In this blog we’ll review O’Leno State Park just six miles north of High Springs Florida in north central Florida. O’Leno is one of the first Florida State Parks created by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the late 1930’s and opened fully as a State Park in 1940.[1] The Park and campground are ideally located for those traveling north or south on the I-75 corridor in northern Florida and would like a stop-over. The mature State Park provides a nice setting for camping, hiking and access to the Santa Fe River.
The location of O’Leno State Park was originally the town of Keno Florida, named after the lotto gambling game. In 1876, in order to get a post office, the businesspeople of the town renamed the town to Leno, since the post office would not grant an office location to a town named for gambling![2] Later the town was called Old Leno, then O’Leno for short. After the railroad bypassed the town in the 1890’s the town lost commerce and was abandoned. Although the town was abandoned, the location along the Santa Fe River was still a favorite spot for residents from nearby towns to visit for swimming and picnics.
Here are some quick facts from the Florida State Park Website:
- The Park offers 11 miles of multi-use trails for hiking or biking. The O’Leno trail system also connects to the River Rise Preserve State Park trail system, providing an additional 35 miles of multi-use trails for hiking, biking or horseback riding.
- Along with River Rise Preserve State Park, these state parks offer over 6,000 acres of camping, swimming, canoeing, hiking, cycling and many miles of equestrian trails.
- The Santa Fe River runs through the park, disappearing into a sinkhole and re-appearing approximately 3.5 miles away at River Rise Preserve State Park, forming a natural land bridge.
- O’Leno State Park is a part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail and offers visitors ample opportunity to bird-watch throughout the park.
- A self-guided cellphone tour is available at O’Leno State Park. Look for the tour stop signs located throughout the park.
There are two campground loops at different locations within the park. The Dogwood Campground is on the West-side of the park and the Magnolia Campground is on the South and East side of the park. Together there are 61 campsites all equipped with city water and electric service. All sites also have picnic tables and fire rings. RVers need to be aware of the extremely narrow and rutted campground roads that make it very difficult to maneuver larger RVs.
The campground loops have modern shower facilities and there is one dump station to accommodate all campsites. The 61:1 campsite to dump station ratio means you likely will have to wait to dump tanks when leaving during busy times. We did not see any laundry machines at the campground.
There are five criteria we look at when rating a campground. First up, Hospitality and Check-In. We give this a 5 out of 5 as it was easy to check-in. Once at the ranger station, we were able to stay in the vehicle to check-in. It was a simple matter of having the ranger confirm our reservation, give us our site tag, and we were on our way.
Next in our review is Infrastructure & Amenities which we are giving a 2 out of 5. The low rating is mainly due the extremely narrow and rutted loop roads at the campground that made it difficult to maneuver even a medium-sized travel trailer. The dump station was also problematic, as it is old and clogged on us when being used. After trying to dump, we decided to find the nearest truck stop and pay to dump our tanks. While the bathhouses were modern, they we by no means new, and the lack of laundry facilities was a miss. Like most Florida State Park campgrounds, the campground is maintained and cleaned by the campground hosts, and there is a security gate with passcode to enter the campground area after hours.
Site Quality gets a 3 out of 5 as the campsites are older, closer together and not very private. Most sites are smaller and relatively level with a hard-pack surface. The sites are fairly well marked but given the very narrow campground loop roads (especially at the Magnolia Campground) and the perpendicular angle of the sites to the road, they are not all that easy to back in to. The utilities on the site work fine, although there is no sewer connections available.
Our Exercisability rating is only a 3 out of 5. Probably the best opportunity for exercise at O’Leno State Park is the hiking, biking and equestrian, with 11+ miles of multi-use trails. This along with the connection to the additional 35 miles of multi-use trails at River Rise Preserve State Park, make trail-use opportunities abound. Aside from trail running, road running is limited to the Parks main road and the rutted campground loops. Although some mileage can be had using these surfaces, it is somewhat limited. There are also limited paddling opportunities on the Santa Fe River, given the river goes underground as it runs South and East away from the campground. To canoe or kayak, one would have to travel significant distance upstream to launch, then disembark before the campground area. There is a seasonal swimming location at the river in the park as well, but it can be closed based on water levels.
For our final rating, we are giving a 2 out of 5 for Workability as the bandwidth for AT&T and Verizon were both only fair. Using an iPhone 10, we had speeds of only 3.20 Mbps down and .66 Mbps up on AT&T, making it only fair to use. Using our Verizon 8800L Mifi, we experienced speeds of 6.98 Mbps down but an abysmal .08 Mbps up. Given these speeds at the Magnolia Campground, we can’t easily recommend it as a good place to work from.
Overall, we enjoyed the hiking at O’Leno State Park given the variety and sheer amount of hiking available. The infrastructure, especially the campground loop roads, are showing their age at this point and could use to be replaced. The campsites are well defined, but difficult to maneuver into, and the bandwidth to work from is not stellar. We can recommend this park for a stopover if you are traveling north or south along the I-75 corridor in north central Florida. Although older for a State Park, it is interesting to explore. Remember that Florida State Parks have an 11-month booking window, so you will need to plan out your trip well ahead of time.
All the best in your camping endeavors!
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