Florida Travel: Visit the Osceola National Forest
The Osceola National Forest is a natural gem. These forested woodlands and swamps provide many opportunities for a wide range of visitor experiences such as camping, hiking, swimming, fishing, hunting, riding horse trails, wildlife viewing and many more.
FREE Camping in Florida- Boondocking in Florida National Forest
Whether you are camping in a tent, van, travel trailer or class A, it's hard to find free camping in Florida so here is a site we recently found in north central Florida. Keep reading below....
Here's our review:
Free camping in Florida is harder to find than Bigfoot, but there are a few spots if you know where to look. Even free overnighters at your usual go-to’s like Walmart are a rarity so I want to share with you a site we just stayed at in north central Florida near I-10 just outside of Lake City.
Osceola National Forest is located about an hour west of Jacksonville and a half hour northeast of Lake City. There is a first come first serve campground in the forest called Ocean Pond. It has various sites with a range of hookups from electric to water and primitive. It borders a small lake called ocean pond but is first come first serve. This is a decent campground if you can get in and want to spend about $12 a night (check the website for the latest prices). Since we are on a mission to boondock AKA dry camp as much as possible, we searched around and found a few hunting camps in the forest.
The one we decided to try out was Fire Tower West,(watch the video) down some dirt roads but for a free place to stay, it was well worth it.
There are several sites in the open area near the road where we decided to stay to take advantage of the sun for our solar panels. There is a single bathroom and outdoor cold-water shower, as well as an outdoor potable water faucet which we used to fill our fresh water tank. There are no dump stations onsite so be prepared to take your grey and black water with you.
If you have small USB charging devices there is a charging station as well.
Other than climbing the fire tower for some forest views there isn’t much to do right at the campground, but for a level place to park with access to water and for free camping, it was a score.
Reviews online do mention the dog kennel across the street which can be heard but I didn’t think it was as bad as people made it out to be. The other negative for us was the large number of gnats when we were there in April, but I guess that comes with the territory when you’re camping in the woods in Florida.
All and all this is a site I would stay at again when passing through but wouldn’t recommend as a destination campsite.
As always safe travels to everyone from Rob and Sabrina at
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Lake City Florida
The site of Lake City was a Seminole village named Alpata Telophka or Hvlpvtv Tvlofv, meaning Alligator Village. By 1830, a Euro-American town called Alligator was established, adjacent to the Seminole town. The city was incorporated and changed to its current name in 1859. The name was changed because the mayor's wife, who had recently moved to the town, refused to hang her lace curtains in a town named Alligator. Local bodies of water include Lake DeSoto, Lake Isabella, Alligator Lake, Lake Hamburg, Gwen Lake, Lake Harper and Watertown Lake.
The American Civil War Battle of Olustee took place near Lake City in February 1864. It was the only major battle in Florida during the war. Union casualties were 1,861 men killed, wounded or missing; Confederate casualties were 946 killed, wounded or missing.
Southern Business & Development magazine has ranked Lake City | Columbia County number eight Best Small Market since 2000.
By the early 20th century, Lake City had become an important railroad junction, served by the Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, Georgia Southern Line, and the Florida Railroad Line.
One of the four schools that formed the University of Florida was originally located in Lake City before consolidation to Gainesville in 1905.
By 1950 the population of Lake City was 7,467 people and forestry (turpentine, lumber, and pulpwood) had become a mainstay of the local economy.
In 1958, the Columbia Amateur Radio Society was formed. This was a group of amateur radio operators that enjoyed the ability to communicate all over the world. Amateur radio is a hobby that attracts a wide range of people interested in all facets of radio communications. Involvement in amateur radio allows people to practice their public speaking skills as well as the advancement of one's knowledge of radio theory, electronics, and emergency management. This radio club still exists today.
Lake City's Centennial was celebrated in 1959 with parades, fireworks and a 58-page book documenting one hundred years of progress, “A Century in the Sun”. The citizens of the town dressed in period attire, complete with whiskers. A good-natured clash arose between the men with additional facial hair and the women who did not like it.
How Do you get your mail if you move all the time...? We get asked this a lot!
In this video Liz talks about our full time travel mail situation. How to choose forwarding services. Why Amazon Prime & Thrive Market are must haves! As, well as safe & secure places to have your packages delivered.
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If you are interested in checking out some of the services we mentioned in the video see the links below
Best Florida Music ( Chasin' Dixie)
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Road Trip #389 - I-40 West - North Carolina Mile 135 to 112
Road Trip #389 - I-40 West - North Carolina Mile 135 to 112
We continue west on I-40 in North Carolina, beginning at Mile 135 in Catawba County. We pass through the cities of Conover and Hickory, and then enter Burke County, the towns of Hildebran, Connelly Springs, Rutherford College, and Valdese, concluding at Mile 112.
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Facts and information in our videos come from Wikipedia and other sources, and may or may not be factual.