Right outside of a super busy city, is a little slice of paradise, an oasis where you can get out into nature – – take a trip and go camping at Wekiwa Springs! If you can snag a camping spot and this little inexpensive campground, consider yourself very lucky. Don’t have a whole weekend? That’s ok! Wekiwa is great for a day trip as well. The park boasts a large swimming hole, TONS of trails to explore, and a kayak rental area.
Ever been camping at Wekiwa Springs? We have – and I’m here to give you a brief tour of our experience. A couple of things to start: this campground is popular and does book up during the nice months of the year here in Florida, so book your trip early if you plan to camp! You can bring an RV or in just a tent (as we did). The campground is definitely very woodsy. It doesn’t scream “glamping,” so if you like a lot of amenities, this may not be the spot for you.
Each campsite is equipped with a fire pit and most have both water and electric. There are bathhouses for washing dishes and taking showers. If you didn’t bring your own firewood, they sell it at the ranger station!
Activities
I’m going to highlight some of the activities we did while we were camping here that you could do while staying overnight or just stopping by for the day. By the main entrance of the park you will find a large swimming area in the springs (pictured above.)
Now, if you aren’t from around the area, the springs may seem very warm to you or very cold. The swimming hole stays a constant temperature of about 68 degrees. For us Floridians, we were frozen solid! But that didn’t stop my kids from taking their tubes in for a dip.
The swimming hole is large and while crowded during the summer, we basically had it to ourselves during the fall. You can bring your own flotation devices and float around in the springs.
Another popular activity in the swimming area is to snorkel, due to the water being so clear. We didn’t see a ton of fish, but there were turtles floating around to look at.
Just behind the swimming hole, is where you can rent or launch a kayak. We didn’t have ours with us when we camped, which was highly disappointing, because I felt as if the best wildlife was most likely viewed form the waterway trails. Next time we will be bringing ours!
The park also boats miles and miles of trails! The trails are wooded with tall pine trees and the path is covered with pine needles. It was fairly easy to take our mountain bikes down these paths. If you’re lucky you can spot a deer on the path.
Kelly Springs
Just a short distance (20 min drive) from Wekiwa Springs State Park is another amazing gem of a spot, Kelly Springs. If you have time to jet over there for a 1/2 day trip while your are in the area, it’s well worth it!!
This park is popular and especially during the summer months, is highly crowded – think people waiting outside at 5am! To plan a summer trip, make sure you are arriving very early. I recommend coming in the fall. f your schedule allows. In the off-season, you have the place almost all to yourself.
At $5 a car, I find Kelly Springs a reasonable place to go tubing. Like Wekiwa, there is a large swimming area to enjoy in your tubes. But – if you follow the path to the right of the swimming hole – you will find a springs head. Here you can snorkel or launch a tube. The tube run is short and peaceful. It runs approximately 15 minutes, and it floats you through the scenery and puts you back at the swimming hole beach. The float is relaxing and moves you at a slow pace.
On the weekend and during the summer months, they do offer a concession stand with food and drinks. If you come during the week, you won’t catch the concession stand, but you can pack a picnic lunch to eat on the beach!
Map
We hope you will catch both of these cool locations the next time you are visiting the Orlando area! View the map below to help guide you on your trip. And don’t forget to check out our post on other fun and free Orlando fun.
