Oak Hammock (Potts Preserve)

public land records

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

FREE by the agency's own published statement. SWFWMD camping page (https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/camping), downloaded raw this fire and string-matched locally: "Camping is allowed in designated campsites only and requires a free reservation. A valid permit of Special Use Authorization is required before arrival." Reservations "must be made no later than the day prior to the start of the camping permit" and only 2 may be held per family group at a time. STAY LIMIT: "Camping is limited to no more than seven consecutive days and 30 total days per calendar year", per the District's rule-change news release (https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/about/newsroom/news/district-announces-changes-camping-rules-effective-october-1), which also sets arrival at 3 p.m. and departure by 11 a.m. and notes the District "may revoke a camping permit" for non-compliance with Chapter 40D-9, F.A.C. SITE TYPE: SWFWMD GIS records this as "Equestrian camping" on "Potts Preserve". camp_type is derived from the District's own definitions, not guessed: backcountry sites are "accessible only by foot or from a water body" (hike), while at primitive and equestrian sites personal vehicles and horse trailers may be driven in (drive). RESTROOM per the layer: "ADA accessible". NOT A PARTNER SITE: SWFWMD's layer carries a PARTNERSITE column naming the outside agency that runs a campground; this row's PARTNERSITE is empty. Every row with a partner (Colt Creek State Park, Edward Medard Park, Withlacoochee River Park, Starkey, Myakka State Forest, Two Mile Prairie/Withlacoochee State Forest, Alafia River Corridor, Chassahowitzka RV) was excluded - those charge, or somebody else sets the price. SEASONAL/FIRE: the District posts closures on its recreation pages (its camping page was carrying a "1 recreation site is closed" banner on 2026-08-16) - check before you go. "Campfires are only permitted in fire rings"; firewood from the ground only, "DO NOT cut any standing trees, dead or alive"; quiet hours 10 p.m.-7 a.m.; no trash receptacles, pack it all out. COORDINATE: the District's OWN mapped campsite point, pulled live this fire from services1.arcgis.com/gdr0FcZCwx1BmrQk/.../RecreationGuide/FeatureServer/4 ("Camping Locations"), outSR=4326. NEAREST TOWN: Inverness, about 4.7 mi in a straight line (US Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer place internal point). STRAIGHT-LINE, NOT DRIVING DISTANCE. Ingest 2026-08-16 10:52:36 (fire 800, FL thin-state fill). RE-VERIFIED 2026-08-18 (night shift, FL backlog review). Re-fetched LIVE this fire: the District's own "Camping Locations" layer https://services1.arcgis.com/gdr0FcZCwx1BmrQk/arcgis/rest/services/RecreationGuide/FeatureServer/4 (59 features, no transfer limit hit) and the SWFWMD camping page https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/camping . The row's OBJECTID is still present and its coordinate still agrees to within 25 m; PARTNERSITE is still empty. The camping page still says "Camping is allowed in designated campsites only and requires a free reservation. A valid permit of Special Use Authorization is required before arrival" and still caps stays at "seven consecutive days". camp_type re-derived from the page's own live definitions -- Backcountry = "accessible only by foot or from a water body" (hike); Primitive = "Only personal vehicles are allowed in the campsites" and Equestrian = "Horse trailers may be driven into equestrian campsites" (drive) -- and it matches what the row already carried. Checked against the District's OWN recreation-site browser https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/sites (all three result pages, 69 sites): this row's property is NOT flagged "(Cooperatively Managed)" and its property page does list Camping under Site Features. Checked against the live closure list https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/closed-recreation-sites : this property is not on it. No coordinate duplicate against any published FL camp -- checked on COORDINATES, not name, against all 43 published FL rows at a 250 m threshold. NAME COLLISION, DELIBERATELY NOT TREATED AS A DUPLICATE: swfwmd-camp-63 carries the identical name "Oak Hammock (Potts Preserve)" 101 m away; see that row. This one is the District's "Equestrian camping" site, 63 is "Primitive camping". SEPARATE DATA-QUALITY NOTE ON THE AGENCY'S SIDE: this feature's WATER_AVAILABLE_TXT reads "Portalet", which is a restroom value sitting in the water column -- an evident data-entry error by SWFWMD. This row correctly makes NO water claim as a result, and none should be added on the strength of that field. DECISION: status pending -> approved.

US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.