Trail Lakes Campground, Ochopee, Florida
In the tiny town of Ochopee, known for its post office which is about the width a large dog house, there is a welcome center and some air boat operators as well as a campground called Trail Lakes Campground which is located at the Skunk Ape Research Center. This is the Big Cypress National Reserve – sometimes referred as Preserve but it isn’t a jam – its just the way American English works sometimes.
Having lived in Florida for many years, the Everglades is not as exotic or foreign as it would be to most people. So I try to put myself in the shoes of someone visiting from elsewhere and it really is an incredible place to discover a tropical nature that is unique to this part of Florida. And there is no shortage of things to do and see for the outdoors lovers in this part of Florida. While here we saw wild deer and alligators and plenty of birds. It is full of nature and the natural surroundings will be unusual to most visitors.
We happened to just use this as a stopping point on our way from St. Petersburg to Long Key, Florida and were travelling in our RV. We stopped in Naples to visit my mother for lunch for her birthday and wanted to get a bit of a start on the trip to the keys so we traveled on to Ochopee where Trail Lakes Campground is located. The WiFi was terrific at this campground. The bathhouse could have had fewer mosquitoes for my taste but this is the Everglades so don’t expect a bug-free environment with a heated pool and shuffleboard!
There are apparently residents in this campground and is a mix of all sorts of camping and living options. We saw some people in tents and others in vehicles that looked as if they hadn’t moved since they put down in this campground many years ago. But it is all part of the experience of travel and well worth a couple of nights here. The staff at check in was super helpful and very nice. We’d easily stop back here and spend another night and take in one of the local attractions if time allowed. Just another adventure on the journey!
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