Big Bass Campground (FL)
- Right now
- OpenListed open; its database flags it not open
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 19All of them booked ahead
- Season
- October 1 – April 30Open October 1 through April 30, across the new year
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Spend your next short- or long-term camping trip at Big Bass. With the occasional black bear sighting, this the perfect location to escape the hustle of the city and get back to nature. We offer both tent and RV camping on the south edge of the Ocala National Forest, not far from the Ocklawaha River. Big Bass is a seasonal campground in the southern part of the Ocala National Forest, not far from Doe Lake Recreation Area. 14 day stay limit in a 30 day period in ALL Ocala National Forest Campgrounds For reservations or refund request please call (877) 444-6777 Contact Info This location has limited staffing. Please call (352) 625-2520 for general information.
What the agency tells you
Main entrance gate opens from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Check in- 3 p.m. Check out- 11 a.m.
Camping fee covers 2 vehicles maximum
Everything else this campground posts · 3
14 day stay limit
If it is your intent to rent an RV or trailer from a third party entity, please note that the USDA Forest Service does not allow RV or trailer rentals to be pre-placed and/or delivered to the recreation area. The Reservation holder must drive the RV or trailer to the recreation area as it is their sole responsibility and alleviates the FS from any liability. Any commercial business that operates on federal land is required to have a special use permit. 36 CFR 261.10 (K)(L)
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 19
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
19 of 19 sites open on Sat, Oct 17read 14:22 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 14:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
19 sites
All 19 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 19 of the 19 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Big Bass Campground | 1 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 10 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 11 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 12 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 13 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 14 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 15 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 16 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 17 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 18 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 19 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 2 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 3 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 4 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 5 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 6 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 7 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 8 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
| Big Bass Campground | 9 | standard nonelectric | $15 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the phone number
Where it is
Doe Lake Group SiteOcala National Forest · 4.5 mi
Big Scrub CampgroundOcala National Forest · 4.7 mi
Lake Dorr CampgroundOcala National Forest · 8.9 miLake Dorr Recreation AreaOcala National Forest · 8.9 mi
Lake Dorr CabinOcala National Forest · 10 mi
Buck Lake Group CampgroundOcala National Forest · 11 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Silver Springs Shores East, FL
Typical weather
Typical October night 64°F, day 81°F.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Big Bass Campground (FL) is in Florida’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, Randy Fine (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →