lake manatee state park

Just east of Bradenton on Manatee Ave. (State Road 64) lies this state park. Easy to find as signage gives plenty of notice, this park isn't as popular as Myakka State Park and has multiple trails, boat launches and a nearby restaurant to prepare you for a relaxing day.

A very pleasant to spend a non-beach day. Large park whose main attraction is a large fresh water lake. Some easily accessible hiking trails. The boat ride on the lake is themain attraction. It is a great way to see alligators and birds.

What an absolutely wonderful place to camp! We think our site might be the biggest we've had in Florida. The roads through the park are wide enough to maneuver (a treat). Our site (60) is level. There is a great deal of undergrowth, giving a nice private feel. Spanish moss adds to the privacy and natural feel.Park staff/volunteers are friendly and helpful. Comfort stations are fine; showers are decent and clean. There are fire rings, but the ranger's station doesn't always have firewood, unfortunately. There are sandy walking trails around the park, and the lake is easy to get to with day use facilities nearby. There are signs about swimming (near the sign warning about alligators - ha ha), but there isn't a beach. The weeds near shore would deter me from going in (if I felt like braving the possible run-in with a gator). There is a boat launch area. Fishing is permitted with a licence.With only 60 sites, this small park is nice and quiet, even though it is almost full. That said, we arrived on a Sunday and we could hear the sounds from a nearby drag race track. It wasn't horrible, and didn't last into the evening. There has been no noise from the track on weekdays.At $22/night, I consider this place a bargain and would certainly return. We are in a 27' travel trailer.

Great little state park that makes you stop & relax ... take a few short walks, chat with a couple neighbors, enjoy Saturday morning coffee sponsored by the very caring camp hosts Jerry & Caroline while you mingle with the other residents (we were the rare camper mixed in to the group of residents :-)) and the dogs all say hello. Jerry was wonderfully helpful when we ran out of propane & knew right where we needed to go ... great volunteer work!Wonderfully relaxing but too cold on this trip to try to fish so no input to that respect. The raccoons kept trying to get close to the campfire too at night but were easily sent away. Bradenton is a short drive away & the restaurants we visited were all great.We will be going back

My husband and I just spent a week enjoying this lovely location. We are new to the RV world and this park was perfect for our first extended trip. Host Jerry and his wife are excellent ambassadors for the park. Jerry really maintains the facilities with military care. Our only negative is that there is no beach and I don't think children would be able to find a lot to do.Would we return for another visit? We sure would!

enjoyed the quiet time at the park. Everyone were friendly as well as the staff. My wife's sister and brother in law live in Bradenton, Fl. This is the closest park to Bradenton. Wy wife and I camped with my Daughter and our two dogs. We had a third dog which is my daughter's service dog. This is our second stay. Our first stay was in the summer.

Lake Manatee is clear and fishing good. Fishing dock and playground nice. Paved roads/trails and sand sites. Quiet and well kept. No Wifi. Campground host Gerry is friendly and does a great job. Spots are a good size and fairly private with vegetation between. Five miles to town. Was half empty during the week. This is our second time here and would stay again. Great little park!

You won't see any manatees at Lake Manatee. The brochures make it clear that the dam which produced the lake keeps its namesakes out of the lake. From this tourist's perspective, there wasn't much else to see, either. The "beach" was tiny and clogged with water hyacinths. Facilities were OK, as was the campground, Our best time was spent playing cards down by the lake and enjoying the sunset.

Not much to see. The lake is beautiful but a little disconcerting with signs all over warning about alligators.

I saw the park, and took a drive around, looks like a good place to take you dog for a walk, there spots for putting a boat it. I even saw a place ground. Looking forward to coming back here when its not raining, so I can spend more time. Looks like a nice peaceful place.

Nice boat ramp no facilities. Kept lake natural a treasure in the rough. Camping is available. Doesn't open until 8 am so don't go early.Watch bank for alligators

The kids were scared to death to swim as they were afraid of being eaten by alligators. It was a hot - hot day. Like 99 degrees. It was too hot to hike - there was a bit of shade - but not enough to keep the kids happy or busy!

This bit of wild FL is easily accessible from Sarasota and Bradenton. If you take the boat tour, you are very likely to see 20 to 50 gators. The land tour gives you a view of FL cattle country in the early 1900s. You don't have to take a tour though to enjoy the park. The foot paths allow delightful hiking on level ground and well prepared paths. Don't skip the interesting and educational museum.

Nice sites, water, electric with dump station not far. Friendly staff. Small lake walking distance but I wouldn't swim there. Clean bathroom. Noise from highway, gun range and local racetrack but not all the time. Spring break brought local family's with tons of kids and bikes. I would guess 13 or 14 young kids on the 3 a joining sites so no listening to the birds and wind for us. Needed to ask parents to have children move bikes from roadway and that's another story. Decent place but would pick little manatee river state park over this one mostly because of noise.

Great park camp there for a week there where really cool trails and loved the campsite set up the only problem was it said on website swimin put when you got there there was a sign that says harmful bacteria