U.S. Forest Service · Ocala National Forest · FL

Lake Eaton Campground

ReservableBookable through April 16; today opens April 17.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
OpenThe agency lists it open
A night
$10–$15Across the site types the agency prices
Sites
14All of them booked ahead
Season
October 1 – June 1Open October 1 through June 1, across the new year
40 ftElevation
379 ftWater · Lake Eaton
6.7 miSW of Lake Kerr, FL
79%Tree cover
Bortle 4Night sky · 36th darkest of 60 in FL
Open October 1 through June 1, across the new yearToday

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices

In the agency’s own words

A large, shallow lake cradled by the Big Scrub, Lake Eaton offers many distinctive faces. As a seasonal access area, the Lake Eaton Campground has only 14 sites. At the end of the road, the Lake Eaton Boat Launch and Pier offers opportunities for boating and fishing. 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

Rule

Main entrance gate opens from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Rule

Check in- 3 p.m. Check out- 11 a.m.

Rule

Camping fee covers 2 vehicles maximum

Everything else this campground posts · 3
Rule

14 day stay limit

Rule

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)

Rule

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.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
14
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed
Campfires
Allowed, barring fire bans
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Boat ramp
Yes
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

23 of 26 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:33 UTC

Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.

OpenBooked

Booking window6 months outBookable now through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov
A night$10–$15plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$28–$38DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
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.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
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’ll write once, when the season that starts Fri, Oct 1 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 13

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, per site$10–$15
Single Site$10
Double Site$15
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$18–$23
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$28–$38

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $10–$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.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

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 15:33 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

14 sites

All 14 sites

Up to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 14 of the 14 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Lake Eaton1standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton10standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton11standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton12standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton13standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton14standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton2standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton3standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton4standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton5standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton6standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton7standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton8standard nonelectric$10–$15
Lake Eaton9standard nonelectric$10–$15

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the phone number

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Overnight71°Slight Chance Rain Showers19% rain
Saturday76°Chance Rain Showers34% rain
Saturday Night61°Partly Cloudy2% rain
Sunday75°Slight Chance Rain Showers22% rain

NWS forecast for Lake Kerr, FL

Typical weather

Typical October night 63°F, day 84°F.

100°40°

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.

Measured at: OCALA, FL (USC00086414), 14 miles away and 35 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it

Who answers for this land

Randy Fine, official portrait

Lake Eaton 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 →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it open right now.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.