Free Primitive Camping at Florida’s Lake Panasoffkee

Free Primitive Camping at Florida’s Lake Panasoffkee

Today we’re going to take you down  this little dirt road and show you   some free camping right here at Lake  Panasoffkee it’s a part of the Southwest   Florida Water Management District  and there is a lot here to do Come out and enjoy your public lands they’re  fun they’re free just amazing This Campground is   um part of the Southwest Florida conservation  lands and is here for your enjoyment this is a   primitive campground so there is absolutely no  hookups here this park is also open for day use  

And if you want to um camp here you must go  on to the Southwest Florida Water Management   District website and reserve a place Here’s a  little map of Lake Panasoffkee they do have 911 stations which are little water stations where  you um can get some water but it is not potable  

Water and there’s a six sites throughout the  campground and I’ll show you one of those in   a few minutes they have primitive camping um  as well as equestrian camping here looks to be   feeding time here if you’re a cow lover there are  plenty of cows at the front of the park When duty  

Calls they do have a little toilet here but don’t  worry if this is not your kind of place to go to   the bathroom this park also has some flushable  toilets there’s so much to do here like Hunting, Fishing, Wildlife viewing, Horseback riding, Camping, Hiking and Bicycling um they do have permit hunts  

They also do um archery hunts as well as turkey  hunts they even have a little area so that if you   catch anything that you can take care of it right  here on this spot so you can bring your deer or  

Turkey right up here to the WMA check station the  check station has a sink as well as a picnic table   it’s a pretty nice way station remember you’re in  be country they usually avoid you but make sure  

You put everything up really high so they can’t  reach it and have that bear spray ready if you   like hiking there’s several Trails here to do you  have the Triple B Loop the Jones Creek Trail as as  

Well as the um Zach’s Trail and much more they  do have a um map right here at the park or I’m   sure you can look online as well There is a camp  host here we haven’t had a chance to meet them um  

Maybe before we go however I did meet the camp  host here was um probably a year or so ago and   very friendly people the first field that you’re  going to see is um designated for day use parking  

In case you want to come hiking or fishing or  perhaps even um ride your horses out this way   Florida is known for the ant hills and there are  plenty out here to be had so be careful where you  

Decide to camp out The second field is for Equestrian  campers so if you have a camper and horses you can   park here they do have um horse stalls for you  there are six of these water spets they call them  

911 spets they are nonpotable water so make sure  you don’t drink them but if you need an emergency   water Fifth wheel got a pretty sight if you  are camping here you can only camp for 7 days  

At a time and for no longer than 30 days out  of the year and it’s totally free Some of the   campsites come with picnic tables as well as fire  pits some of the picnic tables have pretty little   yellow birds there’s no true boundary here but  part of this is for the equestrian groups  

So they’re close to the Stalls they have eight  stalls here but do be aware that if you are   camping with your horses that these stalls are  first come first serve the water on the side of  

The Stalls is good to um give your horses looks  like the outside of the stall is in pretty good   shape cute little doors if you bring your horse  here you are responsible for cleaning up the stall  

Before you leave it’s not too bad in here had  to check it out make sure it’s good enough for   the horses if you’re not sure what to do with  the stuff when you shovel it out it says show  

Goods horsemanship clean the stall and throw that  manure right over the fence pretty easy peasy and   right there is an example of someone having thrown  it over the fence not a bad setup for free camping our very own picnic table and a camp ring no  hookups but it’s free They have a pavilion  

Here for you it’s huge and it’s free there are  plenty of picnic tables here to host your family   or friendly events they have huge barbecue girls  for you to use as well If I had a big family and lived in 

Wildwood area I’d definitely try it out if that  big old Barbecue Pit is a little intimidating they   have a few smaller grills here for you as well  the Water by The Pavilion is usable This park   doesn’t have any hookups but it has a nice women  and men’s restroom with flushable toilets in the  

Center there’s a little friendship garden We’re  self-contained but I still am going to check out   this little bathroom the lights are set on a timer  so just twist them all the way around and they  

Will shut off on their own. It’s a little dark in  here but there’s a sink with running water, stalls   are made out of wood again you have a running  water toilet in here looks like the campost  

Keeps plenty of toilet paper there’s also an ADA  Compliant toilet in here they also have a paper   towel holder He’s showing us his new light and bug  repellent lantern The Pavilion and bathroom we’re   parked pretty close to it your gravel road that  passes by the equestrian camping camping in the  

Field that leads you back to more secluded land  park underneath one of these beautiful trees   if you’re allergic then I suggest you park out in  the fields but let’s go check and see what some of   these campsites look like this is your Primitive  Campground however um even though it’s no hookup  

There are a couple more emergency Waters in case  of fires not potable picnic tables and some have   grills as well as campfire rings of course they’re  not really well marked so you kind kind of had to  

Finagle your way in here how you want to There are  two small vehicles it looks like both vans back   here tonight It’s beautiful back here very  secluded, this guy has this whole area to himself   you hear the birds you got to love primitive  camping and free camping I may be waking up in  

The morning with itchy eyes if I were underneath  this tree definitely could not bring anything that   was really tall back here you need to stay in the  um field how if you have a small Van tent or a  

Truck camper this definitely a beautiful woodsy  area to come to probably can’t see that but here   comes another small camping vehicle looking for  a spot to chill out for the night maybe two or  

More there is plenty to be had here if you walk  down to the end of the road there are no vehicles   Beyond this point but if you continue on the road  that is where you’re going to start finding your  

Hiking trails so it’s pretty well marked in some  areas but as you go deeper into the um Management   Area it’s not so well marked so do be careful the  first path you find is the Jones Creek Trail and  

It goes for a couple miles down here we are just  here to get a little closer to Como’s where we’re   going to get an awning installed on our truck  camper tomorrow we didn’t want to drive all  

That way in the morning so we decided to come out  and do a little primitive camping here’s another   Trail called the loop trail it’s kind of Sandy  so be careful I’ve found several these trails   are pretty sandy it’s kind of sad that there’s not  more people out here taking advantage of this free  

Camping there are three people in the primitive site  and three people out on the um field area more of   the equestrian camping we’re going to get these KS  just a little bit of a SP rub and let them warm up  

On the counter while we skate the grill rub that  in we’ll flip them over and salt the other side   a little bit of rub let them warm up flip them  on the grill I think they’ll be better cuz we’re  

Going to use a smokey grill instead of the Park  Grill today so I keep my charcoal inside of a   waist can and I actually keep my fire starter and  everything inside here so I can just take the lid  

Off and go inside and take it out so I got some  fresh charcoal I just dump it in the fire starter   I get the instant lighting charcoal, cheater, and I  just start lighting it under here it should catch  

Up pretty easy See how it catches up really easy I  don’t use paper I think that’ll work umm nice   and warm it’s cold out here I think it’s getting  pretty warm friend’s using it to warm up his hands  

Supposed to get pretty cold tonight 46° tonight  here in Florida well I guess it’s not going to   snow but darn it oh yeah it feels good we’re  going to make sure the vents are open on the  

Sides, cause I put out a many a fire by not having  the vents open and I’m going to turn it over so   we can get all of our coals evenly distributed  they’re nice poot and ready we’re going to put  

The grill on it and warm it up so we’re going  to flop these on the grill listen to them sizzle we’re going to set that timer for five minutes What’s the timer say? The timer now says four

Minutes and 35 seconds you can already smell  them Oh they perfect what do you want you   want a medium rare oh yeah go through them  so it’s time to take them off and let them  

Rest so Fred, Mary, would you think the Smokey Joe did  better or the um campside grill Oh Smokey Joe   every time for the win and here it is ready to  eat simple I can’t wait All right it’s time for  

The Lake Panasoffkee cellular service report well  once again T-Mobile’s in the lead at 71.4 down   and 4.88 up second place AT&T 12.7 down and  2.57 up and finally we have Verizon at 2.08   down and .19 up Hope you enjoyed this little uh  free camping spot I know we did we had a good  

Time was very enjoyable next time we’ll spend a  little more time there and maybe we’ll find the lake.

Chapters Below:
Lake Panasoffkee Wildlife Management Area is an unexpected oasis with a refreshing escape into natural Florida. Lake Panasoffkee offers separate primitive equestrian and group campsites. A free campsite reservation is required. Over eight miles of shared trails are available for bicycling, and 18 more miles of trails are open for horseback riding and hiking. Visitors can picnic in the open pavilion. Fishing, boating, and paddling are available on the lake, which is accessible from a nearby county boat ramp. Hunting may be enjoyed seasonally.

SUBCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL – If you like the video please leave us a comment on YouTube, give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you have not already and share. We appreciate all the support.

⚠️ We will never comment to you saying that you have won (if you see that, its a scam and report it)

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Lake Panasoffkee Wildlife Management Area
00:27 Southwest Florida Water Management District
01:00 Map of the Park
01:37 Things to Do Here
01:54 Check Station
02:25 Hiking Paths
02:55 Day Use Area
03:12 Equestrian Campers
03:24 “911” Water Stations
03:49 Campsite Amenities
04:05 Horse Stalls
04:56 Our Site
05:08 The Pavilion
05:36 The Restrooms
06:35 Primitive Campsites
08:14 Jones Creek Trail
08:52 Steaks on the Weber
11:17 Cellular Service Report

If you would like a tour of our Truck Camper and Monaco Class A RV by Dori & Mena, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGdEi1jOG4I

We’re Mary and Fred! In 2020, we transitioned from part time RVing to full time and travel the country looking to help the nomadic community. We explore, experience and educate, because it’s not too late to believe in Jesus.

The EdelKampers is a YouTube channel intended for entertainment purposes only. We are not experts and these opinions are only intended to show what methods we use when it comes to RV Living.

Song: I WIll Find Him
Music by Purple Planet Music