Camp Blanding Recreation Sites

A nice quiet campground on Kingsley Lake. I was there helping a buddy replace the heating element in his hot water tank. It is on a reserve base so there are no amenities. It is not near any major towns either. If you are looking for a place to get away, this may appeal to you. Bring you kayak and paddle on the lake. The daily fees are a little high when you compare them to Pelican's Roost which is on the ocean with a beach.

Stayed here for 6 weeks. Quite at times. Local people use the camp ground on week ends. Alot of people with boats. Both fishing and recreational. With two cars and a boat at your site makes it a bit crowded. Real pretty campground. We stayed in the new section. All sites are spaced so everyone can see some of the lake from there site. You can walk or jog on Avenue A. When the traffic goes by you they are suppose to slow to 15 MPH. This doesn't happen as the locals use just one speed. (fast) Not patrolled very well. The laundry room is located next to the billeting area. This is ok. At least they have one although it is dirty and very expensive compared to other bases. Bathroom are only located in the primitive area(tent). Used them once and never again. They should be torn down and rebuilt. They are beyond repair The fees are high compared to other bases. I don't know where their money goes. Not back into there facilities. We have seen prisoners policing the grounds, but thats it. Some of the buildings and table covers along with the sign frames need painting. There are host in the old area and tent area. We saw the host in the old area once. The other two we never saw. The host in the tent area are poor examples as there site was not neat and kept up. don't know whet their responsibility is, but its not cleaning. The campground is run by the recreation and not the MWR. You have pay a state tax on your site fee. Dogs are charged for staying. This is great, but some campers thought it was ok to let there dogs run without a leash. They have a very nice restaurant next to the recreation office. You can also eat with the troops in the consolidated mess. Both places have good prices. I would stay again, but it would be in the old area.

The girls at the office are not very friendly, and are less than helpful. However we discussed the issues with the new manager and she plans to address the problems. The bathrooms are old and need updating. Wish they offered WiFi. This park could be a great winter destination (peaceful and on a lake) with a few adjustments.

C.H. left this review using the Directory software: We paid a day-trip visit to Blanding and drove through the campgrounds - I say that because there are now in effect three. They have done a lot of work on the camping facilities, but unfortunately that does not include the bathhouse. It's still in pretty bad shape. In the original RV camp loop, they have cleared out a lot of trees, making it much brighter. At the north end of the loop are nine new sites. In the "primitive" tent loop, there are 4-5 newer RV sites. Just to the south of the tent loop is a brand new RV loop with what looked to be pretty level cement pads with hookups. Ted Houghton

Arrived with reservation, No camp host, was away on duty. Checked with Asst. Host who had no list of incoming folks, said to take any empty site. I did. The next day was told I was in a site that had been reserved for the previous two weeks, just hadn't shown up. I had to move. Would have been nice if names of incoming campers were posted on the campsite post and the reservation dates. Would make it much easier to locate your site, especially after hours. Site was great, on water, level, FHU. Interior roads could use some work, pot holes, water. Lot of "locals" using campground, not sure how that works. Great place to enjoy nature, fish, swim, boat, walk, bicycle...crystal clear lake with sand bottom and piers. Limited shopping, stock up in Stark eleven miles away. About 30 miles from Jacksonville NAS. Good TV reception on antenna from Jax and satellite easy to set up. No bath house in this side of park, are a couple on tent camper side but too far to be useful for RV campers. No washer/dryers or internet. Dining facility nearby offering meals, but not every day, schedule posted.

Stopped by to check the place out. Nice, quiet campground. If you're looking for a place that doesn't have a long waiting list and isn't near a lot of stores and tourists, this is a the place. Price is good for this location.

Camp Blanding is an Army National Guard post which seems fairly deserted. Not much troop activity that we could see. There is a barber shop on post, but it's only open on Thurs, Fri and Sat. There is no commissary here and only a tiny exchange, which is sort of like an old country store with a little bit of everything but actually nothing that is of any use! Has a coin laundry. Not a particularly friendly RV office lady. Had mounds of fire ants outside our trailer. It's an 11 mile drive into Starke to get groceries. It's a very economically depressed area. Lots of shacks and delapidated houses along the drive. Have only one TV station here - ABC. It's a good strong signal though and cell signal is good. No cable TV. It really is pretty here. We were in the primitive section where there are 5 slabs with full hookups, which looked like the best place to be, as we drove around to check everything out. We were right on a lake, which we heard was created from a meteor, many years ago. They have a nice little beach. We had a real nice view of the lake from our living room area. You can hear occasional cannons going off and troops running to cadence nearby. You can walk out onto a nearby pier. There are herons and the water is VERY clear. We even saw an eagle in flight. Went to the Chapel on post on Sunday but it was locked up tighter than a drum. There is a museum on post and a mess hall.

Located kind of out of the way between Jacksonville & Gainesville, it is not too difficult to find although our GPS wanted to take us in through a gate that is closed. Rent-a-cop security guys are friendly enough and gave good directions to get to campground. Jean in the Recreation office was very helpful and pleasant to deal with. When questioned as to why there is a $2.75 per pet per day charge she explained that they receive no Federal or State funding and so the fee is a money raiser, not a form of punishment or disincentive for pet owners to stay away. I think this is an unfair method of raising money and would rather see a small increase in the camping fees if needed to fund the place. Also, pets are not allowed anywhere on the post outside of the campground. That's unfortunate because it limits the abilty to exercise with your dog. They really need a bath house in the "regular" RV area and a laundry facility in the office area would be a good enhancement. They are in the process of adding sites and that is certainly welcome, but they are doing it in an unorganized fashion. They are simply strip clearing fairly large areas with no idea as to how many sites they'll put there. After they get the area stripped of all living vegetation, they will lay our some sites and figure out what they'll put in. This is too bad because the already existing sites are nicely located under the trees and surrounded by naturally landscaped areas. The new sites will be out the the wide open and hot sun all day long. The only benefit of the work going on is that there is plenty of fire wood for the campfires as they are having the Florida Correction Department prisoners working on the expansion project cut up all the trees into a good size for splitting and burning in the provided fire pits.

Campground was O.K. - did seem like it is currently being worked on. Restroom - shower over at tent camping area is very dirty - needs cleaned - not new dirt - alot of dead bugs. Lake is very nice and could be alot of fun for folks who enjoy water activities. Would stay again - stayed here on our way home from Disney World- at Fort Wilderness. mimikv/ Pittsburgh, Pa.