Florida Caverns State Park Florida Caverns State Park is a nice place to spend some time. The caverns are a very nice place to spend a summer day in as they are the same temperature all year round. The campground, however, is probably best to be used during the late fall and winter months. There is a lot of swampy areas on the way to the campground area as well as around the main camping area itself so there will probably be problems with mosquitoes in the late spring and all summer. There is a swimming hole called the Blue Hole Spring. It is spring fed. That means it is very cold which is nice during the summer months. While we were there it was closed to swimmers as it was deemed too cloudy. Per the Park Rangers the water is tested every week and if it is considered too cloudy then they have to close it to swimming. It does have a blue tint to it and looked very interesting. You can fish here only if it is closed to swimming. There is an equestrian camping area next to the swimming area that includes a barn and other things that are important to horse lovers. There are several places within the park with picnic pavilions that you can rent for a large gathering. Some of these are by themselves and offer a feeling of privacy. There is a playground area for the kids in the day use area near the caverns with picnic tables and a large field. We didn’t get a chance to go on the Caverns tour this time around. We have been in the past and there are loads of pictures available on the web. They have a very nice gift shop with camping supplies as well as trinkets that you can buy to commemorate your trip. They also have a FREE museum that you can walk around and view all the exhibits. The cave tours are extremely popular and only available 5 days a week. If you have the time and the money for the tour and are able to walk it then you should take it. It is a unique place in Florida. We also did not get a chance to go fishing. We didn’t know we could fish in the spring until the last day. The area where the kayaks and canoes can be put into the river was usually occupied by a few fishermen and there really wasn’t anyplace else within the park to go fishing. But the whole park is well maintained and very peaceful to spend some time in. The main activity seems to be walking the trails, kayaking and canoeing on the Chipola River and bicycling up and down the hilly roadways. Now as for the main campground itself. There were a lot of people camping almost the entire time we were there. And strangely enough quite a few children as well. This is probably the only state park camping area that has only two sizes for their sites as you can see below. The best thing is that they are FULL Facilities and include water, electric, picnic tables, fire grills and best of all sewer connections on each site. They also have a washing machine and dryer which are $2 each. The shower rooms were being painted while we were there and we only got to use them once or twice. They have decent water pressure and lots of hot water. Of course, we couldn’t get any internet or cell phone service there and had to drive into Marianna to check our emails, call family, etc. And again, we were told if we had VERIZON service we could probably get onto the internet. There were several wheelchair accessible sites and two camp hosts taking care of the bathrooms, campsites and the surrounding areas. You can walk to the Blue Hole Spring from the camping area and there are lots of trails leading all over the park. The roads within the park could use some maintenance though in several spots. Marianna is a fairly nice sized town with a college located just south of the park and the downtown area just a few miles beyond that. There is every kind of store, restaurant and any other kind of shopping you might need within a short drive. The town itself is historic and has lots of old homes within its confines. We enjoyed meeting some of the people from the area. Florida Caverns State Park 3345 Caverns Road Marianna, Florida 32446 (850) 482-9598 https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Florida-Caverns Admission Fee: $5.00 per vehicle. Limit 2-8 people per vehicle. $4.00 Single Occupant Vehicle. $2.00 Pedestrians, bicyclists, extra passengers, passengers in a vehicle with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Pass. Camping Fee: $20.00 per night, plus tax. Includes water and electricity. Florida residents who are 65 years of age or older or who hold a social security disability award certificate or a 100 percent disability award certificate from the Federal Government are permitted to receive a 50 percent discount on current base campsite fees. Proof of eligibility Youth or Adult Group Camping Fees: (Per person) Youth $1.00, Adult(s) or chaperone(s) $5.00 Cave Tour Fees: $8.00 per person, age 13 and older. $5.00 per child, 3 to 12. Free, 2 and younger. $4.00 per person, organized groups of 25 or more with prepaid reservations. ******Thursday through Mondays from 9:00 to 5:00pm******* CAMPSITES: (28) 30 Back-in Up to 30Amp – 20 40 Back-in Up to 30Amp – 8 WHERE TO GET WHAT YOU NEED: GAS Tom Thumb 3008 Jefferson Street Marianna, FL 32446 (850) 482-4842 www.tomthumb.com Mobil 2999 Jefferson Street Marianna, FL 32446 (850) 526-1508 www.mobilstations.com GROCERIES Winn-Dixie 4478 Market Street Marianna, FL 32446 (850) 482-5303 www.winndixie.com Save-A-Lot 4743 U.S. 90 Marianna, FL 32446 (850) 526-4700 www.save-a-lot.com MEDICAL CARE Jackson Hospital 4250 Hospital Drive Marianna, FL 32446 (850) 526-2200 www.jacksonhosp.com PROPANE AmeriGas Propane 4125 Lafayette St Marianna, FL 32446-5651 850-482-3311 RESTAURANTS Just head south towards town and on the main road called Lafayette Street (Highway 90), you will find all the regular fast food restaurants that are available everywhere and a few local ones. You can even head east on Lafayette Street to State Road 71 which will take you back to I-10. Once you get there you will find a shopping mecca of stores, restaurants. banks and gas stations to choose from including the Walmart Supercenter and Lowes. MAP OF THE AREA: And now our pictures from the park: