Small state park with lots of character. Spaces range from small to large pull through. Park Rangers both friendly and helpful. Restrooms clean and well maintained. Wi-Fi available but we used Verizon mini Wi-Fi with perfect reception. Sites shaded and would be difficult to get TV reception with satellite dish as very shady. Some great sites right on the water. Kayaks and canoes available from Rangers. Located in Ospry, Florida between Sarasota and Venice beach Florida so close to some great beaches, restaurants and shopping. Will stay here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This is one of the older state parks and it shows. All sites are not gravel and can be messy to track in the RV on a wet day. Also, low palms will rub your roof and sides on a tall trailer. Ours is 11.1 and rubbed some pretty hard going in and out of our site 37. The rangers were nice and helpful when needed. Rest rooms and showers are old but clean. There is a lot of trails to walk and ride here, with a short ride to one of the Rails to Trails bike path. They do have Wi-Fi at the nature center but is very slow most of the time but free. There is kayak and canoe rentals at the park. Outside the park you will find a lot to do. You have to go see Siesta Beach that is a short drive north. It is rated the number one beach in the U.S.A. It is nice but get there early when the weather is good, if you want some place to park. There is lots of places to eat, some are pricey some are not. There is a Super Wal-Mart about a mile north and Publix stores within five miles from the park going north or south on US 41. Also, a big Mall about six miles north, that is really nice if the wife gets bored with camping. Satellite TV is a hit and miss depending on what site you are on, and what service you have. There is lots of shade. This is an older park, but we would go back. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

The Park is a State Park on the main highway serving the western panhandle. It is a convenient stop point even if traveling the Interstate as it is an easy 10 minutes from an exit. Price is right but it fills up rapidly. The Park Rangers that help incoming campers are a mixed breed of government workers, i.e., some care, some don't. The rules are are specific and without exception as one might expect. Having said that, it is a lovely, shaded and nature-respecting park. No sewer or Internet, just the basics, but the peacefulness it exudes is immediate. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Very nice park, bike trail runs adjacent to the park, swimming available in "Lake Oscar", many shaded sites with good privacy between. You'll need a 50' water hose as sites share water and often the water is located 30 - 40 feet from you, read the Reserve America notes for each site. The park has some pull through sites, but some are very difficult to make the turn into the site from the access road if you are in a fifth wheel. Site #103 is a no for a 5er. I stayed in that one and took a full half-hour to maneuver into position where I could deploy 4 slides and the awning. I did it, but would not do it again. Pulling out was even more fun. #102, 104 are doable. A really great site is #66: it is a back in, but on a curve giving you a straight shot to back in. It's another one of Florida's great State Parks. We'll be back, but in one of the better sites. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Our second time here. Felt like two different parks, depending on when you are there. Upon checking in, I had the displeasure of one of the most sour park rangers I have ever met. Very slow, no welcome, no smile..not even a hello. Never offered any helpful suggestions or directions and seemed to hate her job. Not a people person at all. The map she gave us was a bad copy and had a large portion of the sites blacked out without numbers due to the original having highlights of the "no pet" area. Was extremely confusing trying to find our site. Unfortunately we arrived during the weekend, and the place was over run with loud tent campers and hoards of unruly wild children and teenagers. Many parties on Friday night until the wee hours, with unattended "smudge pot" fire pits the rest of the night and most of the next day. By Sunday they had all cleared out, and the park was once again quiet, natural and beautiful for the rest of the week. Feels like a totally different park during the week. Good WI-FI at nature center was appreciated. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Oscar Scherer is one of the finest state parks in Florida. Clean restrooms, courteous and competent staff, lots of volunteers and activities. Highly recommended not withstanding difficulty in obtaining reservations. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We had heard a lot about this park from camping friends so we were excited to be going there. Our site #1 was very narrow as are most of the sites. Nearly all sites are on the same side of the road with dense vegetation on the other side, making backing into the site difficult without driving into the plants. The restrooms are older but clean and well maintained. Free Wi-Fi is available at the Nature Center. Oscar Scherer has a large group of volunteers who provide everything from breakfasts to musical entertainment. You can find some planned activity just about every day. When you are in the park you get the feeling you are camping in the middle of the jungle, but just outside the gate are beautiful beaches, restaurants, shopping and entertainment. They say it is all about location and Oscar Scherer has it. We will return for another stay in the future. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Rate shown is Florida resident, senior rate. Great park convenient to beaches, museums and golf. Trails are well marked, clear, personnel friendly, sites are shaded and private with none that looked bad. Showers, restrooms, were clean and well kept. Sites 16, 17 and 18 looked the best with a creek view and close to trail heads, swimming and the Nature Center (Wireless Internet at the center only-slow but works). I was able to push a standard wheelchair on some trails. The ranger station has a "Loaner" sand wheelchair-no charge. No pets allowed on sites 68 to 98. Definitely drive up Casey Key and admire the huge houses and mansions, some probably 40 to 60 and more years old. Good maps are available when you check in at the main gate, complete with many discount coupons. We found a very good, reasonably priced restaurant about a mile South of the park on U. S. 41 called, "WaterfronToo" (Not miss-spelled). Request a table at the South end of the building where you can see down the waterway, or sit outside. Our only complaint about the park was the host on the site (21) next to us had chopped down palmettos and underbrush and planted his TV dish 12-15 feet into our site and left the pile of dead brush there. When we were under our awning, the dish was less than 10' away. We reported it to the rangers, but nothing was done about it other than a ranger came to our site and looked at it. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We really liked this park. There is easy access from I-75 right on U.S. 41. The sites are nice and spacious. Our only disappointment was that the rangers seemed powerless to enforce any rules. Fortunately most people obeyed the rules. The park is only 15 minutes from Siesta Key beach. We camped here in a Motorhome.

This is a really nice state park. It is close to great beaches, and located along a nice little kayak/canoe stream. Tour the park before your stay is a good idea if you have the time, as Reserve America lists the sites as far different than actual size and location. We had site #6, which is nice, but had no view or waterfront. After surveying the park, we thought that site #86 was the best in the park. There is a great canoe launch from right near the park ranger check in, which is more convenient than the stated canoe launch/picnic area. Camp rangers and camp hosts were fabulous, and very helpful. Nice lady at the nature center, who was a real sweetheart and one of many volunteers at the park. Good signal for WiFi at the nature center, but slow at times. Please donate to their little tip jar in the nature center for your free internet and tour of the nature center. Bathrooms and showers were very clean, with plenty of hot water and great water pressure. Thank you camp hosts! We saw Eagles, Scrub Jays, and a beautiful Bobcat on our walking tours. Lots of Cardinals and squirrels that like to hang out in your site. Don't bother with the walking tour to "big lake" as it is rather boring in the open sandy scrub areas, but take the South Creek walking tour along the stream instead. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We decided to camp here for one night on our way from Ft Myers to Orlando after purchasing a new TT. We booked kind of last minute for this time of year (about a week before) and got the last site in the place, #104 which is a pull through. I was glad to have a pull through especially with our new TT which is 33'. When we got here however I was disappointed! Sites are TINY, even the pull through sites. And 104 in particular is so narrow and unlevel it's unbelievable. I used all the leveling blocks I had and still couldn't get level front to back. The site is so narrow we could barely get our slides out. And once they were out, forget about trying to walk around them. The park itself seems nice, but my first impression is it's not very RV friendly. It is located right off of a busy stretch of US 41 but you don't hear any traffic noise from within the campground. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This park is a little gem. The foliage in the RV area is beautiful; you feel as though you are far away when you're right along Route 41 between Sarasota and Venice. There are good hiking trails and swimming in the lake (don't feed the gators). Rangers and park staff are friendly and helpful. My only criticism is that the RV area itself is a little tight and some sites are small. Other than that, it's a great place to get away from it all. Getting a reservation is a challenge in season and it is easy to see why. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Although some sites are relatively small and the campground is not very big, it is an outstanding park. Our stay began in the middle of a weekend and, though the park was full, it was quiet. There are several well-marked walking trails and one of them is excellent for biking. The yellow trail connects to a paved bike trail called the Legacy Trail which connects Sarasota to Venice. OSSP is close to Sarasota, Bradenton and Venice. We found Venice and Venice Beach particularly interesting and tourist friendly. Consider visiting the beautiful gardens and exhibits at Ringling Museum of Art and Ringling Mansion in Sarasota. Free Wi-Fi is available at the Nature Center although the Friends of OSSP hope you will make a donation to help defray the costs. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We camped here for the weekend in a pull-through site with 50amps. Great park for short stay. The river is great for one hour canoeing for $5.00 an hour. Renting from the rangers office. The bathrooms are nice and clean. The small osprey lake has a nice beach: but swimming with the alligator ??? I will camp again in this park. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We spent 6 days here in June. This is a standard Florida state park, the rest rooms were clean, the rangers helpful. There are water side sites but the rvamerica park is a bit misleading. You need to pick higher numbered sites at I guess the east side of the park that are shown on the stream. These are excellent and have a good waterside location. The more western sites don't really have access since you have to force your way thru a palmetto forest to get to the stream. If you have a canoe go east. There are good beaches in the Venice & Englewood areas and they are publicly accessible, finding beach access towards Sarasota is almost impossible since there is no public parking. The sites are close together with minimal privacy in the area we were in. There is WiFi access at the lakeside building but it is very low quality. There is swimming in the lake. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This is one of the first Florida state parks we visited when we started camping here several years ago and this is our third visit here. It is one of our favorites due to its proximity to the gulf shore beaches, Siesta Key, Venice Beach and Sarasota. It is a beautiful park with great hiking and biking trails, a nice “creek” for kayaking, a nature center and dense tropical foliage in the campgrounds giving us lots of privacy. Some sites, on the creek do not allow pets. Some pull through sites but most others are back in and can be tight so check dimensions when booking. Little "lake" for swimming but we go to the gulf beaches at Nokomis and Siesta Key. Nice nature center that now has Wi-Fi. Good TV reception with just antenna and good cell phone reception. Limited laundry facilities. Lots of volunteer provided activities if you are into those things including low impact exercise, nature walks, guided canoe trips and hikes, music etc. Staff were friendly and helpful. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Park is well run with many social events run by park volunteers. The terrain for hiking is sandy two-track roads through scrub forest, much of it burned or in process of reforestation after removal of non-native plants. There is a new paved rail-trail for biking that cuts through park property. Laundry is available as well as Wi-Fi internet, at the Nature Center building. One very small lake for swimming has an alligator warning. No park-owned access to the Gulf beach although public beaches are within 5 miles. Canoes are available for rent at the park, to be used in the small stream.Lots are 55 ft wide on paved access roads. Most lots are shady. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

We were on site #58. Most sites in park seemed tight if you have a rig longer than 30 ft, or slides on both sides. There are 6 loop areas some allow pets and some don't. About half are on a small creek that runs through the park. There are 5 bathhouses and 1 dump station. 2 extra vehicle parking areas. There is a playground in the camping area and 2 more in the picnic areas. No laundry machines as in other FL state parks. 1 Trash bin for entire campground and it is not located in the campground, it is on road as you leave the campground. Each site has a picnic table (long), and combo fire ring/grill. Water hookups can be a long distance and are shared between campsites. Firewood and ice are available at ranger station. Canoes and kayaks can be rented there as well. Park has nature center, small lakeside swimming area, 6 hiking trails (4 of them can be biked). Check in was very slow. Even though we were prepaid they still needed all kinds of info still, even the names of your pets and kids if you brought them with you. We would go back but chose our site more wisely this time. We camped here in a Motorhome.

A nice State Park. Campground is about 1/2 mile from park entrance on US 41. One section has a playground, but no pets allowed. Other half of campground allows pets and has 5 pull thru sites. Hiking trails and roads connect campground to swimming lake. Campsites are private with lots of trees and tropical plants. Park is very quiet at night. Firewood and ice is sold at gate and each site has a fire ring. Volunteers clean each site between campers. Restrooms are clean, but not heated or cooled. Park has a swimming lake with a small beach. Some tent sites are directly on a small stream. There is no cable TV, but I saw several satellite dishes in use. Park is near shopping, restaurants and Gulf beaches. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.