Lake Kissimmee State Park

Camping at Lake Kissimmee State Park

Campsite Location :

14248 Camp Mack Road Lake Wales, FL 33898

Who to Reserve Through:

RV and Tent camping in campground - the new reserve.floridastateparks.org website

Primitive and Horse Camping - Call the Ranger Station at 863-696-1112

Type of Camping

Type - Tent/RV/Primitive/Horse

Price

Campground sites - $20 per night / $6.70 reservation fee & $7.00 utility fee per night for RV's

Primitive -$5 per night per person

Group Camping - $1 per youth / $5 per adult

Hook-ups Offered

Campground sites - Electric / Water

 

Primitive - None

 

Horse - Non- potable (Not 100 Percent sure)

Site Ammenities

All Sites - Fire Ring / Picnic Table / Grill 

Primitive have 2 picnic tables

Pet Friendly

Yes

Alcohol Friendly?

Yes

Shade and Vegitation?

Generally campsites are partially shaded with buffer vegetation. 

Activities offered:

Hiking

Horseback Riding

Boating

Mountain Biking

Birding

Small Camp Store Open Seasonally

Playground

Observation Tower

Special Notes

This park is horse friendly with 6 miles of horse trails. Three are also 13 miles of hiking trails. The noise from the lake can be heard at all campsites and sometimes through out the night. 

We camped at the primitive site on Buster Island. This site is along the hiking trail around Buster Island about 3 miles from the trail head. This site is reservable by calling the park directly and paying for the reservation in advance. The site is $5.00 per person per day.

Hiking the trail counter-clockwise will make the trip approximately 1 mile shorter to the campsite but will result in hiking in prairie and unshaded conditions. Where as, hiking clockwise will result in approximately 1 mile longer hike along a tree line with shade.

This is one of my husband’s favorite spots and we will probably update this park on a regular basis because of it! There were trees enough for hammock camping for 4 and could probably fit a few more. The site is located just inside a tree line between two Eagle nests. They flew overhead all weekend and could be heard calling out.

Some of the other animals we saw this weekend were deer, wild hog, armadillo, quail and raccoons. It was a full moon while we were there and we did hear coyotes howling and cackling but not like in the past.

We did hear airboats in the lake most nights and also what sounded like gunshots. If you are a light sleeper it could bother you.

Lake Kissimmee offers many hiking trails for pedestrians, bikes and horses. They also offer horse camping. They have a motor boat launch and a kayak/canoe launch. They have new glamming tents for rent but we didn’t get the chance to see them. Their “thing” is the Cow Camp. It is a replica of an old cow camp from the turn of the century. As of now Cow Camp is Open :Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Nov. 6, 2021, through March 26, 2022. Closed Christmas. Check Cow Camp Updates Here.

This park has lots of hiking trails to walk. Many of which are field, scrub and prairie type hiking. But they do have some oak hammock and pine forest type trails also.

They also have a playground for the kiddos and a cool observation tower (the top was roped off this trip). We have in the past been on the top at dusk and you could watch MANY deer walking the canal line towards the lake. Very cool!

In years past, this was one of the less busy parks. The secret seems to have been let out though because it was nearly full. It, however, has and will probably always be one of our favorite parks to visit.