Santos Campground
 Now you can camp where you ride...legally!

Campground Information

The Santos Campground opened in April. It includes 23
campsites with water and electricity (30 and 50 amp), a large picnic pavilion
and a bathhouse. There is also an equestrian day-use area.

Santos Campground is located on the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida
Greenway south of Ocala, specifically at the east end of the Santos Trailhead.

Reservations can now be made using the phone number below.
Otherwise, campsites are distributed on a first come,
first served basis. Campground hosts are on-site 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. For more information on Santos Campground, call the campground hosts
at 352/369-2693 or the Office of Greenways and Trails Office in Ocala at
352/236-7143. or visit www.FloridaGreenwaysAndTrails.com.
 

 


April 6, 2005
OPEN
 CONTACT INFO
 

Santos Campground Opens
(official press release)
The Santos Campground is completed and ready for campers. It includes 23
campsites with water and electricity (30 and 50 amp), a large picnic pavilion
and a bathhouse. There is also an equestrian day-use area.

Santos Campground is located on the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida
Greenway south of Ocala.

Reservations are not accepted. Campsites are distributed on a first come,
first served basis. Campground hosts are on-site 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. For more information on Santos Campground, call the campground hosts
at 352/369-2693 or the Office of Greenways and Trails Office in Ocala at
352/236-7143. or visit www.FloridaGreenwaysAndTrails.com.
 

February 5, 2005
The campground is not yet open.
One permit is missing, and hopefully it all will be open for the inaugural event March 4,5 &6.
If not, the event will be moved to TOS in the parking area.
Stay tuned here for the latest...
Click here to visit the Fees & Regulations page,
which also contains contact information for the campsites.
Click here to learn about OMBA's Trail Work day and Inaugural Campout
event March 4,5 & 6, 2005
Come out, ride and camp!

 
January 14, 2005
OGT expects to open the campground in the next couple of weeks with
staff until the official prospectus requesting concessionaire applicants can
be completed. We have been waiting for inspections and miscellaneous items to be
completed before we can open the campground.

November 3, 2004
Santos Trailhead Campground Status

From Morris Pigott - Construction Projects Manager - Office of Greenways and Trails

Current construction should be completed by the end of November.

Mickey Thomason is in the process of finding a Concessionaire and when he has that an opening date will be announced
 

August 7, 2004
As you can see, construction on the campground at the Santos Trail Head is well under way.
This is the admissions area.
 
Everything is east of the trailhead.  A fairly large loop that runs parallel to 441.  The loop goes back into the woods, and parallel to 441 for quite a ways.  
A lot of people are disappointed that they didn't put it in open field, west of the trailhead - which would have gotten it away from the traffic noise.   
While that's true, it still looks like it's going to be really nice.  It'd be sweet, camping just a very short distance from the Santos trailhead. 
 

UPDATE - May 9th, 2004

We are currently under contract with the contractor who will build the
campground.
I anticipate construction to begin no later than early March.
Construction should take roughly 8 months.
I hope this info is helpful.
Sincerely,

Morris Pigott
Construction Projects Manager
Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Greenways and Trails"


UPDATE - October 7th, 2003
 Santos Trailhead Campsites

The Santos Campground is currently getting ready to go to bid. The proposed time frame is:
 Under contract by  Dec 03
 Construction start Jan or Feb 04
There will be 50 RV-compatible camping sites. 
There will also be a park ranger to collect camping fees, which at this time are TBD.
 


UPDATE - May 28th, 2003
 Santos Trailhead Parking Area
 

We are currently redesigning the camp ground lay out. We hope to be in a position to go out to bid by June.

Morris Pigott
Construction Projects Manager
Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Greenways and Trails

New Trailhead Construction
UPDATE - February 17, 2003
 Santos Trailhead Parking Area


The Santos Trailhead is officially opened. So no more worries about parking there and getting your car towed. There still is a problem with permitting for a turnoff lane that needs to be added to the entrance to the trailhead. Until that has been straightened out, the construction of the camping area is on hold.

Happy Trails

UPDATE - December 2, 2002
Santos Trailhead Parking Area

We contacted the Office of Greenways and Trails today for an update on the progress with the Santos Trailhead construction. Marion County has required that the trailhead improvements include a turn lane to enter the trailhead. This was not part of the original plans. Therefore this will require additional permitting as well as the extra construction time. We were told that this could take another 3 months, and that the trailhead will continue to be considered CLOSED until that time. And as we mentioned before, your car can be towed if you park there while this is still considered a construction. There are several, easy to spot signs there warning that it is a construction site, which is by law, closed to the public. So along as those signs are there, no vehicles are allowed.

Santos Trailhead Campsites

The permitting process for the campsites has also been held up. OGT couldn't give a firm date on when this will be taken care of but, they said it may be 5-6 months. So it doesn't look like there will be camping there until next summer. But on the bright side, we can still ride :-)


Directions to Temporary Parking:
To reach this parking area, keep traveling west on 80th Street until you reach 25th, and turn left onto 25th. For those of you used to riding your bike from the Santos side, to “the Other Side” trails, 25th Street is the road that you cross between those 2 trail systems.
The trailhead on S.E. 25th Street will serve as the temporary parking area.

The gate will be open, and you may park your vehicle on either side of the road leading into the gravel pit area. Please don’t block the roadway leading into this area.

There will be 80 paved parking spots centered around the large oak tree in the middle of the existing trailhead, 3 picnic pavilions – 3 with water, and 15 to 20 campsites. The parking area will be completed first, with the camping sites being done last.