To be honest, Mr. CurbCursher was not really looking forward to going camping. It had only been two weeks since we’d finished the week long trip to the Outer Banks, and I didn’t really relish going to one of our local county parks to spend the weekend. Of Course the only Orange County Park that we’ve camped in before is Moss Park back in October of 2007 (and a few time before in the 5th wheel.). So I wasn’t really looking forward to our trip 30 miles up the road to Apopka and Kelly Park.

Well, I was wrong. I think it was one of the most enjoyable camping trips we’ve been on in a while. Kelly Park is built around Rock Springs and has a very nice tubing run. Unlike most springs, the swimming area is a good ways downstream of the actual spring. The spring head provides the launching point for a tube run that allows you to meander for about 10 – 20 minutes to the swimming area, and then after your float through the swimming area, there’s another 10 minutes or so until you get to the park boundary and have to get out of the water. The park has a boardwalk that runs from the park boundary back to the swimming area, and another one that runs from the swimming area to the spring head, so you just take your tube and do it all over again. The run is shallow enough that if you wish, you can walk the entire length. We made a couple of runs on Friday after we got there, then spent most of the day Saturday floating down the river, and even went back on Sunday morning and walked down the run another couple of time. All in all a very relaxing and enjoyable way to spend the weekend.

The camp sites are average. They are long enough for most motorhomes, but are not all completely level. The water and electric on some sites are located on opposite sides of the site (on ours the electric was on the driver’s side at the front, and the water on the passenger’s side at the rear.), so make sure you have an extra hose and extension cord. There is a dump station that is located about mid-ways through the camping loop, so if you are in a site with a number above about 13 or 14, you have to drive back around the campground loop in order to get to the dump site. The campground road and the sites are not paved, just well packed dirt. Even with a standard afternoon thunderstorm things didn’t get too muddy.

Orange County does not have a consistent policy for making reservations at the county parks that you can camp at. At Moss Park mentioned earlier, you have to go make your reservation in person. Thankfully Kelly Park seems to operate in the late 20th Century, and allows you to make a reservation via the telephone 45 days out. We’ll probably try and find some time to head back up to Kelly Park again during the summer months. Pictures from our trip are here.