Monument Lake Campground

Our group of four stayed at Site 1 at the Monument Lake Campground right at the beginning of the New Year to participate in a 36-mile walk over 2 days with the Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes of Florida (#DefendTheSacred). We had an amazing time sleeping and waking up at Monument Lake!

The campground is relatively small and private, which we loved. Each site is very large, with enough space to fit several cars or up to 10 people. Each site also has a fire pit with grill, which would have been awesome to use if we found some firewood.

All the sites are situated in a circular fashion around the small lake. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk around the whole thing. Bathrooms were clean and an easy walking distance from our campsite. There were two bathroom stalls and two sinks with mirrors in the women's bathroom. No showers.

There are no other activities at the campground (no trails, paddle rentals, boardwalks, etc.). Just campsites, fire pits and bathrooms.

The best part of staying here was the wildlife in the mornings. Right in front of campsite 1, two roseate spoonbills meet each other by the lake and take off flying together for the day. We saw them do this two days in a row! They congregate with ibis and other birds that fly in right at sunrise. There are also several alligators in Monument Lake, which was cool to see at night.

The view of stars was spectacular and the morning fog was magical. We were there on a cold weekend, so bugs were present but definitely manageable. I slept comfortably in my car with the windows rolled partway down and a bug screen over the window. Beware of dew!

One of the camp hosts we met, Chris, was extremely helpful and friendly. He helped me fix a booking mistake I made when I booked two campsite instead of one. If you read this, thanks Chris.

All in all, we loved our experience here and would recommend it to anyone looking for a calm, simple, beautiful place to sleep while staying in Big Cypress National Preserve.

One of our favorite spots quiet friendly peaceful

We stayed at the Monument Lake campground (tent-only section) for one night around New Years Eve. The campground was fairly clean and we had no major issues. The only thing I'll mention is that tent spaces are set very close together, so we could hear the conversations of the parties to either side of us. Also, due to strong winds, the campfires from those neighboring campers blew smoke into our tent for most of the evening.

Loved the location of this campground as it made it easy to get to places to hike and tour within the day. I remember reading that it could be windy, and it was. The breeze was good though to keep away mosquitoes. We tent camped in December, but there were still mosquitoes. The sites do not have shade other than the three grouped to the far left of the tent loop and then the sites at the top of the lake. We were lucky enough to select the site with two trees so were able to use our hammocks. No showers here, so pack your wet wipes if that is important. The flush toilets and washing sink outside of the bathroom building were kept clean. There are alligators in the lake and some big ones. Our kids loved that, but you have to be mindful if you get a site right on the lake. I wish they had some accessible trails to use by bike but the water was high and the one off road that the park service uses was under water. A lot of birds and great views of sunrises and sunsets.

The rules of this location say that generators can be used from 6 am to 10 pm. On Sunday December 27, 2020 around 2 pm, a camp host came to my camping site to ask me to turn off my generator. I told him that the camp rules allow me to have a generator on at that time of the day. He said that other people were complaining about the generator and that I had to turn it off. I did turn it off because I did not want to argue with him. I think that people that visit this location should respect the rules, or NPS should prohibit the use of generators. But as long as the generators are allowed, not paying visitor should be asked to stop using it.

Camp host was wonderful and very helpful when my lantern needed some tools to get the pump back into service. Beautiful campsite with good mobile service, a clean restroom, and amazing wildlife. Do be ware of the gators, don't walk your dogs near the waters edge or jump in. Two big gators were in the lake, but they didn't bother anybody. Just cool being that close to the nature.

I camped there for almost 2 weeks across from the lake. Wonderful spot nice folks, great jumping off spot to go visit and explore.
The only thing I was disappointed with, was the fire rings which need to be buried deeper in the ground. There’s a nice swing over grate you can’t get close enough to your fire to cook on.
Keep on camping!!

It was great. The bugs are out and nasty, the air was cold and damp, and I have never seen so many stars in Florida! The campground was clean and neat. All the neighbors were awesome. All in all a wonderful experience.

The camp hosts were welcoming from the moment we pulled in. The facilities were clean and well kept. The lake is ~0.8 mi around and great to bike around early morning. Birds and fish abound. Sunrises and sets were amazing.

Going to go back as often as possible.

The campground was clean and safe. There is a large alligator in the lake, apparently known as Big Daddy, that we saw several times. The mosquitos are very serious (even in a cold weekend in December). Be sure to wear pants and pack plenty of bug spray. The bathrooms are clean and well lit, no showers.