Perry KOA Holiday

Rain, Cold, and a Last-Minute Upgrade

KOA Perry, Florida: A Senior Traveler’s Honest Review

Where Southern Comfort Meets the Great Outdoors — Cabins, Campfires, and a Few Laughs Along the Way

If you’ve ever watched the weather forecast do a complete 180 on your camping plans, welcome to the club. I planned on staying at KOA Perry with a perfectly good tent setup, only to discover after reviewing the weather before leaving my house that Mother Nature had other ideas involving cold temperatures and a whole lot of rain. As any traveler over 60 knows, sleeping in a soggy tent stopped being an adventure somewhere around 1987. One quick phone call on my way there with the front office, I was upgraded to a basic cabin, and honestly, it turned out to be one of the better camping decisions I’ve made in recent memory.

KOA Perry sits in the bend of Florida, making it a natural stop for travelers heading west to Alabama, North to Georgia, east to Jacksonville, south to Miami, depending on where you are coming from, or anyone using it as a home base for exploring the bend of Florida. It delivers the reliable KOA quality seniors appreciate, with a few pleasant surprises and one or two quirks thrown in for character.

The Cabins, Bathrooms & Amenities

The basic cabins are cozy and well-equipped, each with an outdoor grill and enough room to be genuinely comfortable. But here’s the detail that you don’t see very often:

Each cabin came with its own fire poker.

I know that sounds small, but there’s something about arriving and finding that someone thought, “These folks are going to want to poke their fire.” That’s attentive. That’s good hosting. The tent sites are also quite nice, work table/bench, electricity, picnic tables, and fire rings. The deluxe cabins are available for those who prefer more comfort, and RV sites with full hook-ups round out the options.

Parking Was a Bummer

Now for the one legitimate gripe about the basic cabins: at most KOA locations, you park right next to your cabin. Not here. Basic cabin guests park in a shared lot that isn’t adjacent to the units. If you’re hauling a cooler, luggage, and camping gear, and let’s be honest, we don’t exactly travel light, that extra walk is worth knowing about in advance, especially if mobility (or in my case rain!!!) is a concern.

The cabins sit near the front of the park, so there is some road noise. I travel with a white noise machine for exactly this reason, and once that was running I didn’t notice a thing. If you don’t own one, get one, it’s one of the best investments a senior traveler can make. I also travel with a fan but it was too cold for that. Did I mention the cabin had heat?

Spotless Bathrooms

The bathrooms deserve their own standing ovation. Each one is an individual, private room with its own toilet, sink, and shower. No communal arrangements, no mystery puddles. They were spotless, hotel-quality spotless. As someone for whom campground bathroom cleanliness ranks right up there with location on my priority list, this was a major win.

The rest of the amenity lineup is solid: a pool, an on-site propane filling station, a K-9 area for traveling pets, a playground, and a well-stocked camp store that covers most of those “I can’t believe I forgot” moments. There’s also a large building available for group gatherings with a slop sink on the side, which I used to wash my dishes before learning I was supposed to use the sink in the tent area. In my defense, that sink was not exactly next door to my cabin, and there was no signage about what’s for whom. Consider yourself warned.

One more note for tent campers: the covered communal area includes a Blackstone-style flat-top grill, which is a nice perk, but it needed a solid scrubbing when I saw it. Bring a grill scraper if you plan to use it. Cabin guests have individual grills, which is a definite advantage.

Staff, Wi-Fi & Accessibility

The staff were fantastic, warm, helpful, and genuinely Southern in the best possible way. My last-minute cabin upgrade was handled without any fuss, and the office team made me feel like a welcomed guest rather than a logistical inconvenience. Five stars, no hesitation.

Wi-Fi is standard campground fare: fine for email, video calls, and scrolling, but don’t expect to stream movies without buffering. A mobile hotspot is a good backup if you rely on a steady connection. Cell coverage in the Perry area is generally solid for major carriers. I have Spectrum mobile which use Verizon lines and my phone and internet worked fine.

On accessibility: the individual private bathrooms are a genuine plus for guests with mobility needs. However, the parking-away-from-cabins situation could be a real challenge if walking distance is a concern. I’d strongly recommend calling ahead to ask about ADA-accessible options, in my experience, KOA staff are accommodating when you communicate your needs in advance.

Exploring the Area: More Than You’d Expect

Here are some highlights worth building into your itinerary:

Parks & Nature

Forest Capitol Museum State Park is 1 mile from the KOA. It’s kind of a strange set up for a state park with a museum and small park. See my post about this park. Check Out Forest Capitol Museum State Park
Lafayette Blue Springs State Park is about 23 miles away from the KOA. One of the area’s natural springs parks. Florida springs are genuinely stunning, crystal-clear, constant 68°F water, swimming, snorkeling, and wildlife viewing all in one spot. A classic North Florida experience that never gets old.
Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park is located about 30 miles from the KOA. The park features one of the longest underwater cave systems in the continental United States, with cave divers traveling from all over the world to explore nearly 33,000 feet of surveyed underwater passages. But it’s not just for divers, an award-winning 1.2-mile nature trail provides an above-ground cave diving experience, offering a way to trace the path of an underwater cave system while staying completely dry. Swimming in Peacock Springs and Orange Grove Sink are also popular activities during the summer. I have an article coming soon on this park.

Museums & Attractions

Taylor County Veterans Memorial Park & Museum (900 N. Jefferson St.)- The names of 924 Taylor County veterans are presented on 11 walls, with an eternal flame built from white marble and black granite monuments honoring veterans of World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and the War on Terror. It was funded and built by veterans themselves. A meaningful, moving stop, especially for senior travelers with military connections.
Taylor County Historical Society– Dedicated members work to keep Taylor County’s history alive and current. Small but worth a peek if you enjoy local history.

Dining

Deal’s Famous Oyster House– Known as one of the best budget-friendly dining options in Perry, specializing in seafood with oysters as the highlight. A casual, authentic Florida seafood house atmosphere that captures the local culinary tradition.
Graves Drive-In– An all-American retro-style diner in Perry serving hamburgers, milkshakes, and fries since 1949. A true local landmark with over 75 years in business. If you like a good burger with a side of nostalgia, this is your place.
Mama’s Italian Family Restaurant– Homemade Italian family recipes made fresh daily, featuring pasta, pizza, fresh hand-cut steaks, and seafood. A surprisingly good Italian option for a small Florida town, with a genuine family backstory going back generations.
Backdoor Bistro and Coffeehouse– Consistently appears on Perry’s top restaurant lists and sounds like a nice casual spot for a relaxed lunch or coffee.
Martin’s Firepit BBQ & Steakhouse– One of Yelp’s top-rated restaurants in Perry, great for those who want BBQ or a proper steak dinner after a day of exploring.

NOTE: I did not eat at any of the places I listed above. They are for your reference only. I used the KOA grill at the cabin and prepared my own food. Hey, it’s camping right?

Pros & Cons

Pros

Immaculate private bathrooms- individual rooms with toilet, sink, and shower
Warm, genuinely helpful staff
Solid range of options: tent sites, RV hook-ups, basic and deluxe cabins
On-site propane station, well-stocked store, K-9 area, pool, and playground
That fire poker in every cabin- the little things matter
Easy I-75 access and a great location for exploring Perry and the surrounding area

Cons

Basic cabin parking is in a separate lot- a real consideration for guests with mobility issues
Road noise from the front-of-park cabin location (a white noise machine fixes this)
Communal tent-area grill needed cleaning; signage about shared amenities could be clearer
Wi-Fi is campground-standard, adequate, not blazing

Final Thoughts

KOA Perry does what a good campground should: it takes care of the basics so well that you stop worrying about where you’re sleeping and start focusing on where you’re exploring. The bathrooms alone are worth the stay. Add in genuinely friendly staff, a convenient location, and easy access to some of Perry’s best attractions, and you’ve got a reliable home base that punches above its weight class.

The parking situation is a legitimate inconvenience, and the road noise is real, but neither is a dealbreaker. When the weather turned on me and I needed that last-minute pivot from tent to cabin, the staff made it seamless. That kind of warmth and flexibility matters more than you’d think when you’re on the road. If I’m passing through Perry, Florida, I’m stopping here. Without question.

Would I stay again? Absolutely. See you at the fire pit.