Rodman Recreation Area & Campground

About Us

Welcome to Rodman Recreation Area
The upstream reservoir side of the earthen dam, adjacent to the spillway, provides excellent bank fishing opportunities.

The reservoir side is known for its bass, bream, catfish and mullet.

The Rodman Recreation Area is comprised of the facilities and recreational opportunities surrounding and located upon the former Rodman Dam, designated by the Florida Legislature as the Kirkpatrick Dam in 1998 (named after former State Senator George Kirkpatrick, who was an ardent defender of keeping the dam and reservoir intact).

The 7,200-foot-long earthen dam has a four-gate spillway designed to discharge up to 36,000 cubic feet per second of water from the Rodman Reservoir, which is located on the upstream side of the dam and spillway. The approximately 9,500-acre reservoir has a drainage basin of almost 2,800 square miles, and its headwaters start in the Green Swamp and Lake Apopka.

The recreation area is located approximately 0.75 miles west of the Rodman Campground on Rodman Dam Road.

Freshwater fishing is the primary recreational pursuit with bank fishing opportunities on the downstream discharge side of the spillway; two accessible recreational fishing piers are located there. There is one wooden pier on the eastern side of the spillway discharge channel and an aluminum pier on the western side.

The moving water flowing through the spillway and down past the fishing piers provide excellent freshwater fishing opportunities, which include species such as bass, bream, catfish and more. There are also hardened areas along the spillway wing wal