Camping at Beautiful Fort De Soto

We recently discovered a fabulous campground near a beach on the gulf! When neighbors told us about Fort De Soto Park, it sounded too good to be true! It took us a while to get a reservation there. Luckily, it just so happened to be right after Griffin’s college graduation! What a great place to celebrate! I’m so excited to tell you about our camping trip at beautiful Fort De Soto Park and campground!

The Details of Fort Desoto park

Fort De Soto Park is made up of five interconnected islands or keys that cover 1,136 acres! There are tons of things to do in the park. Enjoy the East or North Beach, two fishing piers, playgrounds, snack bars, a historic fort and museum, hiking on nature trails, and a fabulous campground!

Location

3500 Pinellas Bayway South

Tierra Verde, FL 33715

727-582-2100

RATES

Day use

Anyone can go to Fort De Soto Park for the day, but you must pay a $5 parking fee. If you are staying in the campground, you do not have to pay the fee.

Tolls

We were surprised at the number of toll booths in the area. Be prepared to pay a $1 toll to cross the bridge into Tierra Verde, to get access to the park and campground.  If you want to go into St Pete, you have to pay a 75 cent toll on the Pinellas Byway.

Camping

Tents, vans, and pop-ups (sites 1-85)  $33.50

Other RV/trailers (sites 86-236)  $38.50

To get a map of the entire park click here.

The campground

Facilities

You can choose from 236 campsites equipped with water, electric hook-ups (30-50 amp), a picnic table, and a charcoal grill. The campground is divided into three different areas. If you bring a pet, they are allowed in Area 2, on sites 86-164 only!

Reservations

It is very hard to get a reservation for sites with a water view.  Even non-water view sites are hard to come by, especially on the weekends.  Be prepared to book at least seven months in advance, unless you can camp on weekdays.

Why we love Fort De Soto

Great Campsites

We love the campsites at Fort De Soto. Although they are close in proximity to each other, the landscaping makes them feel more private. Lots of palms and trees divide the sites. Our site was very long and flat, which made the set-up very simple! It was very shady and had a tropical feel. We were at campsite 157.

Our site was on the interior side, so we didn’t have a view of the water. Well, not much water. We did have this tiny bit of water to look at!

This is campsite # 149, it was across the street from us, and you can see the water through the trees. So pretty, calm, and relaxing!

Here’s a view of the sun setting from campsite #149! Isn’t it gorgeous!

Bath House

For a campground to get our seal of approval, it has to have a clean bathhouse. Our camper has a tiny bathroom, which makes it very difficult to take a shower! We prefer to shower at the bathhouse! Fortunately, they clean the facilities every day!

I found the bathhouse’s round shape architecturally interesting! It is not air-conditioned but was not very hot, even though the temperature was in the high 80’s each day. There is a washer and dryer at every bathhouse. Outside the restrooms, they provide free plastic bags to dispose of dog doo, woohoo!!

What we did at Fort De soto

the beach 

The main reason we went to Fort De Soto was to enjoy the beach and relax! We loved that the beach was a short drive from our camper! There are actually 3 miles of beautiful, white sandy beach. So the first thing we did was to decide where to set up our umbrella and chairs! We had to choose between the East and North Beach! Here’s a little information on each!

East beach

The East Beach sits in front of the historic fort. The beach is not very wide in this area, but it has several wooden walkways for easy access to the beach! This area is great if you have a lot of items you are carrying and don’t want to drag them through the soft sand. Or if someone in your group needs a handicap-accessible way to get to the beach.

North beach

The North beach is much wider and has these interesting waterways to splash around in! Both beaches have nice restrooms, snack bars, and souvenir shops!

We decided to put our umbrella and chairs on the North beach. Here’s our little piece of heaven!! Poor Rich had to drag our cute little red wagon all the way across that soft sand. Oh well, it was worth it, and he has more muscles now!

Explore the fort

This is the view from the top of Fort De Soto. It is camouflaged with sand and brush, so you can’t even tell it’s there from the beachside. If you’d like info on the Fort click here.

Birding

Our youngest son, Harrison, has become a bird enthusiast! Needless to say, he was very excited because Fort De Soto is a bird-watchers paradise. Over 328 species of birds have been documented here, and he couldn’t wait to add a few new birds to his list! Here are a few of his favorite birds that he spotted!

TAKE EXCURSION TO OUtBACK KEY AND SHELL KEY

Now I’m going to turn the post over to Rich, so he can tell you about the excursion he and Harrison took to look for birds and shells!

The ferry to Shell Key

For $25 per person, you can take a ferry ride with Hubbard’s Marina, over to Shell Key. Book online here and find info on drop-off and pickup times.

There is a bonus if you take the early ferry to Shell Key. They actually make a stop at Outback Key first. You can disembark there and head to Shell Key later. They recommended you spend 2 hours on Outback Key and then board the next ferry to Shell Key for the remainder of your time. We took their recommendation, and it was great. Outback Key is actually a sand bar that’s connected to the northernmost end of North Beach. Although it is not officially part of Fort De Soto Park, many people pull up their boats to enjoy this thin strip of beach. Beware there are no bathrooms at either key, except, of course, for bushes and the ocean. However, there is one bathroom on the ferry for emergencies. The ferry has a few snacks and beverages for sale, as well as bags for collecting shells.

Find Shells, Birds, and Other Creatures

Shell Key and Outback Key are absolutely beautiful. There are lots of shells to find as well. The best shell I found was occupied so I put it back. Well hello there Mr. Hermit Crab.

Lots of other creatures too, especially a variety of crabs. Easy to see in the clear water and fun to catch and observe. Bring a net, but be careful not to harm them and let them go later.

Lots of birds to be observed which are Harrison’s favorite. This is one of the only places to see the Oyster Catcher with the orange bill shown above.

Hubbard’s Marina also has a Dolphin Boat tour, but we got to see many dolphins on the way back to the marina. The captain stopped the boat several times to let us take pictures and watch these beautiful creatures. I highly recommend taking this little side excursion during your stay at Fort De Soto.

our celebration

We had a fabulous time camping at Fort De Soto and can’t wait to go back again! Oh yes, and I can’t forget to show you these special pictures of our newest college graduate in the family!! He chose to stay in Florida to finish school online, so he did not walk during the ceremony. Since he didn’t get a cap and gown, we bought a special cap to commemorate the occasion!! We are so proud of him!!! Here he is, wearing the red and black of Miami University!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the details of our camping trip to the beautiful Fort De Soto Park and campground! We love to travel and camp, and we’ll have lots more adventures to share in the future! We have one other post about camping in the Fall, if you’d like to see it, click here.

Blessings, Donna and Rich