Oscar Scherer State Park — Attraction in Venice

We used to really like Oscar Scherer, but during this last trip we had so many issues. First, someone took out solar lights from our campsite while we were away for the day. Who does this? The posts at each of the campsites need clips to indicate how long someone will be at a campsite. A tag indicating the leave date would at least let folks know the site is occupied.

Each of the sites has so much scrap material near them. They could have asked folks to voluntarily clean it up in return for a free day. People could have drug the scrub out to the front of their campsite. The campsites had a LOT of scrub that could have been cleaned up.

There was a bunch of nature if you looked beyond the scrub. Notice the salamander and cardinal.

As it turned out, the campground had a fire ban. No campfires allowed. It would have been nice to be alerted to this ahead of time.

Next on the second day, the water temperature in the showers had been greatly reduced to lukewarm. It turns out someone had complained about being 'scalded'. Don't they know they should test the water temperature before they get underneath it? Even when it was hot it wasn't scalding hot. So the temp was adjusted on many of the showered houses.

The new bathhouse which was started in early 2024 was not open. The reason was that there weren't any handicap stall doors. All of the other bathhouses used pieces of plywood -- couldn't plywood be used in the interim?

The laundry facilities were missing --- supposedly lost in the hurricane? Eventually some units showed up at the new bathhouse.

One big gross out for us was that people were washing their dogs in the laundry tubs. Dogprints in the laundry tub and dog hair left behind. Perhaps a sign to tell people to clean up after themselves. If dog cleaning is allowed, a sign to tell people to clean up afterwards.

People drove through the campground very quickly -- the speed limit on the roads were barely visible. The paint had worn off. The roads were in severe disrepair. The site numbers were barely legible too. The roads were rough.

We'll have to see about it next year. Hopefully...

I believe this is a very old park gathering the state of the inferstucture. But that being said, it also makes for some really beautiful oak trees. Our campsite had a huge oak with branches hanging down so low we had to thread the needle to get our trailer in and out. Covered in spanish moss, it was quite a beautiful tree. The campsite we had was very close, to the extreme, to the nieghbouring one with large gaps of vegitation. Our dinningroom slide literally hovered over their picnic table. (But that was not the case with other sites). The water was on the wrong side (each site shared a faucet with a splitter), so we had to run the hose through our living area. No biggy, as we had a lot of hose, but still, awkward. There were others who had problems. The sites themselves were very spacious and reasonably level. The access road was very narrow with sharp turns and add the huge trees right on the edge of the road, and it made for some skill testing for the larger rigs. (I think the maximum size for this park is 36ft.) Th e bathrooms were clean but diffinately need an update. There is a communial drain trough running through the toilet stalls and showers to a single drain in the middle of the building. Might gross some people out having someone elses drain water running by your feet in the shower. (I just made sure I got the shower at the far end.) The trails were nice, but after you have complete one, you have pretty much done them all. Trails are soft sand with palmetto, slash pine and oak. They are all exactly the same, with one going by a lake for a change of scenery. Nothing too interesting but there are a lot of them. The best thing for us about this park is its location. Lots to see and do. There is also the best dog beach I have ever seen. Paw Park Beach in Venice. The beach is as nice as any pubic beach. Bring your chairs and an umbrella and spend the day. Clean smooth sand with clear water and lots of shells for the shell hunter. Oh, and dogs love it too. It also has a warm rinse...

I didn’t have high hopes for this park since it is in the middle of so much development, but it is ok and I’m glad it is here. I hiked the Yellow and Orange trails, which is about five miles and took me just under two hours. I thought the best scenery was the northwest corner which is under canopy and is more lush. The rest is pretty much open forest area. When you drive in and pay, ask the attendant for a paper map. The trails are very thoroughly labeled and, combined with a map, I think it would be impossible to get lost. This would be a good trail for anyone visiting Sarasota who wants an easy two hours of exercise to see the local nature or very beginner hikers. The only catch is that large portions are sand that might be difficult for some to walk long distances in. More advanced people will likely find it boring though. I did like how all the benches have good labeling with a plaque that has the ranger’s phone number for safety. There is good cell coverage throughout. Other than some gators out in the water at Big Lake, I didn’t see any wildlife. During parts, you can see housing on the perimeter and road traffic can be loud. The Orange trail is short, but cool because it allows you to walk under the Legacy Trail and old railroad tracks by a creek. There is a beautiful picnic table by the visitor center right over the creek that looks like a great spot. When you drive in, you can either park right at the visitors center, which is right next to the Yellow trail entrance (you can’t miss the sign) or bear left and go a little further and there is a large covered picnic area with much more parking. If you do the latter, you will just need to backtrack on foot to enter the...