I am not from the area but will be moving to the Tampa area in the fall. We will be visiting the area during the summer to find housing and thought it would be fun to make a camping trip out of it. So, I was wondering if anyone could help me find some kid friendly campgrounds.
There is one called lithia springs, and they have a kid friendly playground/camping area. Big enough for rv's. You can google camp grounds, tampa, florida. There is a huge list of other places to go on your way. Good luck!
Check out Hillsborough River State Park. We just went there to go hiking and had such a good-time!
Fort Desoto is terrific and the beaches are usually in the top 10 in US, however, it is in St Pete which is about 45 min from Tampa but well worth it. I believe that you would need to make reservations. Also keep in mind that it was 98 degrees in some parts of Tampa yesterday! Some folks love and tolerate the heat well, some don't....maybe have a back up plan in case it gets too hot.
Hope this helps and good luck!
M.
Hillsborough river state park off of 301 in nice with a huge pool. Lithia Springs park in Valrico is nice with natural springs to swim in. If you wanted a beach campground Ft Desota in St Petersburg is awesome and you can't beat Ft Wilderness at Disney (: Welcome to the area blessings C..
Hillsborough County State park is nice, and always clean. You can rent canoes as well and they have some hiking trails (smaller ones for kids too). I like that it's close to home, even though it is on the edge of Hillsborough County, incase we did have to go home. But I have camped there since I was in college.
Welcome to Tampa....
Just a word of caution. If you are from a northern state - camping down here is a bit different, and if you will be camping here in late June, July, August, Sept. it is very hot even at night. Be aware of the different flora and fauna and bugs. We moved down here a couple years ago from a northern climate and you quickly learn about fire ants and sand spurs and other things that seem to attract our boys and cause them some pain. I'm not discouraging your idea to camp, but please be aware that it is quite differnt than if you camp in the northern states.
There are alot of really nice campgrounds in the areas surrounding Tampa...but if you are planning to tent camp or use a camper trailer without air conditioning, then be prepared for some very hot and sticky nights. The day time temperatures are in the 90s and the nights only go down into the mid-70's.
