The campground is free, and it's a pretty place under the oaks, right by the lake. The toilets are chemical, but the state is hesitant to make improvements on a campground that will no longer be waterfront if the dam comes down and the reservoir is drained. It's a Marion County park dedicated to Will McLean, the late Florida troubadour. The Ocklawaha isn't much more than a wide creek here now because of the long drought. But it has bathrooms and you can picnic or camp there.
Canoeists use it, mostly.
There are plenty of free brochures and maps, along with books for sale and stuffed bear cubs on display. A 1.5-mile trail behind the center goes back down the to Ocklawaha River. The department has a substation in the median of U.S. 441 south of Ocala. It's a big, wide median. Back there are four stanchions built in 1935 to carry the highway over the canal.