoal, one frying pan and two pots, cooking/serving tools, five pillows, four comforters (for lining the bottom of the tent) and two lighter blankets (to sleep with), and finally our clothes, toiletries and towels (there were functioning bathrooms in the park nearby our campsite).
That is A LOT of stuff. Which is something you don’t realize until you have to pack one car, go to the meeting spot, unpack the same car, repack the car you’re taking, unpack at the campsite, repack the campsite the next morning to go home, unpack the car you took, repack your car, and then unpack once you’re finally home. To say the least, we were extremely inefficient.
I suggest that whomever’s car you are taking, they meet at the person’s house with the most gear, and you pack the car from there — or, if you’re taking your car, you’ve got it easy. Versus the chaotic mess we created.
A couple of items we forgot and later realized we needed included trash bags, a long-stem lighter, lighter fluid, cooking spray, and a portable sink with a sponge to wash dishes (we ended up throwing our pots away).
The Drive
We initially were supposed to drive up to the park in the other couple’s Jeep and instead we drove up in their Elantra. This was a mistake. The car was too small for four people and all of the gear and food we packed.
All I’ll say about the drive is that it is long. Silver Springs is near Ocala, and initially Google Maps told us the drive would be four hours from Coconut Creek. Then it told us four and a half hours. In actuality, with one stop, it took us five (maybe five and a half hours).
We got to the park exactly twelve minutes after they closed. Which resulted in us waiting in the dark for a park ranger to come and let us in, and thankfully there was a ranger patrolling nearby who saw us and let us in. Honestly not sure what we would have done otherwise, because after hours entry to the park required an access code to open the gate.
Note: If you plan on arriving to the park after they close (all state parks are open until sunset), then you have to call the park before 5:00pm to retrieve an access code which allows you entry past the gate and onto the park premises.
Again, all I’ll say for the drive back is that it was long. We also drove back after kayaking for almost two hours, so everyone was exhausted and really no one should have been driving. But, you gotta do what you got to do, right?
Camping
State parks are semi-primitive camping, if you’re tent camping (RV camping doesn’t count). I say “semi” because you still have access to communal bathrooms and showers, and each campsite comes with a firepit and a grill. Truly primitive camping does not offer these amenities.
Because we didn’t get to the park until after they closed, which means after dark, it was extremely difficult to setup the campsite and see while we were cooking. We ended up using the car headlights as our main source of light for the first hour or so.
It also took us a good hour to an hour and a half to get the grill fire and the firepit fire going.
Pro tip: Charcoal is extremely hard to light and it doesn’t produce a flaming fire. I suggest using charcoal and lighter fluid specifically for the grill, firewood and lighter fluid for the firepit. Bring matches, bring a long-stem lighter. You will struggle without these items.
Something else to note about our experience was the ground we camped on. The pictures of Silver Spring show that their campsites are a mix of grass and gravel. In actuality, the campgrounds are all gravel. This made sleeping extremely uncomfortable because we didn’t bring enough comforters to line the bottom of the tent with. Next time, we will be bringing an air mattress and less comforters/blankets.
The Park
The campsite was peaceful and quiet. After packing up our campsite to meet the 1:00pm check out time, we headed over to the actual park to kayak through the spring.
The park offers a few activities at an additional charge:
- Regular Kayaking
- Clear-bottom Kayaking
- Canoeing
- Paddle Boarding
- Glass-bottom Boat Tours
Each couple decided to rent the clear-bottom kayak for two hours, which cost around $43 after taxes per couple as each kayak sat two people. While it was a little expensive, it was extremely fun. We kayaked the course in about an hour and a half and floating through the crystal clear spring was an experience I’ll never forget.
You can view a short clip of our kayak ride through the spring here. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxupg5AhaAd/
Next trip I’ll take more photos and videos for your viewing pleasure.
After kayaking, we left the park (with the intent to come back and hike/explore) to grab lunch from a nearby restaurant. After eating, and around 2:30pm, we came to the realization that we were all exhausted and had a long drive ahead of us. So, instead of going back to the park, we got gas and coffee, and got back on the road.
Closing Statement
Overall, the experience was great minus the obstacles we faced.
Given that it was our first time camping, and we survived, I feel like we did a great job and we worked as a team to set up, cook, clean up, and pack up — which is a necessity because it makes everything ten times easier when four people are working towards a common goal, versus one or two people.
Next time, we’ll get to the park earlier (probably right around check-in time, which varies from park to park), we’ll camp for two to three nights (versus one), and we’ll do a better job at planning and packing.
Next on our list:
- Rainbow Springs
- Ginnie Springs
- Florida Caverns State Park
- Ichetucknee Springs
Stay tuned!
