I have not posted since our camping
trip to Alabama in November. Like many of you, we had numerous activities and
events to attend and that kept us busy during the Christmas Season and it has taken me almost a month to catch up with other activities including surgery to Buddy's left thumb.
A week
prior to Christmas we traveled to outside of Tallahassee, Florida to Buddy’s
daughter, Angie, and son-in-law Danny’s home and had a very nice visit with
their daughter Hannah, son Joel and his fiancé Averi. Christmas day we
traveled to outside of Tampa, Florida to my daughter, Kelly, and son-in-law
Ryan's home and spent a week visiting with grandchildren (Brysen and Kenley)
there. Both families have yards that
accommodate our camping rig so it is always a nice visit.
Because it is a 10 hour return trip, pulling a camping rig, from Tampa
to Pensacola, we planned a stop-over camp at Pat Thomas Park campground located
west of Tallahassee and south of I-10. Pat Thomas Campground is situated on
Lake Talquin. The lake is a reservoir fed by the Ochlocknee River and is positioned in
two counties, Leon (south side) and Gadsden (north side). As a child and teen I
grew up fishing this lake with my grandfather, Louis Powell or "Put" to his friends. Lake Talquin, named for the two
towns the lake is situated between (Tallahassee and Quincy) is a man-made lake,
covering 10,000 acres, about 15 square miles, and is about 27 miles in length.
The 40 mile length around the lake that is not owned privately by numerous
individuals with cabins and homes is owned by the State of Florida and
classified as a State Recreation area, hopefully protected from further
development in order to maintain this outstanding waterway. The lake has
numerous nooks and crannies for quiet fishing and is well known as a premier
freshwater fishing destination with Largemouth and Stripped Bass, Speckled
Perch, Warmouth Bream, Shell cracker, Channel Catfish a plenty. Some of the
sweetest freshwater fish I have ever tasted have come from Talquin. The lake is also home to the Florida State
University Crew Club, a rowing club. Most of the shoreline and bottom is muddy
rather than sandy, and swimmers need to keep in mind that they are sharing the
water with alligators, turtles, and snakes. Only some parts of the lake are suitable for water skiing as there
are many submerged stumps that are not easily visible making boating treacherous. The lake is, however, a
good spot for day-sailing, canoeing, and the scenery is absolutely breath
taking.
Gadsden County in cooperation with the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission acquired and developed Pat Thomas County Park consisting of about
twenty acres. Located off the beaten path at the end of Hopkins Landing Road,
Pat Thomas Park offers a well-constructed boat ramp, a day use area with large
pavilion, grills, playground, and boardwalks/docks for fishing.
Tent camping (5
sites) is located on the west side along a small cove of the lake next to the
boat ramp.
The RV campground is located on the east side of the property and
features 13 sites with electric and water hook-up, a poured concrete patio,
small picnic table, typical park style grill. TV cable, sewer hook-up, and WiFi
are not available here. A dump station is available for use by RVs upon exit. Although
the station is situated on the opposite of the road, with a little pre-planning
and careful maneuvering one can dump their RV tanks and flush without
difficulty.
Verizon cell coverage is strong. A number of tv stations (over the
air) are available from the Tallahassee and Panama City area. Some sites are
pull-through while others require the camping rig to be backed in. The
campground is located on a slope, but for the most part the sites are designed
to be reasonably level. Most of the RV
sites have a wonderful view of the lake.
Pets are welcome but must be kept on a
6ft leash. During our stay the campground was at less than half occupancy. The
sites are situated a little close without any natural buffers, so during busy
times it could get a little cramped.Numerous docks and boardwalks are constructed in this facility making it easy to fish or just enjoy the view.
A small Walmart, with fuel station, was located about a 10 minute drive
to the north on C.R. 267 just north of the I-10 interchange. The small town of
Quincy was located about 5 additional minutes drive time north of the Walmart.
We enjoyed our stay at Pat Thomas Campground and plan to return.
