We stayed at O'Leno for 2 weekday nights, right before Memorial Day Weekend. The summer "rush" had not hit the park yet (if they actually have one) and it was peaceful and quiet... very serene and beautiful.
We camped in the Magnolia loop on site #18 and would camp there again. It appeared to us after cruising both loops on our bikes that Dogwood loop would not be a good loop for us, we camp in a 30 ft. Class C Georgie Boy Maverick. There were some tight curves and ruts in the road on the Dogwood Loop. Magnolia was very shaded and I would say any site choice would have been a good one.
O'Leno has a LOT of trails, great for biking if you can handle some deep sand and hard peddling. ;) If you're not up to that type of biking, hiking would be a great option. All the trails were about 99% fully shaded and really beautiful.
The River Trail was our favorite. We would have taken the longer trails down to the River Rise area, but were unable to due to controlled burns in the area.... kinda bummed. :/
The Santa Fe River runs through the park until it disappears underground....very interesting. Then 3 miles down the road it re-emerges... very cool! :)
We had a great time and enjoyed the two days we spent there.
The water at this park is not crystal clear like a typical spring fed river, it is dark due to tannin from the trees along the banks. There is a small roped off swimming area for those that want to cool off from the heat.
We saw deer, squirrels and birds (eastern towhee, cardinal, titmouse, Swallow-tailed Kite), alligator (just one), turtles and ticks!
Here are a few pics from our visit... please feel free to ask if you have any questions that we might be able to answer. :)
Gator below! :)
We're off to our next adventure! :)
Mike and Kathy
The AdvenCharests!
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