Manatee Springs State Park Campground — Hotel in Cedar Key

Literally our 5th year trip-- park is always beautiful and the springs and wildlife are great. However, second year in a row, which I didn't complain last year and should have, the volunteer "rangers" and concession staff - mainly one older lady and kid in particular are out of control entitled. We've never ever had a problem here. This year, we were told we were not allowed to kayak. It was storming appx 6-10 miles away. She explained that Florida storms were different and thunder and lightning are crazy. I explained we are from Florida, as I watched her tell 4 divers it was fine to go in the water. Guess she doesn't realize if the water gets hit by lightning, that water is a conducter and the divers could be fried. Yes we are aware she was concerned for our safety but she needs to be educated better. (Last year the kid was screaming at people in the springs for 'having too much fun' and his 7 year old butt was demanding people get out of the water.) The next day, the same lady came to the springs and screamed us that we couldn't have a paddle. There was a kid in the springs with a small inflatable boat with 2, 4-5 ft paddles and she looked at him and said nothing. There are zero rules posted here. And we've used this paddle for 5 years here. Just made us feel singled out and annoyed. Lastly, and so unnecessarily, someone decided to use a leaf blower at 730am on a Sunday, for 30 minutes straight, to literally blow dirt off the main road back to the dirt road. Hence waking the entire loop we were staying in. This resulted in multiple people yelling swear words and complaining. Needless to say, no more sleep after that. Please control your "volunteers". And this was after my husband voluntarily helped them fix the front gate. Lastly, we had people screaming, partying, chasing racoons and armadillos and our neighbors reported people stealing things from other campgrounds till 430 am wed and thurs. Told the rangers. Nothing was done. So I guess screaming, yelling, and assulting the wildlife at 4 in the morning is ok. But god forbid we use a 3 foot paddle. May not be back here. Which is very very sad as this was my favorite...

Nice 👍🏻. Beautiful spring ⛲with a tremendous new boardwalk,🙌🏻 very well designed and constructed.👷🏻‍♂️🧰 Canoe and kayak🛶 rentals are available but very busy on Saturday so you might want to book online in advance.☑️ And it is rather pricey! Almost $100 for two people to rent a canoe for the day. I'd say that's a bit over the top. 🤑Depending upon the current and the wind out there on the river you can't get very far before you are exhausted. You're back and your hands will hurt 😣 It's not like they transport you up River so you can Coast back to the spring.🤷🏻‍♂️

Manatee Loop 1 in the campground is the choice loop with the nicer.🚻🚿 Also some of these sites are full hookups..💩 Loop 2 &3 is very dusty during the dry season. No sewer. An important note; a couple of the sites in Loop 1 are incorrectly labeled as being 25 ft or less.... 🫣 In reality they can handle 35 ft! The site I was on in loop 2 would not have been able to handle 35' or double opposite slides, because of the trees. 🫣 The website needs to be carefully reviewed and updated 🧐

Couple of nice trails. And they are bikeable🚴🏻‍♂️ but pretty bumpy. 😬 Several informative signs.🪧 However the tick problem is pretty bad 😬, the chigger problem is horrendous, and the deer flies will actually chase and attack you!😯

Oh and lastly, I have been meaning to mention this thing about firewood in the Florida campgrounds. They don't want you to collect downed wood from the forest. 🪵They want you to buy it from them. Here's the thing about that; it's ridiculously expensive! 🤑 Depending upon how many sticks are in the bag, usually $6 to $8, this means its a dollar or more each! 😱 They aren't very big and they burn quickly. Typically you burn 2 to 3 at a time and they last about 30-40 minutes each. So unless you're into $10+ 🔥 campfires, these sticks of wood cost more than eggs!🥚🫨😲 I have found many times you can buy the firewood outside the campground for half the price but that's still 50 cents a stick which is the current...

I had a bit of bad luck at this campground, but that was made worse by the poor design choices. For tent campers, the sites are too close together, with breaks in the vegetation that allow for direct views of the neighboring campsites, and in my case, with the table for their site placed very close to the tent pad of my site, meaning that the fellow campers were playing cards and making loud noises at 1am mere feet from my tent.

The weekend I was there, the campground as a whole was turning into a party, with people blasting music not just during the day, but into the wee hours of the morning. From what I was told, there were numerous complaints about the noise (I didn't make a complaint, I just cut my trip short and left after one night), but they didn't achieve anything.

This gets into the third problem - the campground rules are either nonexistent or not enforced. Quiet hours are not enforced. Bright lights in one campsite that shine into other campsites are tolerated. Campers who set up in the buffer vegetation zone or on the walkway to the bathroom are allowed to keep their tents there.

The one saving grace is the river, which is lovely to swim in. Not, of course, during the day, when the party atmosphere continues with people blasting music and disturbing any sense of calm, but during the long, deep night, when the party has gone away, the stars are out, and the water is blissfully cold to fight the Florida heat. That alone is worth a night's stay, but don't expect to get any peace at your...