Best Cabin Camping With Kids At Beautiful Florida Campgrounds Near Orlando
Forget tent camping, with all the gear schlepping and internet searches for “foil packet dinners”. It’s not quite glamping, but these affordable cabins in Florida near Orlando offer a different type of camping for the outdoor enthusiast. With comfortable lodgings, plumbing, and even sometimes kitchens, cabin camping with kids in Florida can be an excellent way to experience nature without having to make it your bedfellow.
In many instances, cabins provide everything you need from towels to sheets and basic kitchen appliances, and in others, you bring your own.
In Case You’re Interested:
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>> Cheap Family Fun
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Regardless, having four walls and a heaping scoop of charm can make an otherwise hot, buggy and cumbersome experience one of the families’ best camping memories. Read on for more about Florida’s campgrounds with cabins.
Best Orlando Cabins for Kids & Families
We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite Orlando area cabins for families ranging from Florida State Parks to a few private campgrounds too.
By the way, many of these are great travel ideas for Spring Break.
HONTOON ISLAND STATE PARK
2309 River Ridge Rd, Deland, FL 32720
For a local weekend camping trip, Hontoon Island is a great place to enjoy the seclusion of camping on an island without being far from home. Accessible only by private boat or park ferry, this island is full of rustic cabin lodgings, hiking trails, and of course the opportunity to get on the St. Johns River.
BLUE SPRING STATE PARK
2100 W French Ave, Orange City, FL 32763
Take the kids to nearby Blue Spring State Park, where any time of year you can experience and enjoy crystal clear spring waters from their riverside boardwalk. See manatees, kayak, swim, or visit their large playground with a picnic.
If you camp at Blue Spring, be sure to check out Blue Spring Pizza at the turn-in for the park. This classic pizza joint will bring you back to your youth and will create camp memories for your little ones.
LAKE LOUISA STATE PARK
7305 US Hwy 27, Clermont, FL 34714
Perhaps one of the closest campgrounds to Orlando’s theme parks, Lake Louisa offers furnished, large cabins for families of six. Some have lakefront vistas and rocking chair porches, with wooden interiors and kitchens.
Stay and play at the park in the typical fashion – hiking, biking, kayaking, and wildlife viewing, or take a drive to the theme parks for the day. Staying in a cabin at Lake Louisa State Park is also a romantic getaway.
THE CABINS AT DISNEY’S FORT WILDERNESS RESORT
4510 North Fort Wilderness Trail, Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
Speaking of theme parks, did you know you can camp AT Disney? Tucked in the forested areas of Disney’s acreage, at Disney’s Fort Wilderness, you can.
Note that the cabins have become part of Disney Vacation Club, replacing over 350 cabins. These new cabins are beautiful and have modern features. Check out our review of these new Disney Vacation Club cabins.
Fun activities include nightly campfires with s’mores, movie nights, quick access to the parks, character dinners, theme night shows, and more. We especially love the Halloween season at Disney’s Fort Wilderness!
Family Cabin Camping Beyond Central Florida
Looking for more Florida cabin camping options beyond Orlando? Here are a few more great destination campgrounds worthy of a road trip.
OTTER SPRINGS
6470 SW 80th Avenue, Trenton, FL 32693
2.5 hours driving time from Orlando
This charming campground has space for family to gather in the great outdoors away from the hub bub of city life. With partnering RV sites (where families can share common spaces), Otter Springs also offers up a handful of lovely rustic cabins.
The air-conditioned cabins have plush mattresses, kitchens, bathrooms, and even linens. Explore Cedar Key, less than an hour down the road, or visit nearby Manatee Springs State Park. Mostly, enjoy time in nature with family for a weekend getaway.
CAMP CHOWENWAW
1517 Ball Road, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043
2 hours driving time from Orlando
This hidden gem used to be a Girl Scout campground, but is now a private park offering families a range of different cabin accommodations from comfortable cottages to rustic treehouse-style lodgings. Bring your linens and don’t expect frills, but what these cabins lack in modern trappings they make up for in fun and adventure.
Tap into your youth days in scouts and come up with fun activities like making “fires” out of red hots and pretzel sticks or telling ghost stories. This adorable campground will invoke some nostalgic vibes.
KOA ST. AUGUSTINE
525 West Pope Road, St Augustine, FL 32080
2 hours driving time from Orlando
With notched pine interior walls and log bed frames, the charming lakefront cabins at St. Augustine’s KOA resort are a great step into cabin camping, without the commitment of the outdoors. That said, this campground is smack in the middle of St. Augustine’s Route 1 stretch of tourist attractions, eateries, and beaches.
The cabins come partially equipped depending on the cabin type, but you’ll have to bring your own linens. With adorable bench swings on the porches, the family will enjoy cookouts by their small pond.
There’s a playground, pool, and general store onsite as well.
SILVER SPRINGS
1425 NE 58th Ave, Ocala, FL 34470
2 hours from Orlando
Silver Springs offers large cabins with kitchens, fire rings, and screened-in porches to swing back and forth on rocking chairs.
Soak in Florida nature and delight in a visit to the Silver Springs park next door, home of what used to be a theme park and thriving North/Central Florida attraction. Today you can still enjoy their glass bottom boat ride, strolling through the park grounds, and taking a dip in the crystal waters.
TOPSAIL HILL PRESERVE STATE PARK
7525 W Scenic Hwy 30A, Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459
6 hours driving time from Orlando
If you picture paradise as a secluded, quiet white sand beach with dunes and perfect waves, well you might be describing Florida’s panhandle at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park.
This park used to be privately owned, so campers will enjoy amenities that not a lot of the other state parks employ. For instance, RV’ers will enjoy full hookups at all the sites, while cabin campers can wake up to fresh coffee at the park coffee shop and concession store.
There’s a pool onsite, shuffleboard court, trails, and a regularly running tram back and forth from the perfect beach.
Nearby, take the kids to get donuts at the Destin-area classic, the Donut Hole, and enjoy shopping trips or seafood shacks in the neighboring stretches of hip route 30A.
South Florida Cabins
JONATHAN DICKINSON STATE PARK
16450 SE Federal Hwy, Hobe Sound, FL 33455
2.5 hours driving time from Orlando
For a nature-filled getaway, enjoy the cabins at Jonathan Dickinson State Park near Jupiter, FL. This family paradise is only 2.5 hours from Orlando, this park offers kayaking, hiking trails, nearby beach visits, and more.
BAHIA HONDA STATE PARK
36850 Overseas Hwy, Big Pine Key, FL 33043
6 hours driving time from Orlando
If you want crystal clear waters, snorkeling, seafood shacks, and colorful sunsets, this is the place for you and your family. It’s worth the drive to be situated on the water in Bahia Honda’s comfortably furnished stilted ‘cabins’.
More like vacation rentals, these park-owned properties are an excellent affordable way to visit the Florida Keys.
Tips for Cabin Camping with Kids
- Bring less than you think you need.
- Invest in a fun lantern and sleeping bag set. These are easily found at Walmart.
- Pack sneakers and socks, kids don’t seem to notice when they’re standing in an ant pile until it’s too late!
- Purchase wearable bug spray bands. These can be found online, at the Dollar Tree, or Walmart. Kids enjoy having them on for their fun colors, and they supposedly keep the bugs away for up to a week.
- Look for Melissa & Doug’s explorer bingo kits. I found mine for only $3.99 at Ollie’s. It includes various camping bingo wipe-clean pages, nature trail bingo, activities, and more. With so many options for scavenger hunts, the little ones will have a blast.
- Pick up some long s’more sticks from Walmart. Use them to cook marshmallows, hot dogs, and even Texas toast from the freezer aisle!
A Note on Florida State Park Cabins
Two-night minimums apply for the State Parks and pets are not permitted in the cabins. Cabins start at $30-$160 per night.
To reserve your cabin and get more information, follow the link to the Florida State Parks website here: https://www.floridastateparks.org/reservation-information
A Note on Private Campgrounds
Although private campgrounds can run close to the same as you’d pay for hotel accommodations, in many cases it can be quite the opposite. Cancellation policies are not typically as lenient, so be sure to contact the campground office for details.
