Naturist canoeing/hiking/camping on Rough Island

Rough Island has a long history of being a cattle operation. It is now property of South Florida Water Management District, and is open to the public for camping, hiking, etc. While there is a ford on the Dead River, only official vehicles can get in that way, making public access limited to boat only. Further, only canoes/kayaks and airboats can reach the camping area on the shallow Dead River, so even boat traffic is limited.

Airboaters tend to like conveniences like air conditioning and electric lights. In the heat of Summer, about the only people crazy enough to camp on Rough Island are the canoeists/kayakers. In general, they are more down-to-earth and unlikely to be offended at simple nudity.

These factors make Rough Island great for summertime naturist camping

Rough Island is mostly open prairie with some marsh around the edges, and some oak and palm hammocks.

There are literally dozens of great campsites if you are willing to hike a bit. I would recommend that you pack your gear in a backpack, and bring a bicycle lock and chain or cable to lock your canoe/kayak to a tree or signpost. Then after locking up your boat, you are able to hike to a campsite.

There is a 'main' site (shown below), but if you're there on a weekend, I'd recommend using a different site to avoid having airboaters move in for a party.

The GPS coordinates for the boat landing are N28� 02.638' W081� 21.704'

There is a cattle working camp where cows are tagged, immunized, etc., about 1 mile north of the main campsite (at GPS coordinates N28 03.426 W81 20.913). The camp has a hand-pump well with water so cold it made my water bottle sweat like a cold soda can. There is a sulphur taste to the water, but that's 'good for you'.

Further north and east from the cow camp (about 3/4 mile at GPS N28 03.678 W81 20.259) is this 'beach' on Lake Cypress.

The campsite below is between the main campsite and cow camp

Ranchers and other official vehicles are able to drive out to the island, and they do drive around to where the cows are. I had two deputies drive into my campsite on my first trip. They only asked if anyone knew where I was and how to reach me. They didn't say a word about my nudity. (Though they probably had a good story to tell back home.)