Hidden Pond

Hidden Pond is located in the Juniper Prairie Wilderness Area of the Ocala National Forest. It is an outstanding naturist camping area due to the fact that it can only be reached by foot (which will weed out most inexeperienced campers), and it is 3 1/2 to 6 miles of hiking to get there, depending on where you start. The main campsite is visible at the left of the "panoramic" photo above.

During the Summer months, even weekend camping in the buff is practical. There is no hunting allowed here, so in Fall, Winter and Spring there are probably a lot of people who do use the area. There are a number of campsites, and even if the place is "full" of people, you could easily camp naked in one of the more remote sites. (A lightweight "nudist area" sign would be a good idea to forewarn wandering neighbors.)

To the right is the "main" campsite adjacent to Hidden Pond itself. This view is taken away from the pond toward part of Juniper Prairie. Judging from the lack of ground vegetation here, this campsite is the heaviest used of all the sites.

Looking from the main campsite out across part of the Juniper Prairie. There is a faint trail going around the prairie area.

Here is a view of the pond itself from the campsite. Note the swimming area.

I started taking pictures of the other campsites, then realized there were too many of them and not enough film. So I just got a couple of representative sites. (In the process catching a few deer on film - they are not as shy as they would be if hunting took place here.)

Both of these sites are South of the main site along the edge of the prairie (actually a large lake-bed). There are more sites to the Northwest of the main site as well. The southernmost campsites would be the best naturist sites when there are a lot of other campers around.

Here's a curious young deer watching me from the edge of the prairie. Sorry it didn't maginify well. That's what I get for using a throw-away camera on a wilderness trip. Never again! (I hope.)

South of the Hidden Pond area itself is another "hidden" pond. I have found no name for it, so I call it Hidden Pond South. The trail leading to it is at the Southwest corner of the big prairie next to Hidden Pond. There is one usable campsite there.

Besides several campsites in the Hidden Pond area, there are a number of side trails, making it feasible to take side hikes without carrying your whole pack. Talk about freedom!