Ginnie Springs Camping: My Tips

a little Florida getaway 🌳

sometimes, a bit a magic is right in our backyards. Well, our backyard 5 hours away, but still in our very own state. That’s one of the things. I like so much about Florida. There’s a little bit of magic everywhere, you just need to look.

a couple of weekends ago I went camping at Ginnie Springs and lots of you had some questions. I am not a camping expert by no means, but I went with some people who definitely knew what they were doing. I’m going to share some of that in here! Hope this helps in any way 😊

during this blog post, I mention some items that were useful during my trip. Many were purchased at the dollar store, Walmart and Amazon. For many of those got an amazon, ive added them to my store. You can find the items listed HERE 

Alrighty let’s go!

⛺️ finding a spot: I would recommend getting there EARLY and during a week day to get yourself a good spacious and nice spot to camp. there are some beautiful spots on the water and it’s first come first serve. by the weekend, the park was at capacity, every corner was taken, and trust me you don’t wanna be next to the dumpster 🥴 TENT - even if you get a small tent, I recommend getting a tall one so there’s more air ventilation. The $10-15 price difference is worth it.. it’s hot.

💦 springs! The reason many come here for! You can rent floats there or you can bring your own. We brought out own because free & corona. I’d take a little lunch box to take with you to carry some drinks if you’re going all the way down. There’s springs that branch off you can go into, even ropes you can jump off and into the water. It doesn’t really matter where you park/stay, you start at the beginning and end up where you choose to get off, you’re still going to have to walk back unless you have someone else waiting for you in a car to go back. The water IS COLD. Just jump in I promise! If you have goggles, bring them. There’s amazing caves to see when you look down.

💨 it’s hot: bring a battery powered/rechargeable fan. y’all, I don’t gotta tell you how hot Florida is but what I will tell you is that it gets wild humid at night. I have asthma and it was hard to breathe in my small tent without a fan. also this is just good to have during the day while you’re cooking or chillin. The extra mile: if you want some cold air, you can buy a styrofoam cooler, add ice, and cut a hole in the top and put in the fan to blow nice cool air.

🐛 bugs: I 100000% recommend bringing those repellent fire tiki torches that repel bugs. you can buy them at the dollar store. Buy the lighter fluid to keep replenishing them and set them up around your camp and light them up even during the day to ease the amount of bugs. needless to say, wear bug spray. For kids, they make sticker bug spray that aren’t as toxic. 👶 for babies (I think this could be used for other things too) we used a netted bed canopy that we put the baby’s playpen inside. This was perfect for when she was just chillin or taking a nap. She has her own fan for the heat!

🚿 showering:  there are showers onsite but people are nasty and corona 🦠 is out here so definitely bring some Lysol to clean out the showers before you use them. these are shared bathrooms and the floors can be nasty. 👶 we bought water jugs to have on the camp for miscellaneous reasons but they ended up being especially helpful for giving the baby a bath. We used a a foam pad to put on the floor and hung the gallon bag from the tree / or the table, and let the water run to give her a shower. She happens to love cold water, so this might not work for everyone but it was quick and easy and avoided going to those bathrooms with the baby.

👟 water shoes: you definitely want some water shoes. there’s a lot of uneven rocks at the bottom of the springs and this makes it easier to walk. also, shower with your shoes!

🔥 firewood and a fire starter: on the way to the spring, you’ll find several spots offering to sell fire food, or you could go to a local store. It’s typically cheaper than buying it on site, at least the amount you get, also fire starters justmake life so ,fun easier. Don’t be a hero.

🍴 food & storage: we had netted hanging storage that was great for storing plates and non perishables and this keeps the food away. Of course, you want to keep a cooler with ice. We also bought these mini food tents for the food while it’s cooking / being served / those in between moments. For actual cooking, we had two main things we used: a grill (that we brought) and a portable gas stove top. With this, we were able to make everything: rice, steak, burgers, even coffee using boiling water and a coffee pour over pot.

🔦 let there be light! The darkness of this place at night is part of the beauty. But of course there’s times you need a light for practical reasons. I had a little portable light in my tent and we had grill lights for cooking that were great and powerful.

🎯 nearby: close by there’s a Dollar General, a place called Bev’s Burgers that literally always had a line. We didn’t get to try them because they’re closed Sunday but they’re on My list! Right before you take the main road Ginnie there’s a pizza spot that is very good! Plus the owners were great. The closest Walmart is about 45 min away.