By:
Submission
The Bear Lake Campground is located within the Bear Lake Recreation Area, in the Blackwater River State Forest (Santa Rosa County), about 1-hour northeast of Pensacola, FL. This campground is located next to Bear Lake (107 acres) and has the following facilities: campsites with electric and water (potable), campsites with water (potable) only, dump station, a group dining hall with kitchen available by reservation only and restrooms with showers, boat ramp (electric motors only) and fishing pier. Recreational activities featured here are: fishing, hiking, mountain biking (6-mile trail), canoeing, picnicking, bird watching, wildlife viewing and photography.Blackwater River State Forest is the largest state forest in Florida, with over 210,000 acres of woodlands, lakes, and streams that has outstanding forest and water resources. It is named for the Blackwater River, which begins in neighboring Conecuh County, Alabama, and meanders southwestward through the forest. With the adjacent federal landholdings of Conecuh National Forest, to the north, and Eglin Air Force Base, to the south, this area is the largest contiguous ecological community of the longleaf pine - wiregrass ecosystem in the world. For further information about Blackwater River State Forest, please Click Here.Blackwater River State Forest has campgrounds, day-use areas and recreational trails that offer a variety of activities such as swimming, hiking, camping, canoeing, nature study, birding, fishing, hunting, horseback riding and mountain biking. This forest is part of the Florida National Scenic Trail and Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail. Get outdoors and explore the recreational opportunities at Blackwater River State Forest; for further information please Click Here.Bear Lake has electric and non-electric sites available for recreational vehicles or tents. Bathrooms with showers are available. There is a boat ramp, fishing pier, hiking trail, and dining hall with pavilion. The dining hall pavilion use is by reservation only.Blackwater Canoe Rental, Bob's Canoes, Adventures Unlimited, Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, Air Force Armament Museum, Okaloosa Island Pier, National Naval Aviation Museum, Navarre Beach, Pensacola Beach, Gulf of Mexico
Activities and Amenities:
BathhouseBird WatchingBoat RampBoating, CanoeingCampground HostCamping, Improved SiteCanoe RentalDock, FishingDump StationFire RingsFish Cleaning StationFishingFishing, PierHikingHiking TrailKioskMountain/Trail BicyclingNature StudyPhotographyPicnic AreaPicnickingRestroomsRiverRiver/StreamTrails, Hiking/Walking, EasyTrails, Moderate HikingTrails, Mountain BikeWater Access, Park LakeWater DrinkingWildflower ViewingWildlife Viewing
Bear Lake Recreation Area is located approximately 2.5 miles east of Munson off of Highway 4.
Campground is well maintained. The restrooms are very clean. When walking in the trail that goes around the lake, be careful of ticks. I suggest wearing long pants. We have not seen any ticks on the path that leads to the swimming area.
We look forward to camping at Bear Lake every Fall! Hiking the trails never gets old. However, the lake itself has really taken a bad turn. We used to enjoy bringing the boat and fishing. Aquatic plants have all but destroyed use of the lake. Such a sad thing.
If you never been just FYI there’s no service for Verizon!
We spent the weekend with some friends and chose Site #5 and # 14 because on the map it shows they have their own road (right now it shows at least that they have their own road and are next to each other). We arrived and had no idea why anyone would set up a campground like this. That area in the middle loop.. #5 and #6 fire pits are on the same side which is awkward if you don’t know them. I mean there’s only 4ft between the sites too.. so awkward. The reast of the big middle loop of sites has the fire pit and pic nice table closer to someone else’s site than close to the one you booked. It’s so weird. We were able to make it work bc #5 is a pull thru and just turned it around. The rest of the park is pretty cool, quaint, nothing special.. but a nice get away! Let the kids make loops on their bikes or go for a walk. They need to redo the pictures! The dock isn’t there like the picture.
They have great camping spots. The scenery is awesome. They have great hiking trails. The bathrooms and shower houses are kept clean.You can catch some beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the lake.
