When Florida has very wet winters, there can be considerable flooding in many areas. Peace River runs 106 miles from Lakeland, FL all the way down to Punta Gorda on the Gulf Coast. Part of that windy path goes right alongside Peace River RV Park in Wauchula.
The Peace River majorly flooded a few weeks before we got there. While the water level came down considerably, about 40 sites were still too wet to be used. Luckily, we found a dry spot to stay on. I say “luckily” because this place was very busy, despite the soggy conditions.
Sites
The sites at Peace River RV Park were pretty close together, and had strict boundaries. If you were caught hanging onto someone else’s site you could be charged up to $32/night. I assume that is only if 1) you did a really bad parking job and 2) refused to correct it. If you wanted sewer hookup, you had to get on a waiting list and check the whiteboard up at the clubhouse every day. We passed on that – too much work to move for the amount of time we would be there.
Amenities
The Peace River Thousand Trails campground had a clubhouse with office, gift shop, and adult lounge. Out back was the pool area. The pool was heated to 86 degrees – almost too warm – and the hot tub was good and hot. The campground staff held a Mardi Gras Luau Party for all the guests here, complete with food, drinks, and raffle prizes. (Although in our opinion is wasn’t run very well – people ahead of us were allowed to take 4 plates of food each so by the time we got to the buffet there was hardly anything left.)
There are some walking trails, although they get flooded and muddy easily.
All the open space you see is the soggy wet area. They had a lot of sites closed for this, but some folks still decided to make ruts.
Cell Service, Internet, & TV
Cell service at Peace River RV Park worked well for us on Verizon and AT&T. Internet is available in the clubhouse.
If you get a site not in the trees (like we were) we heard there was pretty good TV reception.
Actually, we heard that people like to come to this one because it has good TV. (I think a lot of people just sat inside and watched TV while they were there.)
Nearby Towns and Stores
There are some stores up the road a few miles, but not much. There is a Walmart, a Tractor Supply, and some Fast Food and Hold-in-the-wall diners. The closest bigger towns are Avon Park and Sebring, which are about 30 minutes away to the East.
Sarasota Visit
Wauchula is about an hour or more away from Sarasota, so while we were here we visited Siesta Keyand its famous beach. On our way to Sarasota we had to stop to let the Florida Cracker Trail Ride go by on their horses on their way across the state, which was pretty cool to see.
Overall Rating
Overall we’d probably rate this campground about a 3. The amenities were decent, and the party was nice, even though we didn’t get to eat much. It was a little too close together for us, especially for being in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t much to see or do outside of the campground without driving for 30+ minutes.
Travel Stage: After we left Naples, working our way north along the Gulf Coast of Florida
Date Range: Feb 15 – Feb 22, 2016
Summary: We ventured about 2 hours north of Naples to a town called Wauchula where we stayed at the Peace River RV Park Thousand Trails.
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