Dispersed Camping in the Ocala National Forest | Hopkins Prairie
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- čas přidán 17. 03. 2022
- One of the coldest nights of the year is upon us, so we make our way to Hopkins Prairie, located in the northern section of the Ocala National Forest. The Hopkins Prairie Area is possibly one of the most scenic and straightforward places to camp in the Ocala National Forest. At the northeast of Hopkins Prairie, there is a pay station campsite where you can find a site with nearby bathrooms and the security of a camp host, or along the southern edge of Hopkins Prairie, you can find multiple large dispersed campsites. In this adventure, we take on the cold, mid, 20 degrees Florida night with some added luxuries to our ground tent setup while dispersed camping along the southern edge of Hopkins Prairie in the Ocala National Forest.
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We live here in Ocala. When we camp we found it better to sleep on the electric blanket and to use a good blanket for cover. Just our experience. 👍 We enjoy your videos
Great idea! Most of the heat we lose is from the ground. Especially in an air mattress!
The family and I were there a few weeks ago... our low was 34* I believe. Love it there. Glad yall enjoyed!
An air mattress always feels colder to me as the air in the mattress doesn't warm up so, underneath me always feels cool. A 50/50 depending on the season and the air mattress. Just like y'all, with the roof tent, I rarely ground tent anymore. That looks like an awesome spot - thanks for the idea for a weekend trip!
We camped in this very site this past weekend. What a beautiful area. My Cousins friend said you were in between us and his camp site! Small world.
Truly is a small world! Hope we weren’t too loud, we were camping with some close friends of ours! 🏕️🏕️🏕️
I was just there two weeks ago in my gladiator, beautiful spot!
Eating bacon watching these videos. Very nice.🍻😄😃
Your s’more game is strong!
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Good stuff! Checking this video out because we're planning a trip in the next few weeks. I will say, an air mattress is a death sentence in cold weather. I think your heating setup was spot on and would have been quite cozy with a different bottom layer. We've found memory foam matts do the trick
What!? I’ve always questioned the government and I’m honestly a bit confused here. What in the world would be the reasoning behind not being allowed to sleep in your vehicle?
I know right, you can have a raging fire in the middle of the woods,, BUT ONLY if you sleep in dirt. Wow, can't wait!
@MeToo...I slept in my camper shell in WA and OR in my Toyota pickup. I have curtains , so no one knows what's going on in my camper. Enter at your own risk.
Only reason I can think of would be so people don’t run with the vehicles on all night like some like to do at rest stops
That is exactly the reason
@@DerekWrightVideo well then make that the crime. Not sleeping in the car. Anything that leads to something else is not in and of itself a crime. That’s ridiculous.
Idaho, we never camped in winter. Crazy cold 🥶 in winter in the mountains. We never used a tent in summer in Idaho. Never rains in summer. Slept in unrated sleeping bag no mattress... rocks and all. Pine needles work as a ground soften device. Maybe a 1/2" foam mat might be ok? Roughing it is no camp grounds, and no people. Jeremiah Johnson mountain man style is for me.
Sounds incredible!
How do you get to this specific location ?
To start things off, I love y’all’s videos. I didn’t grow up camping and being out in nature and in the woods and driving trails but as I grew up I found my love for nature and finally have a 4x4 Tacoma for now named “bub” lol but I want to get out and start camping and getting more comfortable out in the woods, I believe since I didn’t grow up doing it that I somewhat feel uncomfortable being out in the wilderness especially at night time because of the unknown dangers of wildlife that may happen upon my camp. Do y’all experience that? Also what kind of grill do y’all use it looks awesome, keep up the great work y’all!!
We are happy you’re enjoying our content. First of all we recommend being prepared in the wild with self defense whatever that may look like for you. It is definitely creepy to think about what could be beyond your sights while camping at night. We, however, have only come across raccoons digging in the fire pit one night while at camp and thankfully that is the only wildlife disturbing us we have encountered. It was likely due to dog food spilling on the ground and so we put it into the fire pit. Some things we do to prevent that is lock the cooler, our dry food, and trash bag in the bed of our truck at night or inside the cab so that animals don’t come because they smell food. We all have those scary thoughts of wildlife but we have found that once you’re out there, just doing other things that you lose track of those thoughts. We hope some of these tips help you get out there to do more of what you love!
How far away from the roads do u have to be
Looked like an amazing time in the woods! Man might make you cook dinner on our adventure haha ;)
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Awesome video...thank you! I'm new to the Orlando area and have been looking at camping in Ocala NF. I have a Sportsmobile conversion van. Being someone who also likes to follow rules, do you have any suggestions where I can camp, anywhere near the shooting range, and sleep inside my Sportsmobile? I'm from CA and NV and have never heard of not being able to sleep in your vehicle. Many thanks. Beautiful dogs BTW!
Hopkins Prairie has a paid campground on the west side of the prairie and is right by the gun range. Any paid campground you can sleep in your vehicle! Thanks for watching! 😃
@@SunshineStateVikings Thank you very much!!
Hello nice video. Last weekend I was trying to find a place in the ocala national forest and was told you can’t sleep in your vehicle as well. I’ve been trying to find this rule online somewhere. Can you help me out?
If you search Ocala National Forest Ordinances on Google or another search engine website, then click "Forest Service - National Forests in Florida - Alerts & Notices." From there click on the one under the Ocala National Forest section called "Camping with Motor Vehicles (Order #08-05-02-13-0208)." The order is definitely very vague though. We hope this helps!
How much is it to camp here? If there is a charge thank you!
This video is about dispersed camping in the National Forest which is free if there is a spot available. There is also a pay station campground right around the corner across the prairie but we are not sure how much that is.
Do you need a permit?
No you do not need a permit at this time to dispersed camp 👍
Is it safe? What if someone comes up to you while sleeping.
Hopkins Prarry a black bear ran up on me and my friends after making soup
I’d sleep straight on my RTT 😊 sue me. Government trying to dictate what color undies you got on. SMH
Nothing wrong with that! We too choose to ignore that rule most of the time. Its just important for people to understand that it is in place, so each person can weigh their own risk and make their own decisions. Happy travels ✌️😃
@@SunshineStateVikings absolutely I agree! Likewise!
I have been wanting to hit that spot for a good while now. It looks amazing, we as in the wife and I only camp during the winter months here in Florida, The summers are just too hot and humid, plus the bugs and mosquitos make it miserable. So it's November to April for us. We got turned on the the electric blanket a few years back while at camp site that had power run to it what a game changer. As @nathan-yp8fc mentioned about the cold air coming up form the ground, we place one or two packing blankets on the ground first and then the air mattress as an insulator from the cold ground, it works out very well. Question: how did power bank work out with the electric blanket through out the night? Did it consume alot of power?
Eating bacon watching these videos. Very nice.🍻😄😃
🤤, sounds like a good time! Thanks for watching, we hope you enjoyed it ✌️😃