Florida provides year-around opportunity for tent camping due to its semitropical climate characterized by warm, humid summers and moderately cold winters. The mild nature of winter climate is good enough for one to make use of a summer tent (available in three varieties of one-season, two-season or the warm weather version). However, if one is camping during the summer or spring season, one must make sure to safeguard against surprise downpours.



One can also make use of a rainfly or a canopy to prevent the water inflow. On days when the forecast indicates likely showers, it will be best to put up a three-season well-ventilated camping tent for extra protection from rain.

The one-season and three-season tents commonly have a mesh that lets in the gulf and ocean winds while filtering out the unwanted insects. The tents that feature either the tucked-in mosquito net, mesh or zipped-up doors, prevent Florida's six deadly varieties of snakes - timber rattlesnake, southern copperhead, dusky pygmy rattlesnake, cottonmouth, coral snake and the eastern diamond rattlesnake from venturing inside.

People who are used to such terrain normally pitch their tents at considerable distance from the tall grass, titi, brush, saw palmetto thickets, rock piles and wet regions close to swamps, rivers and marshes that are usual snake breeding grounds. It is always recommended that you shake your camping gear well before use.

If you look-up online, many websites classify tent camping destinations in Florida into the following five areas:

-North Western Florida (Pensacola, Tallahassee and Panama City)

-North Eastern Florida (Gainesville, Jacksonville and Starke)

-Central Florida (Ocala, St. Augustine and Lakeland)

-South Western Florida (Sarasota, Naples and Sebring)

-South Eastern Florida (Key West, Miami and Key Largo)

An interactive map of Florida featuring all the state parks and all the above-mentioned areas can be found at the website of Florida Division of Recreation and Parks: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/default.htm.

Florida offers a total of 159 parks spanning over 723,000 acre natural habitat including wetlands, forests, rivers and many lakes for fishing, swimming, hiking, boating and camping. If you're more of a coastline lover with a penchant for sea, sun and sand, then you have a choice to pitch your camping tent at the campsite stretching up to 100 miles of the coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexican Gulf.

Besides the privately owned sites and state parks, there are plenty other opportunities for tent camping in Florida seashores and the national parks. More information regarding these can be obtained from the following website: http://home.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/state.cfm'st=fl.

Florida also has 4 national forests that are very primitive and provide various camping grounds that need no prior booking. You can refer to the national forest's website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/ for more details and directions.

As regards wildlife, it is highly improbable that you will witness the presence of the state animal, Florida Panther, while camping in Florida. In the event that you come across an American Alligator or the Florida Black Bear, it will be wise to give them room for passing. You will most likely get to hear a sweet song by the Florida's state bird, Northern Mockingbird. She'll either sing her own composition or present a cover version of the sounds produced by the other birds for you! If tent camping in central part of Florida, you will see the endangered Florida Scrub Jay; while in pine forests, it is advisable to watch out for the nearly extinct Red-cockaded woodpecker.

If relaxing in the coastline parks, you will have pelicans, sea gulls and terns well within your visibility range. Also spotted there can be herons, egrets and many other long-legged birds. With such excess of natural beauty in the form of forests, wildlife, water and the climate, tent camping in Florida will become a delight even under an overcast weather.