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Spend your weekend - or a week or more - beneath the shady oaks at Clearwater Campground, a quiet oasis in the southeast corner of the Ocala National Forest. This 42-space campground provides breezy lakefront sites for camping at Clearwater Lake. It accommodates both trailers and tents, and has bathhouses with warm showers. Clearwater Lake camping guests can swim, grill up a steak, take a walk around the lake on the nature trail, go mountain biking on the Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail, take a hike on the Florida Trail, or just drift across the water in a kayak, trailing a line and waiting for a nibble.
From the junction of SR 42 and SR 19 in Altoona, north of Mount Dora, drive east on SR 42 towards Paisley. After 6.4 miles, you’ll see the entrance to the Clearwater Lake Recreation Area on your left. Turn left and drive up the park entrance road, passing the trailhead for the Florida Trail and Paisley Woods Bicycle Trail on your right, to reach the entrance station for this recreation area.
This is a great and very clean campground. The staff was awesome and very respectful. Just stayed there this past weekend and will definitely be going back.
This was our first camping experience in Clearwater Lake. We found it from a YOUTUBE video Following Chrissy and it looked great so we packed up our trailer and went the first week of Dec
We arrived after work on Friday. Road was big enough for our Truck and 19ft trailer. Directions were easy to follow even at night. Entered the gate code and within 15 min we were parked and set up. Back up was easy in driveway. Pads were even. Loaded up the firepit and started relaxing. The onsite host came by later that night to check on us. I felt safe at the point. Campsites were nicely separated with Brush so you had a since of privacy. There were alot of tenters and about 3 travel trailers including our all of which turned off their Generators at night so it was peaceful. The next morning we checked in at the gate and the Staff was excellent. Had a nice conversation. He told us what to look out for and the trails to hike. We bought some extra wood for the fire. Each site has potable water. We were on site #15 right on the lake. it was just a gorgeous spot. Trails were nice. Everyone was friendly. There was a group camping by us that was loud. not to annoying but the father didn't have an inside voice. he was yelling at the kids at 7am rofl. He put them to work to collect firewood lol It was a great trip we will be back really soon. Oh the beach was great too. soft sand and shallow waters. Great for Kayaking.
Peaceful federal campground in Ocala National Forest.
We stayed two nights here in February, the sites were large with bear box, fire ring, lamp post and picnic table. No utilities at the sites but water and a dump station are available as are two clean and well maintained shower/restroom facilities.
There is a small lake with a beach, swimming area and paddle craft for rent. Bags of ice and firewood can be purchased at the entry station.
Grounds are well maintained and bear safety and site parking rules (vehicles must be on the pavement) are enforced.
We purchased firewood for $7 plus tax and the host was kind enough to deliver it directly to our site. We spent time paddling the lake, swimming and hiking. There is a beautiful trail the encircles the lake, about 1.2 miles, and there are means of access to the Florida Trail from the campground as well.
Cost is pretty steep for no hook ups, we paid $63.50 for the two nights excluding taxes and reservation fees.
Cell service was hit or miss with our T-Mobile hot spot and good with our Verizon phones.
My only complaint/suggestion would be to designate one of the two loops as generator free. It was so peaceful sitting around the fire in the evenings but I would have to resort to playing some quiet music as the generators around us started up.
Overall pretty good camping and day use spot. Pros: Camp sites have grill, table, and bear box. Bear proof trash cans and bathroom/shower also close by. Easy lake access with both walking and biking trails. Cons: Kind of expensive and the most ticks I’ve ever seen while camping (April ‘23). Tent camping and RV spots intermingled so you’ll likely hear RV or generator humming all night.
