Salt Springs Recreation Area — Hotel in Pomona Park

Serious Campers – DO NOT CAMP HERE!

I have been camping for more than 30 years and I have never seen nor stayed at such a poorly laid out campground. The only reason I choose to stay at this location is essentially I ran out of time and decided to go camping literally 2hrs before sunset. I knew of the Salt Spring from growing up in the area but never actually camped in the park. It was the first and last time I will stay at this park.

Pros: Waterway is nice and there is direct access to Lake George if you are a boater. There is a dirt boat ramp at the campground if you have your own boat. Staff were friendly Actual Springs are beautiful

Cons: The campground is poorly laid out with no privacy between sites, there are so many sites crammed into a small area that your actual site is very small. Bathrooms are small for the number of sites that use them, I had to wait to go several times Noisy, the campground is laid out basically in two fields with sporadic trees thrown in, since there are no bushes or anything separating the sites sound travels without interference. Dirt, Dirt, Dirt – Now I understand that its camping but usually you can find grassy areas to put your gear. The roads are dirt, the table sits in dirt, and the only area of grass suitable for a tent was next to the dirt road. At night this was annoying and posed a safety issue should someone veer off the path. Intrusive – Since there is nothing surrounding your site people will often travel right through the site without a care in the world. No Boat Rentals – If Boating is your thing you won’t be able to rent them at the actual Campground, as stated previously you can launch your own boat at the campground utilizing the dirt boat ramp. If you want to rent a canoe, kayak, or other you will need to get in your car and drive to the Salt Springs Marina you cannot walk there. As of this review a Canoe Rental was $20 for ½ day with a $6 day pass. Cellular Service – Only two carriers get even the slightest signal, Verizon drops in and out, AT&T doesn’t exist, T-Mobile is hit and miss, others I would assume either do the same or don’t work period. Crowded – There are too many sites in this small recreation area on the weekends if your patients is low it will be tested by other “campers”.

The Ocala national forest is filled with many primitive and structured camp sites. If you are an experienced camper, have the time, I recommend many of the primitive sites. If your less adventurous I would recommend, Alexander Springs or Juniper Springs. Juniper is about 20 mins from Salt Springs and Alexander Springs is about an hour south of Salt Springs. Choose one of those two and you’ll have a much better experience regardless if the campground is...

This is our first driving trip to FL and finding space anywhere has been a problem. This place had lots of negative reviews from years ago, but since all the more recent reviews were 5 stars I decided to give it a chance. Hoped that management had changed. It has not. Place is not run by the USFS but by a private concessionaire. I went up to office to check in and was told to go in side and they'd get me "took care of." Went inside and waited for 6 minutes for younger girl to get off phone. She was unable to find my reservation, so I had to look it up on my phone. Then she proceeded to fill out a paper form and demanded that I give her all the information that I'd already provided when I made my reservation and paid the junk fee because she was too lazy to go look it up. When I complained about having to provide the information a second time she squared off, stared me in the eyes and asked me, "are we going to have a problem?" This was a clear threat. Not wanting to get kicked out before I checked in I took her entitled crap. She is obviously accustomed to treating guests like garbage. I'd read that staff here was quick to call the sheriff and kick people out for just about anything, including complaining. And I felt threatened. I didn't want to have to find some place to stop and then spend hours trying to find a same-day reservation in FL, especially on a weekend. This was my first time here but it is definitely my last. The primitive camping area is not well maintained. Sites are grass and dirt. The roads have eroded from storms making some sites difficult to get to, impossible with anything except 4WD. Those sites also are not defined well, it's hard to know where each site starts and ends, or where to park. A few of them get enough sun for a few days of solar power. Premium sites have asphalt roads and pads with FHU. They sell a few items at the office with the rude staff. There is a concession/store down in the day use but according to people here it's not been open for months. The 'premium' sites are asphalt with FHU, very close to one another. It's like being at a KOA. This side is just an open grassy field with some trees. There is constant road noise from the adjacent highway. Showers have doors but curtains have been removed. Shower head is just a jet and kind of painful, no way to adjust it. The shower handle wobbles in the wall, clearly not installed to code. There are actually lots of things not to building code. Restrooms are not cleaned above the 6ft level. Vents, windows and ceilings were all dirty. Walls have rust and hard water stains from lack of proper cleaning. Spring is nice but we did not go swimming. Place could be nice if they get rid of the...

Having visited Salt Springs many times over the years for picnics we were excited to finally stay in the campground. Unfortunately, it was not a good experience and I doubt we will ever be back.

I'll start with the good. The amenities were nice and the campground was extremely clean. The sites were a decent distance from each other and access roads throughout the campground were easy to navigate. The springs are absolutely gorgeous and the picnic areas are great for family events. The problem for us started when we arrived at Site 4. To say that it was not level would be an understatement - it was not even close. We had noticed several other rigs with their tires completely jacked up off the ground when we were driving in. We ended up the same way just to get the fridge to function correctly. When we asked for a different site the office attendant pointed to a hand-written sign on the desk that stated that there would be no switching sites under any circumstances. This was just the first rude encounter we experienced with the staff during our stay. Over the course of three days we watched and overheard conversations as the staff threatened to kick people out of the campground for this smallest of infractions - many times with no warning or friendly reminder to adhere to the rules.

On our second day the storms arrived. With each batch of rain we'd end up with a river running under the entry door that was at least a foot deep - we could not come or go from the RV due to the amount of water. One storm caused enough flooding at our site that the storage compartments in our Class A had standing water in them. We also noticed that many of the sites around us - that were level and dry - had no one in them. Again, we went to the office, explained the situation and asked for another site. The reply was a stern, "You've already been told no." By the time we left the following day no one had ever used those campsites.

Many people love this campground and give it high marks. Our intention was to rank it high also, I realize that campsites that are not level are part of the RV experience. I also know that rain and flooding is part of the unpredictability of camping. However, the rudeness and "power trip" behavior of the staff just left us with no desire to go back to Salt Springs - even for a picnic. Everything in me wants to give a 1-star review, but I also want to be fair. It is a beautiful campground and I would imagine that folks with level sites (or no run-ins with the staff) have a great experience...