Hopkins Prairie Campground
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $16From, per site
- Sites
- 2220 on recreation.gov
- Season
- October 1 – June 30Open October 1 through June 30, across the new year
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
There are only 21 sites at Hopkins Prairie. All are well-shaded in an oak hammock on a peninsula surrounded by the prairie, where cool breezes blow in when there is a little water in the prairie. Keep reading
Recreation
Depending on water levels in the prairie, you may be able to launch your canoe or jon boat to drift across the deeper spots in this vast ecosystem. Boat ramp available - $3 per vessel launch fee Hopkins Prairie is a designated camping area with minimal facilities, open seasonally. The vast expanse of Hopkins Prairie has ponds and shallows. Depending on water levels, it may be possible to fish from the bank or launch a canoe or jon boat to access the deeper areas. With a year-round trailhead providing access to the Florida Trail, Hopkins Prairie is a popular destination for day hikers to wander off in either direction along the trail, or complete a section down to the Pat's Island Trailhead or Juniper Springs. Hopkins Prairie is an excellent destination for birding, since the interface between open prairie and scrub forest is usually busy with songbirds, while wading birds pick through the ponds. Even when the campground is closed, you can meander from the Hopkins Prairie Trailhead along the Florida Trail to enjoy birding. It's also a perfect spot where you can peer out from the shade of an oak scrub forest beneath gnarled limbs to an expanse of grasslands shimmering in the sun.
Facilities
Vault Toilets 21 Sites Water Available via Hand Pump Boat ramp Natural Features An island of shade amid a broad, winding grassland, the Hopkins Prairie Campground is a seasonal destination for campers looking to get a bit off the beaten path. It sits right along the Florida Trail and offers opportunities for fishing and birding along miles of prairie shoreline.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancelling a Reservation: Customers may cancel their reservation prior to arrival both on-line and through the call center. A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation. Depending on when you cancel in relation to your arrival day, it may be considered a late cancellation. https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies Refunds are not given for inclement weather for camping, gear rentals, or day-use fees.
What the agency tells you
Reservations are required. If there is availability, you can book same-day.
Campers can check in at 2:00 pm must check out by 11:00 am. We do not accommodate early check-ins or late check-outs. If you arrive early, you will be required to pay the per person admission fee to access the site. If you remain after checkout, you will be assessed a late fee for occupying the site or will be required to pay the per person fee to access the swimming and picnic area.
Campground gate is closed and locked from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. (March - Oct) and 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. (Oct - March).
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Each campsite can hold a MAXIMUM of 2 tents, 2 vehilces and 5 campers
Quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Generators are not allowed to run during quiet hours.
No off-road vehicles allowed within the campground
Bears and raccoons frequent the area; all food must be kept in approved containers. Failure to comply with this regulation can result in immediate ejection from campground without refund.
Dogs are allowed in campground only and must be leashed and supervised at all times.
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.
As per Forestry Department regulations, fines will result from the following infractions: - Leaving unattended coolers and food. These items must be in bear boxes or fully shut vehicles - Leaving burning or smoldering fires when exiting campsite. - Improperly parked vehicles
No refunds due to weather.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 22
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 21 of 22 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…sun. Facilities Vault Toilets 21 Sites Water Available via Hand Pump Boat ramp Natural Features An island…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 20 of the 22 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $16 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.
“A $10 service fee will be withheld from any refund for a cancellation.” · 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
22 sites
All 22 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. 20 of the 22 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Hopkins Prairie | 01 | type not stated | |
| Hopkins Prairie | 02 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 03 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 04 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 05 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 06 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 07 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 08 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 09 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 10 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 11 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 12 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 13 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 14 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 15 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 16 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 17 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 18 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 19 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 20 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Hopkins Prairie | 21 | standard nonelectric | $16 |
| Scan & Pay | Standard | type not stated |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Juniper Springs Rec AreaOcala National Game Refuge · 6.2 mi
Salt Springs Recreation AreaOcala National Forest · 6.6 mi
Mill Dam Group CampOcala National Forest · 11 mi
Lake Eaton CampgroundOcala National Forest · 11 mi
Buck Lake Group CampgroundOcala National Forest · 12 mi
Lake Delancy West CampgroundOcala National Forest · 13 miThe turnoff for Hopkins Prairie is 9.2 miles north along SR 19 from the intersection with SR 40. Turn left and follow the signs, turning left, right, and left along unmarked, unimproved roads to reach the camping area.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lake Kerr, FL
Typical weather
Typical October night 66°F, day 82°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
Hopkins Prairie Campground 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 →