O'Leno State Park — Attraction in Alachua

With 60 sites between two loops, this is one of the larger Florida state parks we've been to. We were in the Dogwood loop which is near the entrance and has rougher roads. The Magnolia loop is down by the day use and has a flatter loop but trees are very close to road in both. Once you get off the main asphalt road, everything else is dirt/sand. Do not recommend big rigs. They're heavily wooded which made satellite signal difficult. We got some satellite service in site 58. There are a couple of hikes. The suspension bridge is closed because of tree damage. As is the main picnic shelter in the day use. The park was once a town, there are remnants of a grist mill. And many buildings built by CCC. The old CCC dining hall was being used for a private party. There are cabins which look ok. They also have bunk houses, cabins with only a screen door and 4 bunk beds. The interpretive center is small and un-staffed. It has displays about the CCC, sadly most of the photos are not labeled. There is a swimming area, with a sign telling you that the alligators 'usually' don't attack people. Crazy! The river here goes underground at one point. We hiked to the sink. Then we hiked to the rise. You can also drive outside the park and re-enter at another trailhead to the rise. Though nicely tiled, the bathrooms are dirty. They have ceiling fans, which are dirty. Showers have doors but no curtains. Walls covered in hard water deposits and soap scum. The vent fan in the family bathroom doesn't work, nor does the light timer. Very poorly maintained, as are many parks. You can see where the laundry machines used to be, the hookups for them are still there. The dump-station is also off-road, we did not use it. Park is very unsafe, no police presence or enforcement rangers. Especially worrisome given the neighbors to the park. We camped at O'Leno State Park in...

My wife and I got married at O'Leno State Park back in November. The staff was so helpful and friendly. We made numerous trips on site to take measurements and on-site inventory of available amenities and every time we were welcomed and supported. And the park itself is stunningly beautiful. O'Leno truly captures the essence of "the real Florida". As a native to the area, I couldn't imagine a more perfect location to get married (a far more beautiful version of my own backyard). I could keep going about how perfect O'Leno is but the true heros of O'Leno State Park are three incredible state rangers: Mr. Dennis (park manager), Ms. Mary, and Ms. Donna. Hurricane Nicole ripped through Florida two days before our wedding. Our wedding was almost canceled (in fact, it technically was due to the weather). Had it not been for Mr. Dennis and his team - we wouldn't have had a wedding that week. They worked tirelessly -all- day Friday cleaning up the park to ensure it was safe to open up again the day of our wedding (Saturday). Mr. Dennis did everything in his power to make two brides have their perfect day come true. He knew how important our day was and he made it happen for us. He called Clay Electric (local utility company) numerous times to ensure the power was back on before our wedding and he made a special allowance just for our group to come in Friday afternoon to start setting up (it was safe to do so). From the bottom of our hearts, we are forever grateful for the hard working, compassionate rangers at O'Leno State Park who stopped at nothing to make sure our special day came to life. Thank you. We are forever grateful. -Evelyn...

5 stars for the park, 2 stars for the staff. We love O'Leno for its many trails along the river and the magnificent suspension bridge. If you have anything larger than a pop-up, do not choose a site in Dogwood. Magnolia sites are more spacious and the road is not as narrow as Dogwood. Magnolia is within walking distance to the river. When we arrived at our site, friendly neighbors helped us back in. 2 days later they explained they had to move sites because they were told someone had reserved the site they were in for that night. We were there for 4 more days, and no one occupied the site. We asked if we could stay an extra night, and were told no, as our site was reserved and the campground was sold out. We explained that during our stay, we counted no less than 10 vacant sites and perhaps some people forgot to cancel. We asked if they could contact the people scheduled into our site to confirm that they were indeed coming. We were informed that it is not their policy to do so. In fact, many times, we have arrived late at other parks and have received calls confirming our arrival. The morning of our scheduled departure, campground staff came by at 11:30 am to 'make sure we were leaving.' We verified that checkout was not until 1:00 pm, and assured them that we would be on our way by then. At 1:00 pm we were at the dump station and received a call from the campground staff asking if we were out yet. I thought it wasn't their policy to call people?! Anyway, we have been to this park 3 times and it is in fact beautiful, and of course the fellow campers are great, just don't expect helpful...