Another First… a COE Campground

After our cruise, our next destination was in Auburndale, Florida which was a little too long of trip so we made a one-night stop on the way at our FIRST U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Campground called Ortona South Lock Campground in Moore Haven, Florida.

It was great to see old friends (Kevin, Chuck, Bob, Bob, Paul, Shawn, Greg, Jimmy, David, Darryl, Chipper, James, John, Don, Patrick & Darian) and make a few new ones (Robbie, Greg & T.) on our 8-day cruise with Vacaya.  We took an Uber from the cruise port to Yacht Haven to get our RV out of storage and ready for our next adventure.  After taking the RV out of storage, we made a stop at Walmart to start restocking the refrigerator and freezer and then drove on to our destination.

The Ortona South Lock Campground is set along the Caloosahatchie River section of the Okeechobee Waterway. The COE has dammed the river to prevent flooding and operates the locks on the river.  Visitors can watch boats going through locks as they travel the Okeechobee Waterway.  This is exactly what we got to do after we checked in and completed our set up at the campground.  The name of the campground didn’t prepare us that the locks were so accessible to visit!

We didn’t have an opportunity to do much else at Ortona South since we were only there for one night, but we did roam the wooded area around the locks before returning to our RV before sunset.  There were lots of wildlife in the area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil works.  Army civil works consists of three congressionally authorized business lines: navigation, flood and storm damage protection, and aquatic ecosystem restoration; and these army civil works usually occur in some incredibly beautiful areas.  Accordingly, COE operates over 2,400 COE campgrounds located throughout the United States.  COE campgrounds often border picturesque lakes and reservoirs that offer campers fishing, boating, water skiing and even scuba diving experiences. COE campsites are a very popular vacation destination for RVers and tent campers around the country. Most will offer roomy, scenic campsites, with somewhat simple amenities. Some have full hookups, but many offer electric or water/electric campsites only. You’ll usually find a dump station onsite, as well as basic–but clean–restrooms/shower facilities.  COE campgrounds charge affordable nightly rates based on the individual campsite. Rates vary depending on location, amenities offered, and season, with some sites offering basic tent camping for just $10 per night. Most COE campsites will be in the range of $30-$50.

Review of Ortona South Lock Campground

Ortona South Lock Campground offers 51 campsites.  All campsites have concrete pads, electric and water hookups, a fire ring and grill, and a covered picnic table. There are no sewer hookups at the sites, but the campground has a sanitary dump station.  Ortona also has restrooms with showers; however, these were not in working condition on the night we were there.  Ortona has a picnic pavilion for campers only, but day use visitors are allowed on site for fishing. The Ortona North Day Use Area also has a boat launch.   Ortona is a 25-minute drive from the Town of LaBelle, where you can find stores and restaurants.  Laundry Facilities are not currently available on site.   We really enjoyed getting to watch the locks in action at Ortona.  We probably wouldn’t return to Ortona unless we needed a stop for one evening again, but it is great to have these cheaper COE sites for such a purpose.