Category: State Parks

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Below the Surface

With more legal paperwork complete and the camper freshly repaired, I turned north to the hills of central Kentucky. The plan was to escape the summer heat and thunderstorms that had come to the South by going underground at Mammoth Cave National Park.

Typical of US National Parks, Mammoth Cave offers really nice tent camping sites which I had used on my previous visit, but no sites for RVs with water and electric hookups. Because of this I opted for a nearby state park, just a few miles North of the National Park boundary. Nolin Lake State Park, near Bee Spring, Kentucky is a small but well-maintained park on the Nolin Lake reservoir. The state park adjoins land controlled by the Corps of Engineers, who are responsible for the dam as well. Continue reading “Below the Surface”

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The Park that Georgia Forgot

After a couple days of dry camping in the Ocala National Forest it was time to head back north in search of more electricity and less humans. No gripes about the Alexander Springs recreation area; it was just fine for a couple days but not a spot I where I wanted to have an extended stay. There were a ton of people there enjoying the swimming beach for the weekend. Most spoke in Spanish, so I didn’t strike up any conversations except for a crew of drywall installers that were having a men’s retreat church outing across the road from my site.

Campsite at Alexander Springs
Swimming hole at Alexander Springs

 

Continue reading “The Park that Georgia Forgot”

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A Day at the Beach

You’d better have a good selection of bills and quarters if you’re going to drive in Florida!

I had to pay three tolls to get to the Fort Desoto Campground, including one to cross the dramatic Sunshine Skyway Bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay. Once here it’s pretty nice though – the park is operated by Pinellas County and named for an Army fort built around 1900 to defend Tampa from a Spanish invasion that never came. The borders of the park encompass five barrier islands with multiple beaches and boat launches, two piers and even a special beach for dogs, something I’ve not seen before. Continue reading “A Day at the Beach”