Myakka River State Park Big Flats Campground — Hotel in Venice

Not my best experience, but not entirely a bad place to camp. The camp has two entrances, the North entrance is only open on Saturday or Sunday. Arrived at this gate, on a Friday, no one there. So we had to phone someone to find out where the second entrance is. It was 20-25 minutes away from the North entrance. The park itself is huge and the scenery is beautiful! Caught a breathtaking foggy morning across the wetlands. The people don't lie when they say it's alligators everywhere! None of them aggressive on my trip. The campsites offer little to no real space between sites. Seemed really good for rv/camper folks. Not so much for tent campers. Lots of bird watching and nature trails. The park is home to a canopy walk and a tower in which you can see the whole park! Unfortunately I didn't make it all the way up there due to a elevation issue😅. Fishing doesn't seem like it'll be a problem if you don't mind possibly wrestling an alligator for your catch🤣. The bridge gets congested with pedestrians on both sides alligator spotting. The boat ride was nice and our Cpt. Gary was wonderful!!! Unfortunately we took the first trip on a brisk and kind of windy morning so not many of the 4,000 possible alligators of various sizes where seen. I think we counted 11-13. Plan accordingly! Gators don't like wind. Bathrooms were good! Showers worked great also. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the water being non-potable so there's that. Did not see a playground while driving around the different camp and cabin sites. Cabins are small, but much more private/spaced from other cabins. Absolutely no swimming...

I don't normally waste my time reviewing a terrible place but this was awful! Okay we spent the winter going to lots of state, county and national parks so I have a lot to reference from. Myakka is one of the oldest and largest state parks in Florida and this campground must have been there from day one! The park itself if truly remarkable lots of wildlife and hiking but that is a different review. The campsites are way to close together and way to small, they also were not cleaned. We had to move the picnic table into the woods just to make room for the tent. We could not build a fire because we had to put our tent right beside the fire ring which was totally rusted out. The picnic table was unusually short, almost like it was for kids and I am not a tall person. The bathroom was disgusting, bugs in every sink and on the walls. Shower tiles had mold and dirt everywhere along with the drains. Toilets were all terrible. This is Not Acceptable for a state park they need to updated and deep cleaned. I am sure these are just some of the reasons why there were no new large expensive campers present. If anyone from the Park Service wants to contact me please do for more information. Don't bother camping here when there are so many other great parks to choose...

The Palmetto Ridge loop is where you want to be. It’s the only paved loop. The other 2 loops are gravel, tiny, crowded & no privacy. The palmetto ridge loop has gravel sites but they are humongous and have some vegetation in between. Pretty spaced out as well. There’s zero cell service here but my Winegard Gateway (Verizon) wifi service was at 80% & kept my phone, computer & tv/movies streaming no problem. Pet friendly except for the cabins. Massive park. The outpost is literally like 3 miles into the park from the camping loops in the front, but the store is really cute and there’s a food truck. The boat tours and kayaking were shut down because the river was so low and they’re having some issue with the water that you can’t drink it but it’s fine for showering. They give you free gallons of water up at the ranger station for cooking, drinking and for pets. The map says that there’s a playground, but I never saw one. There are several picnic areas. There’s a ton of hiking. Very dark & quiet at night. Clean bath house & laundry. My site was 50 amp full hookup w/a fire ring &...