River Forest Group Site
October 2026
About
Overview
River Forest is a shaded group camping facility on the shores of the St. Johns River in Ocala National Forest. Located just across the river from Deland, the site is popular for groups, family reunions and weddings and can accommodate up to 125 guests.
14 day stay limit in a 30 day period in ALL Ocala National Forest Campgrounds
Recreation
This site is a great setting for groups to relax, picnic and enjoy the shade on a warm day. A large field offers ample space for activities such as softball, volleyball and horseshoe tossing.
Visitors wanting to venture out of the picnic area can go for a long walk through floodplain forests and pine flatwoods on the St. Francis Trail, or head to the river to canoe, kayak or fish for bass.
Facilities
All new facilities are the highlight of the River Forest Group Site. Facilities include a screened pavilion for food preparation and cooking with your own cook stoves. A new bathhouse has also been built on site.
The camping area is flat for tents with some shade provided by trees. While RVs are welcome, there are no hookups and all vehicles must remain in the designated parking area. Grills and picnic tables are provided.
Natural Features
The Ocala National Forest spans four counties and 383,000 acres. It is the southernmost and oldest national forest east of the Mississippi River and protects the world's largest contiguous sand pine scrub forest.
The campground is shaded with large live oaks with a flat, grassy patch of land that leads to the St. Johns River.
Nearby Attractions
The Ocala National Forest is notable for its extensive off-road trail system catering to off-road vehicle enthusiasts, as well as being a traditional destination for deer hunters from around Central Florida. Numerous lakes, rivers and natural springs surround the area and offer many water activities.
Phone: 352-625-2520
Is RIVER FOREST GROUP SITE fully booked?
A campground showing no availability is almost never full for good. People cancel — plans change, weather turns, someone books three weekends and keeps one — and the site goes straight back into the booking system, usually without warning and often at odd hours. The reason sold-out campgrounds feel impossible is not that sites never free up; it is that nobody is watching at the moment they do.
CampHawk watches RIVER FOREST GROUP SITE in Deland, FL for you. We recheck it every 15 seconds, around the clock, and the moment a site opens we send a text, an email and a push notification — and on Recreation.gov we can put the site straight into your cart, so it is held while you get to your phone.
Searching is free and needs no account — the calendar above is live right now. Watching RIVER FOREST GROUP SITE for cancellations is the paid part.