Camel Lake Campground
1Heads up1 fire 21 mi away
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:48 UTC
- A night
- $20–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 3 notices
In the agency’s own words
Camel Lake Recreation Area provides a quiet place to relax and take in the beauty of the longleaf pine forest. Camping, swimming, hiking, and boating opportunities are all available, focused on the crystal-clear waters of Camel Lake. Keep reading
Recreation
Above the lake's rim, the focal points of this recreation area are the well-shaded ten-site campground, suitable for RVs or tents, and the day use recreation area with its picnic tables, picnic shelter, and sandy beach for swimming. A short loop trail surrounds the lake, with longer loops possible incorporating the nearby Florida National Scenic Trail.
Facilities
Some of the campsites have electricity, and there is a bathhouse with flush toilets in the campsite and in the day-use area. A campground host is always available. The day-use parking lots, picnic areas, and restrooms are accessible. Hours of operation through the summer are 8 am to 8 pm (April 1st - Oct 31st) and through the winter are 8 am to 6 pm (Nov 1st - March 31st).
Natural Features
The Apalachicola is one of the most bio diverse places in the world, and Camel Lake places you in the middle of this natural treasure. You will be surrounded by tall longleaf pines and wiregrass, while seepage slopes in the forest create pitcher plant bogs. Rare pine savannahs are just to the south and the creeks and swamps around host a wide variety of animal life.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby, several boat landings provide access to the numerous creeks that feed into the Apalachicola River. The Apalachee Savannahs Scenic Byway and the Big Bend Scenic Byway provide beautiful views of pine savannahs, and they make excellent routes for trips down to the coast, which is only about an hour south.
Charges & Cancellations
Refunds can not be made on site. Refunds must be processed by Recreation.gov
What the agency tells you
No motor boats permitted on the lake.
CAUTION: Bears and other animals frequent the area. All food must be kept in approved containers.
There are no walk in only sites. All sites at this facility can be reserved. Tent camping is allowed at all the sites.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 10
- Hookups
- 4 electric, 4 water
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 11 of 11 campsite records
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach, Coast
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Swimming
- Water access
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 9th darkest of 60 in FL
- Bortle 3
15 of 20 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:48 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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$30 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.
“Refunds can not be made on site. Refunds must be processed by Recreation.gov” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:48 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
11 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 11 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 10 of the 11 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 01 | rv electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 104 ft | 215 ft | $30 |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 02 | rv electric | 20 ft | 50 amp | 104 ft | 212 ft | $30 |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 03 | rv electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 139 ft | 310 ft | $30 |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 04 | rv electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 116 ft | 227 ft | $30 |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 05 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | 97 ft | 332 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 06 | rv nonelectric | 45 ft | 97 ft | 426 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 07 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | 119 ft | 503 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 08 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 61 ft | 421 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 09 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | 100 ft | 519 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 10 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 61 ft | 415 ft | $20 | |
| CAMEL LAKE CAMPGROUND | 11 - host | host pad | 80 ft | 50 amp | 527 ft |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Wright Lake CampgroundApalachicola National Forest · 19 miPorter LakeApalachicola National Forest · 20 miHarpers Hunt Camp20 miTake SR 20 west from Tallahassee through Hosford to Bristol. Turn south on SR 12. Continue south to the Apalachicola National Forest boundary sign and look for a sign for Camel Lake soon after you pass the work station and trailhead on the left. Turn left on Forest Road 105, which is an unpaved road. Drive 2 miles to the recreation area entrance on the right.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lake Mystic, FL
Typical weather
Typical October night 58°F, day 80°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 40°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
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
Camel Lake Campground is in Florida’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Neal Dunn (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →