Suwannee River Rendezvous Camping and Kayaking Trip

Camping with friends is always better!  Camping with friends that have kayaks is more better!  Camping with friends that have kayaks in a campground less than two hours from home is even better than that!  This was the case for our most recent camping trip to Mayo, Florida's Suwannee River Rendezvous Campground.  And while I intend to keep this post as a form of review for the campground, it should go without mentioning that the highlight of the trip was our six mile kayak trip on the beautiful, historic, Suwannee River.

Having been recommended to our friends, Allen and Kim Thomas, Allen and I decided to make a recon trip down to the campground a few weeks prior to scope things out.  Since it was about 80 miles away, we planned the trip down on a Saturday afternoon prior to an evening cookout - good food and great friends!  We located the park easily after inputting the address into the "Maps" app on our phone, and the drive is mostly flat and pleasant for those of you towing a camper.

The park is divided into two sections.  There is an older section which contains the office, kayak/canoe outfitter, restaurant, riverfront, boat ramp, Convict Springs, cabins, lodge, primitive camping sites, and a few 30 amp sites for trailers less than 25'.  The newer section of the campground has many level sites, including pull-thru sites and back in.  There is a picnic table, lounger, and a small fire ring (tire rim) in each site.  Some sites even have a type of outdoor canopy for an extra charge.  30 and 50 amp is available, along with cable and free Wi-Fi.  Each of the sites in the newer campground are also full hook-ups, and there is a bathhouse with a laundry room included.  Allen calls this section of the campground "rustic".

Within the new campground is a clubhouse with multiple bathrooms, showers, a reading room, and a laundry room.  There is a pool area which also includes a spa and a smaller pool (3 total). Next to the pool is a covered pavilion with picnic tables, a large fan, a dart board, cornhole boards, horse shoe pits, and a ping pong table.  There are also a few grills nearby.  I though this was a great area, and it is very well maintained, and it is a much newer section of the campground.

The sites were fairly close to each other, but there was not a cramped feeling that you get at most private campgrounds.  I found the landscaping within the sites to really aid in a feeling of having some privacy, and they tasteful and pleasing to look at.  Our friends weren't necessarily crazy about the crushed gravel/dirt sites, but they were pretty level and I didn't really have a problem with them.  They were quite chalky, however, and that could cause a problem for those that have carpet in their campers/rvs.  There was also a trash can located at every other site out by the road that was emptied daily.

Lastly, there are plenty of things to do here: bingo, pigeon races, volley ball, canoe/kayak trips, swimming, etc.  The park is pet friendly and even has a dog wash. And if I haven't already said so, I found Suwannee River Rendezvous to be very well maintained. We found the park hosts to be very friendly and polite, too.  In fact, if I really had to nitpick one thing about the place, it would be the camper/rv parking near the office for check-in.  There are signs posted directing you as to which way to go, but if there is more than one trailer there at a time, the road to the office can become very congested, making it difficult for cars, or other vehicles to get by.  We found this to be the case during check in and check out.

Overall, I'd give this park 5 stars based on my personal experience.  Considering it was our first time there, and the fact that we had zero issues, I highly recommend the Suwannee River Rendezvous!

Please take a moment to let me know what you think.  Have you stayed here?  Does it look like somewhere you'd like to try in the future?

Please take time to visit their website for more information!