This park is under new ownership and has been updated as follows: New electrical service, new fence between park and Tamiami Trail, All sites clean and neat with shell gravel and concrete patios. WIFI service is strong and does not have interuptions. New owners are helpful and friendly. They gave a reduced prorate unsolicited on the monthly rent since our arrival was 6 days late. We camped here in a Motorhome.

The New Managers are Very Nice and Helpful. Weekend office woman is very rude. The park has really done alot of renovations since we have been there three years ago. Bathrooms and clubhouse are Immaculate. They really have Improved the park. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Short and sweet. The managers were rude when you saw them. Other wise they were never available. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Lots to do!! Tons of activities, beautiful views of ponds and lakes. Great campground with very friendly staff. Kid friendly except for all of the alligators. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Ramblers Rest RV (owned and operated by Encore) is located on a large area between North River Road and the Myakka River in Venice Florida. It is adequately staffed, and the grounds are very well maintained. Rates are negotiable and the longer the stay the better the discount. A camp store is practically non-existent and with the campground being quite far from any stores, should be better. The pool area is very clean, with plenty of lounge and upright chairs, and several umbrellaed tables with chairs. Lots of organized activities and field trips, dinners and entertainment. I wouldn't recommend for families with young children, as this is primarily a retirement park. Campground is comprised of around 80% permanent residents, with plenty of scattered over-night, -week, -month sites, many shaded and quite a few rental units for extended stays. They have a mail room and mail boxes, so they can and do handle forwarded mail. Security at night could be tighter as there were many cars broken into in February '09 and gps units, computers, cameras etc., stolen. I would have given them 10, except that the fee driven Wi-Fi vendor (Tengo Internet) they recommend is completely unreliable and connectivity is spotty and slow at best! Given the amount of online activity that snow-bird travel necessitates, and given that this is the unavoidable way of the future, this is a huge drawback for us, and will prevent us from staying here in the future. This saddens us because we really like our site, and the pace and atmosphere of this campground suits our lifestyle. If you don't need or care about internet access, then I highly recommend this campground. If you do need or want good internet access try to find a campground with a better wi-fi provider or have your own. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Stayed two weeks. The park is a very clean well kept park with adequate rest rooms, showers and laundry facilities. Sites are mixed in with long term resident park models. Most sites are shaded and easy to get in and out of. Many sites are on or near small ponds and streams. Fishing is available on the Myakka River that runs along the rear boundary of the park. Has a few alligators in the park ponds. The only downside to the park is their wireless Internet which works on and off by the office and does not reach into the park. It is a corporation park and staff are not available after hours and on Sundays if you have problems. We camped here in a Motorhome.

Described in the Encore brochure as "A Premier RV Resort in Venice, FL". Huh? This is an old, run-down, shabby campground. Electric voltage is low. Running one air conditioner alone on 30 amp reduced voltage to 109. Running the microwave alone reduced voltage to 106. Office staff and other campers were friendly and helpful. Campground setting is out in the country. Streets are narrow for large rigs. Because of the electrical voltage and run-down appearance, we would not stay here again. Price indicated is the Passport America rate. We camped here in a Motorhome.

We have stayed here for the last 4 years. The park does have its drawbacks such as poor internet connections and I wish that would be corrected. Drainage is poor during heavy rainstorms and some sites flood. Seasonal rates have gone up each year with no improvements in the campground's conditions. Bathroom/showers are in need up upgrading. The upside is that the campers are very friendly and we have made good friends there. If present patterns continue a lot of us are discussing moving en mass to another campground but I hope that conditions improve enough for that not to happen. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

I was disappointed. Mother Nature does her best to make the park beautiful, so you can't beat the huge oaks and beautiful river, but it is really not well maintained. There are two parts to this park - one side is all RVs and the other side is tents and RVs. The tenting side has all the old oaks and is very shady. The RV side is crowded, but if you are lucky enough to be on the water, I imagine you can overlook everything else. It was very cold while we were there and we were not allowed to have campfires, so night life was early to bed. Next door to this campground is a restaurant/bar called Snook Haven. Snook Haven is well known in the area and pretty crowded. They have great bands playing there all the time. The food is expensive though for what you get ($19 for a ribeye steak) and with that you get a very small salad and one side, such as french fries or vegetables - all served on paper plates with plastic utensils. The pool is very small. The meeting room they advertise is a room connected to the office with long tables in them. There is internet access in that room as well. In the office they have three rather empty shelves of supplies and no food items. I stopped in the woman's bathroom about 9:00 p.m. and one of the toilets was clogged and they were out of toilet paper. I went back at 9:30 a.m., and nothing had changed. There are two showers and two toilets. The tops of the shower stall came up to my neck, which I did not like. Although I do not have kids, I thought the playground was the worst of all. There is a large sand area with weeds growing throughout it. There is one swing set with two swings. That is sum total of the playground. All in all, it is not terrible, but certainly not worth the $45 they charge each night. The picnic tables are small, and the lots are not groomed. The nature is beautiful though, which is really their saving grace. Oh, one more thing, the "gravel road" they advertise is a long dirt road with some fair size potholes. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.

We are native Floridians, and this is one of our favorite weekend getaway parks. It's not fancy, but it is very comfortable and laid back. It is also not near any of Florida's theme parks or major tourist attractions, which makes it attractive to those of us who prefer NOT to be near those things! It is on the Myakka River, and canoe rentals are available. There is a small boat ramp as well. Right next door, so to speak, is "Snook Haven," a waterfront restaurant with tasty fried seafood and a funky real Florida atmosphere. If you want flashy or fancy Florida, this isn't it. But if you want a quiet place to kick back and relax without all the hoopla of the other mega campgrounds, Venice Campground is the place to go. The owners are friendly and helpful. There is a tent area that is separate from the RV area. You will see everything from tents to luxury motor homes, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. We camped here in a Motorhome.