Saturday, February 17, 2007

Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park

The Nature Coast of west central Florida is a name declared for this region stretching from north of Clearwater up into the first curve forming the Panhandle... Crystal River is about 80 miles north of Tampa in Citrus County. Temperatures here are a little cooler than in South Florida, which leads to a more laid back lifestyle, less crowding, no high rise buildings, and a generally more welcoming environment. Relatively few beaches line the coast, but there are miles and miles of salt marsh and tidal rivers for fishing and kayaking. Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park offers a lovely setting for short term or long term campers to explore this region.

Offering nearly 400 sites, mostly large and well separated by palmetto and brush dripping with Spanish moss, Rock Crusher Canyon is a welcoming, friendly RV Park. Once home to a regular series of country music concerts, the park has a spacious clubhouse – heated pool complex where a wide variety of programming, apparently interest motivated and managed by camper residents, take place. There is lots of computer activity centered here, as well as free Wi-Fi spottily available at other points in the park. Each site has a 50 amp hookup, water and sewer as well as a quite good cable system. Brighthouse cable will also install a cable modem at your site for the very reasonable price of under $20.00 per month.

Bath houses here deserve a special note as they are constructed as full bathrooms, each containing a shower, a toilet, and a sink. The upside of this arrangement is that it allows a person to accomplish the entire daily toilette in lordly privacy. The downside is that one person ties up three facilities, meaning that at certain times of the day it’s difficult to get into one of the rooms. The washrooms also contain a laundry facility. This all gives a nice, civilized sort of feeling.

Irene and I took a walk around the perimeter of the park on Saturday morning. It was cool and clear after a frosty night. The park features some terrain. As it was President’s Day weekend, the park was packed, but because the sites are well designed and spacious, it did not give a feeling of being over-crowded. Unlike many Florida campgrounds, this park does not seem to encourage even seasonal visitors to set up elaborate porches or permanent structures. There are no park models in Rock Crusher. All sites are gravel on a limestone base and have wonderful drainage. The very pleasant staff keeps the grounds clean and tidy. Pet owners seem most conscientious about picking up after their charges. There are children here, and they are under control and pleasant to have around.

The region offers lots of outdoor activities including SCUBA diving, fishing, golf, bird watching, hiking, biking, and horseback riding. There are archeological and other state historic sites within a short drive. Plenty of restaurants are nearby. Because there is a general sense of there being a good deal less crowding, a leisurely sense of time to do what you wish pervades the area. If you’re tired of the crowds and development of south Florida, you might want to give Rock Crusher Canyon a try.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Ted'
    I can't believe you stayed at the same park we are now stuck at for two more months. Everyone comments that this park has the smallest clubhouse they have seen.
    We find people very unfriendly, clickish, snobish. Of the four people I said hello to yesterday, one gave me a look that could kill, the other three turned turned their heads the other way. I gave up smiling and saying hello to people. We've tried unsuccessfully to shift to other sites,without any luck. The management ignores our request. Oh, there was one site they suggested. It was against a chainlink fence along a highway. The lot that we are on is so small that we can't put our canopy up.

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