Please be aware of this so called Deerwood Inn Madison Campground RV campground and avoid it at all cost. We are on a 2 month trek around the country, and this is by far the worst RV Park we've been to, ever. We were headed to another park close by, but got confused and landed here. I will agree with those who say the lady at the front desk is nice. She is, but the rest is a mess. It's run down, and like other reviews: it's dirty to the point where it needs to be closed down and removed from the city of Madison. It consists of mostly residents who add to the poor conditions of this place. We almost left, but after hooking up, before looking up, we decided to make the best of it. Two of their residents were proudly toting guns. One of the female residents was aiming her gun at the woods, but didn't fire it. I guess you might say, we were in shock, especially since little children were wondering around the area. I told my story to that nice woman at the front desk by phone as we drove away. She was sorry that we didn't enjoy our stay, but said that Northern Florida people often carry guns and use them in the area for hunting and at the shooting range. She seems oblivious to the conditions of her RV park. I agree with one reviewer when he/she says that in the future, they'll avoid Madison Florida all together. Perhaps the city needs to step in, but that's their problem, as we won't return. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Go past this CG, and stay at Jellystone RV Park for about $10 more. Very run down; bathroom's are a mess, especially the men's. Owner/operator nice enough when checking in, but the campground needs badly renovating. Interesting fact was they had a sign in the window saying they were inspected by Woodall's in 2008. Wonder what they found?? We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
A very neglected park. Power protection should be used on your RV since many "RED" 30 amp power posts have been hit. Worth about 1/2 the price charged for a water/electric site. Pool closed and in disarray. The facilities are ran down in general. The park is on the way to "Jellystone" CG, after reading the "review" for them that said "kids everywhere", since we were ready to stop, we opted for this park. Owner's give no discounts for any club memberships, stopped in January 2007. Won't be back to overnight close to this town at anytime, we'll drive to Lake City or Tallahassee. We camped here in a Motorhome.
I gave this park an 8 for a few reasons: (1) the signage was lacking miserably. The map provided looked like an 8th generation copy and was just as bad. After check-in we drove around and ended up at the edge of the property. We had to back up our 30 footer (total length) and luckily some grounds men in a cart escorted us to our site; (2) They advertise Wi-Fi and it did work, but was spotty and dropped out several times (luckily our cell phone doubles as a decent modem). If a campground advertises Wi-Fi, I believe it should work all the time and at every site, not just the main building, unless they specify that in their ads or Web site; (3) Upon check-in I requested we receive our 10 percent Good Sam's or AAA discount. I was told by the attendant (I will not use her name, but it was not the owner), that "since there is no balance on your account, we can't give you the 10 percent refund." I asked the same girl again on check-out and was denied. I subsequently called the owner later in the week and she refunded the 10 percent, but I should not have had to take the extra step. Though it was a minimal effort, it is the principal. (4) The store counter girl (same girl as check-in) was not very friendly. She was cordial, but very cold and stoic. I don't expect a welcoming parade, but a "glad you're here, have a great visit" would have been nice; (5) We were assigned a site at check-in. I saw another camper was offered to choose his own site at check-in (by another attendant) and this really bothered me, because (5) we were assigned a site next to a group of guys who brought their very loud karaoke system with them. Very nice guys, but I really didn't care to hear them sing all the time. They could be heard throughout the whole park - no exaggeration - and the owners did not say a thing. I’m sure if we had complained, the owners would have said something to them. We arrived on Friday and they did not begin their songs until Saturday. Since we were leaving Sunday, there was no sense in moving sites, but there were 10 (I counted) empty sites next to us, and more in other areas, and the girl put us right on top of each other. This park also offers ATV trails. I suggested to the owner that they think about separating the ATV sites with the non-ATV sites, since I would rather wake up to birds chirping than the rumbling of the engines. Finally, for $45/night, I expect cable. Having provided the negatives here are the positives. The owner was very friendly and as I said, promptly refunded the 10 percent discount. I addressed my concerns to her in a call and followed up by e-mail and she seemed genuinely concerned. The festivities they had planned for celebrating Halloween were very kid oriented and we have a three-year-old son, so it was great. They had candy bar bingo, putt-putt golf, an inflatable bouncy house, a pancake breakfast, and more. Simple stuff, but good for kids. Other features include a very nice playground - either very new or very well maintained - two nice lakes (large ponds) for fishing, a huge water slide and a swimming area, though it was closed this weekend, which we knew. Our site was very flat and required very little leveling. Water, electricity and sewer hook ups worked fine. This CG could easily be a 10 if the fixed just a few things. We would stay there again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Received a brochure in the mail and thought it looked like a fun place. Was an OK resort, but not my cup of tea. We were challenged by low branches and narrow dirt roads in a 43 ft motorhome. Very unlevel site. No concrete pads; all sites are dirt/sand and very rural feel. Staff was friendly and helpful. Store and pool were busy. Majority of campers were 5th wheelers with young children. It was the day after 4th of July so it was quite warm outside thus the lake was bathwater warm. Our teenagers were bored with the single water slide, but thrilled with the bats flying around while they roasted marshmallows. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We visited this campground in the winter so it was not very crowded. The staff was super nice and very efficient at checking us in. We camped with a large group and several kids. The kids all had a great time and want to go back in the summer. The park has some great trails for biking, walking and riding ATV's. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is one of the worst campgrounds we ever stayed at. We arrived late and did a night time check in. Took the site and checked the rules as usual. IE: quiet hours, check out, etc.. Check out in particular was noon. Got to our site and found it to be horribly un-level. Had a very hard time leveling. Very bad location of the sewer connections. Sewage will not run up hill. We could not empty our tanks. Premium price with no cable and VERY poor wifi. It was so bad we just gave up. ATV's running around the campground at 2am. Some people pulled in at 1am and then decided that was a good time to unload ALL their gear, including ATVs. Kids running around after midnight. Running through campsites, swimming/ screaming in the pond, setting off fireworks and just causing havoc. At 8am Mr. 1am starts blowing his air horns and his music horns on his ATV. We suspect to wake us as he has reserved our spot for that day. Check in wasn't till 3pm , but he decided to arrive early. 8:05am the Campground Manager is knocking on our door asking us if we're leaving. I again confirmed that check out was noon. She stated that Mr. 1am had reserved the spot and wanted to move into it. We wouldn't stay here again even if it were free. The place is a nightmare. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Confusing layout to site, good wide sites with room between neighbors. Nice and peaceful. Lots of shade trees, good family atmosphere. Would stay again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We found this park to be very family friendly. Children were everywhere and they have many things for the kids to do. Lots of ATV users but most were very respectful to non ATV fans. Most obeyed the speed rules and quiet times. Staff was very helpful at check in. Found a few fish in the catch and release ponds to add to the enjoyment. The park was populated by both overnighters and those who were staying a few days. This park makes a great half way point if heading into or out of Florida. We will be returning for sure. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
This is such a beautiful campground. So very well maintained. We loved it here. Just off the interstate and so very convenient. We will be back when we have more time. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The park was spacious and had a lot of things for kids to do. We were there in March so much of the outdoor activities were not yet available. I imagine it would be a lot of fun in the summer. There were several ponds to fish from. The water slide went into a separate one but was not yet operational. They had recently installed wi-fi but their router was not working. The person at the office said that access was really only good for 150' or so from the office which means if you need to take care of business, you need to bring your laptop down closer to the office. There is no cable, we managed to get 3-4 channels with our antennae. If we were camping during warm weather, we would not use the tv. There is little else in the vicinity of this park so if you don't have extra transportation and want to do other things, this isn't the best spot to pick. It was a bit over-priced, in my opinion, for this time of year. We camped here in a Motorhome.
What a beautiful place, and great sites. I would have rated this higher, but the details were missing (no direction to the site-"follow the signs", nothing explaining garbage-when I walked back and asked, I was told "just leave it outside the rv, they'll pick it up. I'm not sure what time, just leave it out".) Wonderful swimming pond, great fields for playing/ running the dog, etc. Lots of ATVs around, but the property is conducive to it. Very convenient to I-10, with good signage. We will stay here regularly, on the way in and out of Florida. We camped here in a Motorhome.
We have stayed at this campground several times. A really nice place. Everything is clean and the staff is very friendly. Just make sure when you turn in from Hwy 53, the main road of the interstate, don't make the mistake of stopping at that campground-go on around the road about a mile and Jelleystone will be down on the left. The first campground is not a place I would recommend. Lots of permanent house trailers and older run down campers. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Very clean grounds, very friendly staff. When we arrived on Saturday we were given several choices on where we could stay. By mid-week we were one of only 8 campers there, the staff was very accomodating and helpful. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.
Just changed hands and seems as if the new owner/managers are going to make a more efficient job of it. Still a nice clean site, we can honestly recommend it both for the kids and a few days stay or if just passing through. They try to put overnighters away from the families staying longer which again is thoughtful. Just don't go to the motel/rv site next door, it is horrible. We booked in and booked straight out when the place was swarming with latino workers staying long term. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We 2 Sr Citizens enjoyed our overnight here and will return. We found it a very beautiful park with nice site on the lake. It was off season so maybe we experienced more silence than usual. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The park is really for kids. The Tornado Waterslide has kids zooming down the slide for the fastest ride ever!!! They end up in a swimming lake, they also have boats, mini-golf (in bad shape) and train rides. There are alot of kid activities. The place is just off the the freeway I-10 and about 6 miles from Madison, Florida, a nice little town. The draw back is that the park charges for everthing. A $10.00 a weekend wristband lets you do it all, this 1st visit for a weekend ran me $132 for 5 grandkids and the wife and me. It is nice enough and several of the campers have been back to this park many times. I might stay again if in the area. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Roads are dirt and sites are mostly dirt, with little rock base. Directions to site and signs identifying sites are very, very poor. Would not stay here again. We camped here in a Motorhome.
This is an okay park for an overnight stay but it has absolutely the worst signage I have every seen. You can quickly get lost trying to find your site. And, if you will look at the site "map" on their website, it is a reproduction of the one they give you when you check in. It is unreadable and they admit it but are unwilling to spend a few bucks to get a readable map. If you have a choice, stay elsewhere. If not, stay here only one night and insist that the management escort you to the site. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Park was clean, and had easy access to I-10. Host was friendly and helpful. Our only
complaint was that the waterslide listed in thier advertising was closed mid week. The kids and grandkids had looked forward to riding it after a long day
on the road. They did enjoy a very nice pool and rec area instead. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 9 / 10 ]
August 2004
$37
Great campground for the whole family. Alot of things to do for the kids. Big waterslide, basketball, mini golf, ride bikes, fishing, paddle boats. Campground is easy to get to right off I-10. This is not a place to go and do bird watching refering to all the kids around. Mostly all sites are dirt but level for the most part. We have stayed here twice and enjoyed both. We will definately be back. Oh and I would recommend you get the park wrist band for an extra ten bucks pays for itself in the first hour of being there. Also camp host works her butt off to make your stay the best. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Sites are over-sized. (never thought I'd say that)- Host / Manager was one of the nicest people I met. All kinds of activities for kids and adults. Easy to get in and out of. Right off the interstate. Accept's Good Sam's discounts. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.