Suwannee River Rendezvous Resort & Campground

09/01/2026

🌲 THE FLORIDA COUNTY WITH A LOST COUNTY SEAT 🌲

Did you know that a stay at Suwannee River Rendezvous places you in one of Florida’s smallest—and most historically interesting—counties?

Lafayette County was established in 1856 from part of Madison County. It originally included all of present-day Lafayette and Dixie counties. Dixie County was not separated from it until 1921.

The county was named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who helped the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Congress once granted Lafayette land near Tallahassee—but he never visited his Florida property.

The county seat was not always Mayo. It was originally New Troy, a Suwannee River community served by steamboats and a ferry. After its courthouse burned on New Year’s Eve in 1892, voters moved the county seat to Mayo in 1893.

New Troy then faded away. Houses were dismantled for lumber and bricks, fields returned to forest, steamboat service ended in 1899 and the ferry closed in 1917. Today, Mayo is Lafayette County’s only incorporated town.

Here’s another “I didn’t know that” fact: the Hal W. Adams Bridge north of Mayo became Florida’s first suspension bridge when it opened across the Suwannee River in 1947. Its main span stretches 423 feet.

Lafayette County also hides an enormous world underground. Lafayette Blue Spring can discharge as much as 168 million gallons of 72-degree water in a day. Divers have surveyed more than 12,000 feet of its Green Sink cave system—including underground rooms nearly 100 feet wide.

With 8,226 residents recorded in the 2020 Census, Lafayette is Florida’s second-least-populated county. The Suwannee River forms its entire eastern boundary, helping preserve the quiet, rural character visitors experience today.

When you stay at Suwannee River Rendezvous, you aren’t merely visiting a campground. You’re staying in a county of vanished towns, historic bridges, hidden caves and stories that helped shape Old Florida.

📍 828 NE Primrose Road, Mayo, Florida
📞 386-294-2510

09/01/2026

🕊️ FROM ANCIENT MESSENGERS TO SATURDAY RACES 🕊️

Did you know pigeon racing grew from one of the world’s oldest communication systems?

People have used pigeons to carry messages for more than 5,000 years. Long before telephones or radios, a tiny message attached to a pigeon could travel faster than a person on horseback.

Modern pigeon racing developed in Belgium during the early 1800s. Specially bred homing pigeons were transported away from their lofts and released together. Each bird raced back to its own home—sometimes from hundreds of miles away.

Here’s something many people don’t know: the winner is not simply the first pigeon seen landing.

Because lofts are in different locations, officials calculate each bird’s average speed using the distance traveled and arrival time. In early American races, handlers sometimes rushed a bird’s identifying mark to a telegraph office. Mechanical pigeon clocks and numbered leg bands arrived in the late 1800s; today, electronic bands record arrivals.

Pigeons also became wartime heroes. During World War I, the U.S. Army used them when telephone and radio communication failed. More than 90% of pigeon-carried messages reportedly reached their destinations.

One of the most famous birds was Cher Ami. Wounded by gunfire, the pigeon completed a critical 25-mile flight in 1918 and was credited with helping stop American artillery from striking the surrounded “Lost Battalion.” Cher Ami received France’s Croix de Guerre and is preserved at the Smithsonian.

Here at Suwannee River Rendezvous, our Pigeon Races began in 2012 with homing pigeons. What started as one unusual campground activity became a Saturday tradition that guests still gather to watch and cheer.

Our races are for fun, but every bird carries a legacy of navigation, competition and teamwork.

The next time you see our pigeons take flight, remember: you’re watching the descendants of athletes and messengers that once connected cities, carried news and helped save soldiers.

🕒 Saturdays at 3 PM
📍 Pigeon Coop at Suwannee River Rendezvous

08/31/2026

08/30/2026

What you’re looking at is the destruction of someone at our Primrose Park family pool. Everyone knows these are not there as a toy but they are there to assist someone in need. This is our family section pool and I’m assuming parents were there. I only wish that all our guests can understand that we try and provide a safe environment and everyone’s help in keeping our safety equipment available and functioning is appreciated. It’s only if and when you needed this, you realize the impact that this destruction causes.

08/30/2026

🏕️ HOW SEVEN ACRES BECAME A RENDEZVOUS 🏕️

Did you know Suwannee River Rendezvous didn’t begin as the large RV resort guests see today?

Its modern story began in 2008 with just seven acres along the Suwannee River. The original lower property had only a few buildings and a primitive camping area near Convict Spring.

But people had been gathering on this land long before the first RV arrived. In the early 1900s, the property was used as a remote camp for prisoners working on Lafayette County road crews—the history behind the name Convict Spring.

The campground began growing quickly. Another 20 acres were added in 2009, followed by seven more in 2010. By 2012, the Upper Rendezvous had been developed with 136 additional RV sites, a dog park, barn and pigeon coop.

In only four years, a small primitive river campground had grown into a true North Florida destination.

Here’s another “I didn’t know that” part of our story: the campground’s Pigeon Races began in 2012 with homing pigeons. The flock later included Birmingham Rollers—a special breed known for performing rapid backward somersaults while flying!

What started as one unusual idea became one of our best-known Saturday traditions.

Today, Suwannee River Rendezvous covers roughly 65 acres and offers about 1,800 feet of Suwannee River shoreline. Guests can choose from RV and tent camping, rooms, cabins and vacation houses while enjoying pools, paddling, fishing, food at the Cookin’ Shack and activities throughout the year.

But beneath everything modern is still the heart of the original seven acres: an old riverbank, a natural spring and a place where people gather.

Many campgrounds are built around a pool or clubhouse. Suwannee River Rendezvous grew outward from the Suwannee River and Convict Spring—and that is what makes this campground unlike anywhere else.

📍 828 NE Primrose Road, Mayo, Florida
📞 386-294-2510