If you want to camp by the water, then Fort De Soto may be the best spot on the west coast of Florida south of the Panhandle. Having said that, if you want the best experience at Fort De Soto there are a few things you should know before booking your site.

Fort De Soto Campground is extremely popular making it difficult to get reservations. Plan way ahead to get a decent selection of sites. Weekends, as you might imagine, are packed. So, if you can camp during the week it will increase your chances of getting reservations within a month or two.

Be prepared for rain especially in the summer months, and know that the rain will drain toward the water. 

There are 3 distinct areas for camping at Fort De Soto. All 3 are beautiful and have great campsite but #1 (sites 1-85) is the least desirable. Area #2 is pet friendly. If you're bringing your dog this is where you'll need to camp. However, if you don't have a dog you may want to avoid this area as the barking is non-stop. Area #3 is the most beautiful and most quiet of the 3 areas. 

There is no alcohol allowed so prepare accordingly.

Spend time at Fort De Soto Park a few miles down the road. Bring your bikes or rent them at the campground and take the paved bike path along the highway into the Park. There are 2 fishing piers, a dog beach, a long humans-only beach, the Historic Fort De Soto, kayaking, beautiful views, and more.  

You can also take a ferry to Shell Key Island or Egmont Key State Park. If you bring your tent and gear onto the ferry, you can camp at Shell Key with a permit. Egmont has a large population of Gopher Tortoise. You can't touch them as they are endangered, but you can get great photos. 

See our more detailed review at https://lifestyleover50.com/fort-de-soto-campground-review-and-tips/. You'll also be able to see articles on other Florida Road Trips and more! Happy road trippin' and camping!

This is a great place to camp with many great waterfront sites. We camp there a lot all year round. Sit your chair in the water and kick back, kayak, fish, watch the shore bird catch fish. It's a short drive to the one of the most beautiful white sandy beaches Fort De Soto Beach. It's free to get on the beach it's included in your campsite fee.  Nice sunsets and love watching a good storm roll in off the gulf. 

Book in advance it's hard to get in this campground. Every Friday at 7 am they list 10 or 20 sites they hold back but you have to grab it quick they are gone within minutes. 

There are so many shore birds, Dolphins, Manatees especially if you Kayak or Canoe and yes there are Racoon's so don't leave anything out even in the daytime. Saw a guy setting up a tent with the back of his SUV open and guess what was in there checking out his food. 

We love to kayak and watch the manatee play they are curious and will come itch their backs and bellies in your kayak. While paddling along the cormorants will follow you to catch small fish when the the paddles dig in the water it stirs up the fish. The Raccoons eat dead horseshoe crabs and dig for fiddler crabs. It’s all fun to watch. For anyone that believes Raccoons only come out at night you will learn that's not true.

The restrooms are nice,  the only problem they clean them around 8 or 9 am they close them so you may have to go to another one in the campground. There are 2 dump stations and a little  camp store, you can rent a fire pit or bring your own. A big boat ramp close less than a 5 minute drive. 

Several restaurants with in a 5 minute drive, Tony and Nello's, Billy's stone crab, Island Grill, Marco's Pizza (Marcos Pizza delivers to the campsite), and Sushi Rock grill maybe 10 minute drive.

Ft De Soto beach is beautiful white soft sand, 2 fishing piers, concession stands, great views and an old fort free to tour. Egmont key is off the tip of the beach well worth taking the ferry over to spend the day. Pack a cooler there isn’t anywhere on Egmont to buy anything. St. Petersburg beach, Treasure Island beach and others close by. Down town St Pete fun times and good eats, shopping and museums.

Heading towards the beach after the pay station there's a building where the big American Flag is that has some neat artifacts that were found out there along with  different shells to look at & sometimes a photo contest is up on the wall. As you drive towards the fort there is a fishing pier there off the same parking lot as the Fort that has a little museum (looks like a little house) has some great things in it. It's free to walk through and enjoy.

I find myself torn between four and five stars on this campground. It turned out being everything we expected and more. As an camper with northern roots, I have found it hard to camp in Florida. This campground helped me relieve those worries. 

I will start by saying that this campground is south of St. Pete and north of Ana Maria Island. We drove down from Orlando and it took us under two hours. We hit some traffic on 275 and the Parkway, but it is expected. There are two tolls (1.00 and .75) before you hit the park. One thing we learned and a good pointer is that if you intend on going into the park (which you probably will), you should go in and register BEFORE you go to the beach, even if before check in time. By paying for your site, they provide you a beach pass for two vehicles, which saves $5 each on parking. 

The check in process was very simple. We arrived about an hour early and got everything set up. We were told to stop back between 12:30 and 1 (Advise that check in is at 1pm, so getting in early is not a guaranteed or expected result). The parking lot is a bit awkward, as the camper/trailer line blocks views and actual spots for cars..but it is trivial. 

We had rented site 28 (mostly because it was one of the only ones available and best of the litter). There are three loops, and we were in the 1-86 loop. There are no pets and no RV's allowed, which was perfect for us. Most of the outer side of the loop has some sort of water. Water does not mean access. It seemed that the higher numbers (40+) had less access to water and more of a mangrove area. Depths of sites also varied widely. We must have done the camping gods some good, because we hit the site karma. Our site was nice and deep, with a weird little island (former tree/stump) in the middle. This actually made us divide the tent area up into two sides, which worked out well. The site has plenty of options for both clothes lines and hammocks. We opted to put the "kitchen" towards the back of the site with the water view, and fire bin (rented for $3 from the campground office). We had neighbors on both sides and across (this places always sells out) and it was still fairly secluded. They did a great job at keeping a lot of natural growth to maintain privacy and a true tropical feel. There was plenty of shade, but also plenty of sunshine when you wanted it. This site also gets direct sunlight after about 9am (based on mid october), so plan accordingly. It gets toasty :) We have an inflatable raft that we took out in the water. We were greeted by dolphins, sting rays and manatees. 

The bath house is pretty central and literally across the road from our site. We had expected a much further walk based on the map, but it was just a 1 minute walk. They were ample, but nothing to write home about. They clean them daily, so they are not bad. The showers leave a lot to be desired with water pressure and privacy. They share a common area with stalls and cheap liners that offer little privacy. Again, it is camping so this isn't a complaint, but a warning. Also, bring your own toilet paper. 

There is a playground with good swings and also a sturdy playground that offered plenty of opportunity for my four year old to blow off some steam. The ground is all recycled rubber, which I love as a parent. 

The campground store is nice and good for essentials if you don't want to take the 15/20 minute drive to publix or 7 minute drive to 7-11. Firewood is a bit overpriced at $9 per bundle and the fire buckets are cheap at $3 per night. They also have basic food and camping supplies. Note that there is no alcohol allowed in the park, including the campground. All I can say is that you should use common sense. This is a family friendly place. They also rent bikes and kayaks. 

The site was just a 10 minute drive to north beach, which is our favorite. There is plenty to do in the area. Overall, I love this place and look forward to coming back many times in the future. Note that they do start booking 6 months out and open up 10% of the sites for the weekend each friday at 7am if you want to try and get lucky.

Fort De Soto Park is amazing. It offers something for everyone whether you are there camping or simply for the day. The beaches are amazing with TONS and TONS of parking. Great cycling, paddling, walking, exploring, fishing, kiting, or anything you want to do. It can get busy in season but the area is designed to accommodate the crowds except for the one lane road to and from so plan your visit according to your threshold for traffic and crowds. 

I'm a Florida local from Sarasota and have visited many times but never to camp. We came with a small travel trailer and were lucky enough to get a site right on the water as many are which by itself is rare. Great weekend and honestly one of the nicest parks I have ever been to. 

Its great that possibly the most valuable real estate in all of Florida's Gulf Coast was reserved for a county park in lieu of private condos and resorts. The park has a no alcohol policy which honestly is fine. Being such an urban destination I could imagine things getting way out of hand there to the detriment of more chill folks without the ban. Even though I like a cocktail as much as the next guy, i'll take the pleasant environment over the beer any day. 

Thanks Pinellas Parks for such a great place for locals and guests to visit.

This is one of the best parks anywhere. It’s not a National Park surrounding a national treasure but it might as well be. The park has three loops. All have waterfront sites and inner loop sites. One is set up for tents, folding campers and small teardrop style trailers. One is conducive to big rigs but it’s a tight fit and one handles all, but allows pets. There’s lots of wildlife, particularly raccoons. A short drive or bike ride from the campground lands you at the old fort, or a ferry to Egmont Key for the day, or a beach with a view of Tampa Bay and the Skyway bridge, or the amazing north beach which has been listed several times as the best beach in America. It’s a truly gorgeous park. Kayaking, SUP, dog parks, dog beach as well as coyote, rattlesnakes, amazing shore birding, white pelicans, eagles, ospreys, roseates, manatees, dolphins... hard to get reservations but well worth it.
Our return to this park year after year resulted in us building a home in the area for our endless summer adventures.