Florida Caverns State Park- youth/large group site

1.5 Stars youth facilities but 4.5 star park

This youth site is nice and large but ladies there are no sinks, hot water, lights in the bathrooms, or mirrors on this site. There are a couple outlets in the open camping areas and one spigot providing potable water about waste high. We shared it, the one shower, and only 2 toilets with another troop. I hear the family sites are much nicer but did not see or use them so I cannot describe them. There is a decent cold water outdoor shower enclosed with plywood on the sides but with an open roof. It does have a bench to put your clothes on but no mirror, crazy. Unlike Gold Head though, the shower door locks with a hook so no boys will impulsively walk in and apologize after the fact ;-). There is no light in there of in the restroom. The restroom has a concrete floor with wood walls and a roof but contains only a toilet. It gets very hot and humid during Florida's many warm months. Anyone familiar with Florida knows which nocturnal bugs like this environment, especially with no light in the bathroom. That's right ladies, tried to use the restroom before bed the first night and there were 3 palmetto bugs rapidly scurrying around in there at the sight of my flashlight. For those who are unfamiliar with Florida that may be reading this blog, these are large flying cockroaches I had never seen until moving here in my early 20s. I HATE them! I ended up using the boys' restroom which actually wasn't bad yet. The facilities are kept clean. Don't let the youth facilities make you miss this truly amazing and beautiful Florida park, my favorite so far. Book a bunch of family sites together or just walk to the family shower and bathroom facilities if you have to.

I HIGHLY recommend the group flashlight tour of the caverns. You have to book ahead of time, but it is longer than the regular daytime tours and they take you into parts of the cavern the day time tours don't see. We saw 2 small bats that were surprisingly cute. I learned so much about how the caverns are formed and the differences between caves and caverns. The caverns are also a constant 65 degrees which makes for a nice break from the Florida heat in those summer months :-). The caverns are just breathtakingly beautiful. People actually get married down there. There is also the Blue hole for swimming and the water is shockingly cold, about 70 degrees. This is an old sink hole that filled with water from the caverns long ago. It is hard to get into from the slippery bank and it drops to deep water quickly so bring life vests for kids who aren't strong swimmers as there are no life guards. There is a nice floating dock the boys LOVED jumping off. It was sooooo refreshing after being in the summer heat. My only complaint is that the outdoor shower at the Blue hole for rinsing off after swimming was not working. There are also nice bike paths here and the fishing is good :-). It is a very unique park for Florida you really don't want to miss :-)!

#floridacaverns