Great Inexpensive Alternative to Fort Wilderness!
Welcome to possibly the best inexpensive option to camping at Fort Wilderness. It's Lake Louisa State Park, where there are horses you can ride, and camping options including equestrian, primitive, and glamping campsites, along with spacious full and partial hookup RV sites, and even cabins! Nestled in an area of rolling hills, the park offers a serene getaway from the hustle and bustle of Orlando. We really loved the size of our site, for our 38 foot travel trailer. There are 60 campsites here, and you're surrounded by 20 miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking, 15 miles of which can be used for horseback riding. There are 3 major lakes with one even having a beach The park is 4,372 acres of tranquility.
One thing we spent more time at this park doing than we usually do, was geocaching.
Geocaching is like the worlds largest treasure hunt - just with tiny treasures usually not of monetary value. You can use an app that shows caches all around you and a map to help you find them. Some have a visitor book you can sign, or might have a trinket you can trade out for one of your own. Or sometimes they're just a unique container, sculpture, or marker that's fun to find.
And sometimes they are definitely a challenge to find. But the journey is worth it regardless of the outcome. In this case we were finding some wildlife and snake tracks...... and then saw some deer hopping away in the distance.
At this state park, you can drive to... a beach! Today we were taking a walk near that beach, meeting some triathlon athletes training in the lake and rest of the park.
This beach has some history, with a monument containing a propeller tip of Lt. Dean R. Gilmore's plane from 1944. He was lost in training here during a time when thousands of military aviators trained over this lake during World War 2. You can see more of this story in the park's main office.
There's a nice playground in this area by the beach . We continued on our way to another geocache..... although it was after a few failed attempts.. spirits were low...
Well at least the boardwalks at this end of the park are unique, and connect some different habitats.
When we returned to the beach and boardwalk area by the parking lot, we were greeted with a surprise: some owls keeping a close eye on us.
We walked around the campground's RV sites, checking out the decent space and buffers between most sites. Most have plenty of space between, and there are some unique pull-through sites too. Many are near the lake with some amazing views of the sunsets here.
There's a little trail off the campground too, that has a split I didn't expect....
Don't miss the camp store that's near the RV campground. That's where you can rent kayaks, canoes & gear, and pick up loads of other essentials and some nice souvenirs. We got this Florida State Parks book here and every state park ranger we show it to gets super excited when they see it - because they haven't seen anything like it before!
We met up with some friends visiting the park and showed them around a while.. They were pretty excited to bring their camper here.
Then we headed back to some of the trails and enjoyed the park.
Overall, this is a beautiful Florida state park well worth your visit, and far less expensive than staying with the mouse. It's not too far from Orlando's attractions, but just far enough to have a great, quiet, Florida camping experience.
We'll leave you with some more footage of the campsites, bath house, dish washing and laundry facilities, and a nice time-lapse of breaking camp, hitching up, and heading to our next adventure. And i f you enjoyed any part of this video please tap the thumbs-up and subscribe to our channel, as it really helps us grow. Please leave comments too about how you feel about staying at Fort Wilderness versus other RV parks or campgrounds. We love to interact with our fellow campers here! And remember, never stop having Wandering Fun!