Juniper Springs Rec Area
1Heads up1 fire 15 mi away
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:40 UTC
- A night
- $38From, per site
- Sites
- 7877 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Juniper Springs Campground is one of the most popular campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest. The location offers deeply shaded sites within walking distance of some of Florida's most beautiful natural springs. The surrounding recreation area has plenty of activities to entertain visitors, including swimming, picnicking, canoeing, snorkeling, hiking, birding and wildlife viewing. This campground was named one of Reserve America's Top 100 Family Campgrounds in the United States. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors love swimming in a 72-degree, natural pool found in the day use area. Constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps, it is more developed with a pool-like look. Paddling Juniper Run is also extremely popular year-round. Juniper Run is recognized as one of the top 25 canoe runs in America by ReserveAmerica. This 7-mile waterway winds through a scenic landscape, surrounded by a dense canopy of ancient trees in an old-growth forest. While the journey offers picturesque scenery, it's important to highlight that Juniper Run is not suitable for beginners due to its challenging course and changing conditions . The run travels through a National Wilderness Area, and as defined in The Wilderness Act of 1967 Section 4(c): "There shall be no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment, or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area." So, clearing the run is limited to hand tools only. The run often has hazards overhead and underwater that make navigation difficult - even for seasoned paddlers. Learn more about Juniper Run and our rental kayaks & shuttle service: https://www.naventure.com/juniper-run Back on land, campers can spend a day in the woods on a segment of the statewide Florida National Scenic Trail, or walk a shorter nature trail within the facility. Interpretive programs are available during summer months.
Facilities
The facility is divided into a day use area and campground. Campsites are arranged into three loops near the creek and springs. All sites are shaded and equipped with a picnic table, grill, campfire ring, lantern post and space for tents. There are no sites with full hookups. Other amenities include hot showers, flush toilets and dump station. A convenience store with camping supplies, beach supplies, drinks and ice cream is nearby. Restaurants, shopping and gas are just 10 miles from campground.
Natural Features
The natural springs are at the heart of this recreation area. Hundreds of bubbling springs emerge from crevices in the earth beneath a dense canopy of palms and oaks - an oasis within the heart of the desert-like Big Scrub ecosystem for which the national forest is known. Abundant wildlife inhabitant the area, including alligators, turtles, deer, black bear, turkey, raccoons and numerous species of birds, as well as uncommon species like the albino gray squirrel, river otters and American eels.
Nearby Attractions
Lake George and its many activities are just a short drive away. The Ocala National Forest is also notable for its extensive off-road trail system catering to both ATV enthusiasts and Jeeps, as well as being a traditional destination for deer hunters from around Central Florida. These opportunities are available nearby. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (352) 625-3147.
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
Campers can check in at 2:00 pm and must check out by 11am. We do not accomodate 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). Campers who check-in after the gatehouse is closed must visit the Gatehouse the next morning to complete their check-in to their site. Failure to do so will lead to a 'no show' charge to your reservation and potential forfeiture of site.
Camp sites must be occupied first night of reservation
Everything else this campground posts · 12
Each campsite can hold a MAXIMUM of 2 tents and 5 campers. Maximum 2 vehicles per site (campers included); extra vehicles must park in overflow/overnight parking area and will be charged $9 per vehicle, per night
NO REFUNDS DUE TO WEATHER
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/pets are allowed in campground only and must be leashed and supervised at all times. No dogs/pets allowed in day-use area, bathrooms, boardwalk and canoe run.
Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the day-use area. We ask that guests be courteous of one another and limit floats in the swimming area to under 60 inches across. Please be aware the boardwalk remains closed due to age and hurricane damage.
Children weighing less than 40 lbs are not allowed in rental canoes. No disposable items allowed on the canoe run (i.e., food wrappers, styrofoam coolers, cans, bottles, etc.) Only re-usable containers are allowed.
Private canoe and kayak launches are at a fee and limited to 30 total vessels per day. Vessels must be launch BEFORE 1:00 p.m. daily. JUNIPER RUN IS NOT FOR BEGGINERS. IT IS A WILDERNESS AREA AND MECHANICAL TOOLS ARE NOT PERMITTED, SO THE RUN REMAINS WILD.
Click here for more information about Ocala National Forest
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
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 78 · 19 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Paved pads
- 59 of 78
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…Other amenities include hot showers, flush toilets and dump station. A convenience store with camping…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Other amenities include hot showers, flush toilets and dump station.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Ranger programs
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 35th darkest of 60 in FL
- Bortle 4
80 of 154 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:40 UTC
recreation.gov lists 77 of the 78 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
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 · 15
What you actually pay
“extra vehicles must park in overflow/overnight parking area and will be charged $9 per vehicle, per night” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $38 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 · 7
recreation.gov availability, read 16:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
79 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 76 mapped sitesAll 79 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 78 of the 79 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 76 of the 79 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Day Use | Pavilion | day use | $70 | ||||
| FERN | 061 | tent only nonelectric | 53 ft | 548 ft | 100 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 062 | tent only nonelectric | 53 ft | 600 ft | 124 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 063 | tent only nonelectric | 160 ft | 572 ft | 306 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 064 | tent only nonelectric | 155 ft | 631 ft | 465 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 065 | tent only nonelectric | 66 ft | 665 ft | 608 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 066 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 629 ft | 629 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 067 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 584 ft | 630 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 068 | tent only nonelectric | 53 ft | 520 ft | 608 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 069 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 480 ft | 616 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 070 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 454 ft | 599 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 071 | tent only nonelectric | 52 ft | 397 ft | 595 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 072 | tent only nonelectric | 47 ft | 365 ft | 619 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 073 | tent only nonelectric | 47 ft | 320 ft | 613 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 074 | tent only nonelectric | 52 ft | 350 ft | 557 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 075 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 395 ft | 486 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 076 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 414 ft | 449 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 077 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 331 ft | 453 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 078 | tent only nonelectric | 44 ft | 335 ft | 408 ft | $38 | |
| FERN | 079 | tent only nonelectric | 44 ft | 293 ft | 422 ft | $38 | |
| SAND | 035 | type not stated | 25 ft | 948 ft | 232 ft | ||
| SAND | 036 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 35 ft | 1,021 ft | 143 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 037 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 62 ft | 1,097 ft | 82 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 038 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 49 ft | 1,158 ft | 79 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 039 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 49 ft | 1,204 ft | 102 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 040 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 59 ft | 1,271 ft | 155 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 041 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 55 ft | 1,255 ft | 142 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 042 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 39 ft | 1,347 ft | 249 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 043 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 39 ft | 1,385 ft | 282 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 044 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 26 ft | 1,412 ft | 341 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 045 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 26 ft | 1,387 ft | 315 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 046 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 26 ft | 1,403 ft | 360 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 047 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 26 ft | 1,377 ft | 341 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 048 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 67 ft | 1,331 ft | 369 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 049 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 48 ft | 1,277 ft | 368 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 050 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 37 ft | 1,238 ft | 324 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 051 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 37 ft | 1,213 ft | 337 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 052 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 23 ft | 1,093 ft | 173 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 053 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 66 ft | 1,149 ft | 299 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 054 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 23 ft | 1,063 ft | 104 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 055 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 23 ft | 1,075 ft | 188 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 056 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 26 ft | 1,061 ft | 56 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 057 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 23 ft | 1,044 ft | 125 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 058 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 26 ft | 1,035 ft | 81 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 059 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 35 ft | 1,012 ft | 126 ft | $38 |
| SAND | 060 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 100 ft | 926 ft | 233 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 001 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | 58 ft | 837 ft | 421 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 002 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 31 ft | 792 ft | 321 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 003 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 31 ft | 780 ft | 296 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 004 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 61 ft | 719 ft | 248 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 005 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 41 ft | 652 ft | 196 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 006 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 41 ft | 651 ft | 227 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 007 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 100 ft | 566 ft | 198 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 009 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 112 ft | 447 ft | 99 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 010 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 95 ft | 390 ft | 11 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 011 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 95 ft | 355 ft | 90 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 012 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 49 ft | 407 ft | 172 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 013 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 41 ft | 368 ft | 240 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 014 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 41 ft | 406 ft | 208 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 015 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 355 ft | 271 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 016 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 36 ft | 346 ft | 279 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 017 | type not stated | 30 ft | 380 ft | 246 ft | ||
| TROP | 018 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 42 ft | 338 ft | 276 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 019 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 41 ft | 376 ft | 235 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 020 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 41 ft | 346 ft | 262 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 021 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 47 ft | 393 ft | 214 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 022 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 64 ft | 379 ft | 237 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 023 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 71 ft | 414 ft | 230 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 024 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 56 ft | 514 ft | 131 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 025 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 56 ft | 461 ft | 184 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 026 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 40 ft | 565 ft | 136 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 027 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 619 ft | 78 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 028 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 54 ft | 592 ft | 181 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 029 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 40 ft | 543 ft | 177 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 030 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 652 ft | 270 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 031 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 593 ft | 263 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 032 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 44 ft | 708 ft | 322 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 033 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 44 ft | 722 ft | 366 ft | $38 |
| TROP | 034 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 58 ft | 787 ft | 370 ft | $38 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 79 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Hopkins Prairie CampgroundOcala National Forest · 6.2 mi
Buck Lake Group CampgroundOcala National Forest · 6.9 mi
Mill Dam Group CampOcala National Forest · 7.2 mi
Big Scrub CampgroundOcala National Forest · 9.6 mi
Lake Eaton CampgroundOcala National Forest · 11 mi
Alexander Springs Recreation AreaOcala National Forest · 11 miFrom I-75, take Highway 40 east through Ocala and Silver Springs for approximately 36 miles to the Juniper Springs Recreation Area.
From I-95, take the Ocala/Silver Springs Exit (Highway 40) west for approximately 37 miles to the Juniper Springs Recreation Area.
From the intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 19, the campground is 4.5 miles west on Highway 40. The entrance is on the north side of Highway 40.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Astor, FL
Typical weather
Typical October night 66°F, day 82°F.
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
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Juniper Springs Rec Area 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: D-. See every public-lands vote →