Q: I was searching for a campground and happened upon your Web site. It is great! Keep up the good work, it is now in my bookmarks. I am looking into camping in Florida for a week. I would like to know if there are any campsites that aren't really far south in Florida that offer camping with a waterfront/beach and that allow campfires in the camping area. I seem to be having trouble trying to find one that offers campfires. As, what is the point of camping without a campfire? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, I would also like the campground around a golf course; siteseeing and major attractions (Disney World) aren't a necessity. Thank you -- JuliAnn

A: Thank you, JuliAnn, for your kind words about the EcoFlorida Web site.

Before I recommend some campgrounds to you, let me address the campfire question. You're right; there's nothing like a crackling, warm campfire to sit around with friends and make you feel that you're truly roughing it in the outdoors. Most Florida state park campgrounds allow fires; perhaps you've been contacting private campgrounds that think a fire is too much of a liability. But in any case, any kind of outdoor fire may be prohibited when drought conditions exist. (This goes for homeowners, too.) Florida has experienced a drought for about 2 years, which some believe may be lifting. But winter is the dry season in Florida -- it doesn't usually rain during the cooler months. Right now, the ban on outdoor fires has been lifted, but no one should be surprised or dismayed if a campground owner or a ranger decides the campground is too dry to allow fires.

As for a campground, you may want to check out Panhandle-area beach campgrounds I've already listed in a previous Q&A. Of those, I believe Grayton and St. Andrews are close to golf. You may also want to try Fort Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach and Little Talbot Island State Park in Jacksonville.

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