Thursday, December 08, 2011

W.P. Franklin Locks Campground

We never did get motivated to go kayaking yesterday, so we took a drive to explore some nearby places.  The Caloosahatchee River is nearby and it’s a huge river with a lot of smaller tributaries.

You can see how big it is in the picture below.  It flows right out into the gulf.

Map picture

There are a lot of parks along the river and we went to explore a few of them.  

A few years ago I  read a blog about a campground that had locks along the river.  I made a mental note to remember that place,  and when we started full timing, we would need to go there.

On our drive yesterday we happened to see a sign about the W.P. Franklin Locks.  I felt pretty sure that was the same place that had beautiful campsites on the water and that we could get half price camping, with Al’s National Parks “senior pass.”

We found the place and sure enough, it was the same place I had read about years ago.

The campground is on one side of the river and the best area to watch boats go through the locks is on the other side.

We entered on the side opposite of the campground, although there were a few sites for work campers.  They have a visitor center which gives you some history of the locks.  On this side you could walk out on the locks and get a good view of how a boat goes through the lock.  Unfortunately when we were there, no boats were coming through.

WP Franklin Lock and Dam

This next picture is the lock canal. 

WP Franklin Lock and Dam

WP Franklin Lock and Dam

We had to drive across the river to the other side where the campground was.  Wow…what a pretty campground.

WP Franklin Lock and Dam cg

The sites are $24 a night (or half price with the Senior Pass).  Water and electric..no sewer.  Sad smile

Note the nice patio.

WP Franklin Lock and Dam cg

WP Franklin Lock and Dam

The sites were paved and mostly waterfront.  They were angled nicely for ease of backing into. They look like sites at some expensive rv resorts.

WP Franklin Lock and Dam cg

There were “boat-in” sites also where you could keep your boat  in the water at your campsite. The price was the same.  I guess I didn’t take any pictures of those sites….funny how I’m not as interested since we don’t have boat anymore.

These are a view from this side of the locks.  Not as good to watch boats go through the locks.  We hope to go back today and catch a few boats going through.

WP Franklin Lock and Dam

It was a real nice campground…if only they had sewer hook-ups!

Here is a picture of our boy Baxter.  He was sleeping on the dash.  I can’t believe how big he’s getting.

Baxter 4 1/2 months old

15 comments:

  1. What a nice looking campground-as you said, if only they had sewer connections.

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  2. Really great looking campground. I assume they had no available sites in such a place at this time of year.

    Baxter is just getting more and more handsome. What a beautiful cat he is. Looks like long haired? Did you know that when you got him??

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  3. Sherry
    actually there were some empty sites.

    Yea, we knew Baxter was long haired and very soft. That's why we picked him. We wanted lovable, but he's kind of independent...but we love him anyway.

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  4. gorgeous campground...baxter sure knows how to relax...pretty boy....!!

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  5. That looks like a campground we would love. We have found with a little conservation we can stay about 2 weeks without a sewer connection, so we are ok with that.

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  6. If you plan on camping there they take reservations up to 9 month in advance, and if your plans involve a weekend you will need to make them that far ahead. Sunday through Thursday, no problem but Friday and Saturday, forget about it.

    We've stayed there a few times when we knew far enough in advance to make the reservations. Fantastic park.

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  7. Beautiful place! As long as they have a dump station, then things aren't so bad...Baxter is turning out to be a gorgeous boy!

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  8. Hi Karen. My wife (Ellen) and I stayed at W.P. Franklin last Christmas season and loved it there. The only problem is trying to get in there this time of the year. I also recommend you take a look at “Ortona South”, just a bit east of W.P. Franklin. Actually, its just east of Labelle. Ortona is also a COE campground and is also co-located with another set of locks. At Ortona though, you are allowed to cross the locks and literally look down upon the passing watercraft.

    John
    connectedtothevinephotography.blogspot.com

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  9. WOW!! What a beautiful campground. Glad you remembered and found it.

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  10. He sure has grown! The days do slip by so fast!

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  11. Great looking campground - we could stay there for a week with no sewer hookups easily.

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  12. That is a beautiful campground...We stayed just East of there at Ortano South last year and have a two week reservation there in early February this year. Also, the Canadians HAVE FOUND these two places, met several of our Northern Neighbors there last year that had been coming there for a couple of years...I am usually the last to find these little gems...Can hardly wait for January and February to roll around...Florida Bound.

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  13. Looks like a really nice campground - I can do without the sewer hook-up, I just want electric if I can get it.

    Baxter is so pretty! Cats sure can relax, can't they? :)

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