Updated November 4, 2026
The booking window
Florida State Parks takes campsite and cabin reservations through one statewide system. According to the official Stay the Night page, Florida residents can reserve from 1 day up to 11 months ahead, and non-residents from 1 day up to 10 months ahead. The park pages for Myakka River, Hillsborough River, Lake Manatee, Lake Louisa and others repeat the 11-month figure, so plan around that for residents.
In practice, this means a Tampa Bay snowbird-season weekend (January through March) can be booked nearly a year out. If you are a non-resident, count back ten months from the first night you want and set a reminder. Popular spots such as waterfront or creekside sites go first, so book the day your window opens if you have a favorite.
How to reserve
You can book online through the Florida State Parks reservation website (floridastateparks.reserveamerica.com) or by phone at 800-326-3521 (TDD 888-433-0287), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. The statewide information line is 850-245-2157. Day-use passes are also sold through the reservation system.
- Pick the right site type. Full-facility sites for RVs have water and electricity, a picnic table and a grill, with centralized showers, restrooms and a dump station. The official RV camping page says maximum RV length varies by park.
- Check the length limit before you click. Published limits in our guide range from 36 feet at Oscar Scherer State Park to 65 feet at Lake Manatee State Park and 103 feet at Rainbow Springs State Park.
- Read the park alerts. Each park page carries its own status banner for closures, burn bans and construction.
Check status before you book
Park pages are updated often, and some campgrounds are closed for work. As of November 4, 2026, the official park pages say the family campground at Highlands Hammock State Park has been closed for renovation since June 2025, and the campgrounds at Lake Kissimmee State Park have been closed since February 17, 2026 for a renovation project. Because of that, we left both out of our listings. Burn bans are also common: Lake Manatee, Oscar Scherer and Hillsborough River all posted burn-ban notices, which means no campfires even if your site has a fire ring.
Always open the park page you are booking and read the alert section at the top. If something looks unclear, call the park directly; every page lists a ranger station or park number.
County campgrounds work differently
Not every public campground uses the state system. Fort De Soto Park is run by Pinellas County, which takes reservations at explore.pinellas.gov, by phone or in person. Per the county camping page, reservations open up to six months ahead, or seven months for Pinellas County residents, with a limit of 14 nights in any 30-day period and one reservation per person per day. Payment is required in full by credit card.
Hillsborough County books Lithia Springs through its own online system, and Polk County runs its own campgrounds with separate rules, including a 14-consecutive-day limit and a 100-day cap per year across its campgrounds. See our snowbird guide for details.
Tips that save headaches
- Have your rig length, slide-out width and amp needs written down before you search.
- Pets: Florida State Parks campgrounds in our listings generally allow pets on a 6-foot leash, but rules vary by park and by site.
- Primitive group camps, equestrian camps and glamping use different reservation rules, often with shorter windows (some group camps book up to 60 days out).
- Check-in times are set by each park; for example, Rainbow Springs campground check-in is 3 p.m. or later and the gate code is given only on arrival day.
- Make a backup plan with a private resort in the same area, since weekends fill fast.
Browse the parks in this directory to compare length limits, hookups and status notes in one place.