Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Big Pine Key, FL

This campground has great reviews and we were looking forward to our visit.  Our site was right on the water, facing the overseas freeway.  We loved the location but we could not sleep, it was so loud with the traffic, trucks and cars.  Our site was 15 and faced the highway.  The park was lovely, the grounds and the beaches beautiful.  However, if you have dogs, it's a no-go.  No dogs allowed and they have to stay at your camp.  We were disappointed because potentially, we could return and stay for 14 nights, but with two nights of zero sleep, we were ready to go.  The nearest town is Big Pine Key and there's a Winn Dixie, UPS store, bagel shop and a dog park.  The dog park was packed so not an option.  Maybe check out other campsites that don't have the freeway noise.

We stayed at Big Pine Key from January 21- February 08th of 2022. We had a small trailer camper, Clam screen tent, an outdoor kitchen set-up and hammocks. There was a nice heavy picnic table on the site. Our site was on the channel and provided us with plenty of space for our setup. It had electric and water. There are many wonderful amenities including a pool, laundry room, recreation area with ping pong and a pool table, a nice store with provisions, a community fire pit area, and great walking trails directly off of the rustic tent camping area which runs along the beach. We brought our two Labrador Retrievers with us and felt comfortable with them at all times. Everyone was friendly and respectful. Big Pine Key is a great location for recreation or amenities. It is just 30 minutes to Key West or Marathon.We are already scheduled to go back in January of 2023 for a longer stay.

We love Bahia Honda and camp there every year. It's hard to get a reservation there so good luck. The Atlantic and the Gulf meet and it's a beautiful park. There are 2 main loops for camping. Buttonwood has some bigger sites and a little more privacy. If you lucky enough to get a waterfront site you can snorkel off your site or launch your kayak. We float on rafts after a day of fun and cool off. You see a good sunset here too. 

The sandspur loop is for campers under 23' and they are tighter with no shade or privacy. Yet they are right on the Atlantic ocean and the view is awesome. Loggerhead beach is beautiful. 

You can rent a kayak if you don't have one and paddle around the island. It's all good. The old Flagler bridge is a great photo op and you can walk up to it and catch a beautiful sunset or stargaze. 

There is a primitive campground  loop too on the gulf side near the Cabins. You can't get under the bridge to drive back with a high vehicle so make sure you look at the standards if you are booking a cabin or a primitive site. My truck with the kayak racks on top won't go under it. 

Lot's of good eats south on Big Pine Key and north on Marathon. There are 2 grocery stores on Marathon Key and a Winn Dixie on Big Pine Key. Lot's of small deer on Big Pine Key do not speed they will get you. As a matter of fact the keys are loaded with police looking for speeders so take it slow.

This campground (buttonwood loop) is where the Atlantic meets the gulf. Beautiful view from the waterfront sites. Kayak, fish, float on a raft or swim from your own campsite.  The view of the old bridge is amazing. We've stayed in several sites yet do have some favorites.  You need to book 11 months in advance to get on the water or maybe you luck out if someone cancels. 

We had water & electric & there is a dump station. They have snorkel trips from camp store there & a little museum near the swim beach. Walk up on the old bridge what a great view. Good place to see sunset not that you site isn't a good place to see it too.  If you like to look at beautiful night sky the old bridge is a great place to take it in. 

The restrooms are being redone they were working on it when we were there this year. Hurricane Irma did some damage there they were also working on rebuilding sandspur campground. 

Manatees hang out near the fish cleaning station they drink the fresh water coming from cleaning the fish. There's a small nurse shark that hangs out there too.  There is a small area for some boats first come first serve to keep your boat in the water. Very shallow coming in and out the dock area stay in the middle or you will be sorry. If you snorkel along the campground you must have a floating buoy with a dive flag. Boats need to see you. 

They rent Kayaks if you don't have your own, it's a great paddle around the key. 

Usually at sunset someone blows the conch shell (sounds like a ship horn). 

Close to Marathon & Big Pine Key (deer key). Some good eats close by Sunset Grill has great crab soup, and a pool.  The Keys Fishery Raw bar is a fun place to see the sunset. They serve a free shot at sunset. La Nina has good cuban food.  Porky's is a favorite. And don't forget the No Name Pub on Big pine Key their Pizza is good and the sangria.  From Bahia Honda it's an easy drive to Key West always a good time down there.

We stayed 5 nights in spot #423 a waterfront site. Sunsets were amazing and so is the night sky. Near our site the marina has a area looks like a giant aquarium with Tarpon, Nurse sharks, tropical fish, Big Grouper/Jew Fish, and Manatees. Along with lots of iguanas. There are 2 fish cleaning stations, a pool, game room, small store, gas station, and 2 swim areas. One is on a sandy beach with lounge chairs and a large Tiki. The other is off the dock near site # 425. People fish off the dock too. The current can be strong. Nice place to watch the sunset. There are some good places to eat on Marathon along with shopping and grocery stores. Love Pokeys good food and you can find anything on the menu its got everything. Big Pine Key has the No Name Pub love their Pizza, Triano’s Taco truck excellent tacos. Taco truck is open Mon-Thurs till 5. He can run out of the good stuff earlier. Key Wes is about 45 minutes from here. Warning do not speed in the keys they will get you. Pay attention to the speed limit.

We stayed here a week our site #99 is right on the water next to the fire pit. Nice view with full hook up, a picnic table, sites are tight with no privacy. This site faces the Atlantic so we weren’t facing another camper. The pool and clubhouse are nice and the laundry room has 5 washers and dryer’s. There is a boat ramp, fish cleaning station, docks for you boat and they sell gas for your boat. 

The deer walk up to you    that’s nice. The office and store are nice lots of good things in there prices were good. We saw some sunrises and sunsets from our site. The bonfire pit is nice it’s propane so no smell which was nice. They turn it on every evening till 10:00. 

The campground is maintained well, clean bath house, pool, clubhouse and laundry room very clean. There is a dish cleaning station next to an outside shower, for tent campers. 

Over in the primitive camping area there’s a trail you can walk along the water lots of deer hoof prints, and derelict crab bouys. It’s a nice trail to walk there are sand spurs so wear shoes.

The entire week we were there it was windy we had lots of seaweed blow in it does smell. Hardly anyone was there mid oct.  They store campers there too lots of snow birds come for the winter. 

On Big pine key there’s a Winn Dixie, 2 hardware stores, the Big Pine Rooster restaurant, cocos has great Cubans, Trinaos taco truck, and drive out to the north name pub they have good pizza and homemade sangria. Bahia Honda state park is across the bridge it’s a nice place to spend a day. On Marathon Porky’s has a good breakfast and barbecue, the Sunset grill has good she crab soup, and the Keys Fishery good raw bar upstairs and cooked food downstairs. 

I gave this campground a 4 star review due to no swim beach.

We only stayed 3 nights here but I could have stayed for much longer. It's a beautiful location that is all brand new. Just 20 min scenic drive and you are in Key West. If you have never been to Key West before I suggest you find a golf cart rental as the streets are narrow with parking on both sides. 

The staff here was phenomenal. The only downside in the whole park was the laundry facility and showers could have been a little bigger but other than that we were impressed. The Pub had some great cocktails and was right next to the pool which the kids loved. We didn't eat here but did get a recommendation for some great pizza just 4 miles a way (A Slice of Paradise) that was great! They had corn hole (bags as we call it in the north), go-cart rentals, a fun dog park (no pooch with on this adventure but it looked great), kayak rentals, a marina and more. 

Something to keep in mind is that this is located on a channel and the beach is not as nice as others. The water isn't the picturesque blue you may be thinking of for Key West. But it was still nice. I definitely recommend some water shoes as it is a little rough up next to shore.

I stayed here as a money saving exercise the night before a morning flight to Dry Tortugas. I didn't bring a tent, but Leo's had a camping kit available for rent that included the tent, sleeping pad and a small lantern/flashlight that I took advantage of; bring your own sleeping bag or sheets. 

The sites are level with pea gravel; the ground was so hard that I could not get the stakes into the ground (they didn't provide a hammer and i was in too much of a hurry to ask). I tied off a guy line to the fence in hopes of preventing it from blowing into the water. Someone must have come by and staked it down while I was in town because the 4 stakes were in when I returned. The sites have a picnic table and grill. Some of the sites have electric, making it nice to fully charge camera and phones as needed. There's good cell service, but they do provide wifi if needed.

The campground is visually separated from Rt 1, but it is so close that you will hear the traffic All. Night. Long. I always say I can sleep through anything, but between this and the sleeping pad with a leaky valve, I didn't sleep at all. I wish I'd had earplugs.

There's a mix of seasonal and shorter term campers, everything from large RVs to camper vans and tents. There were a few empty tent sites when I was here in late January. There's a small pond with a shelter. Near the restrooms there is a covered area with picnic tables and a small library, a good place to take refuge from a shower or to hang out with friend or a book. Laundry is available. The bathrooms are clean and small. They definitely need more hooks in the shower stall and could use a small stool or shelf. 

If you have a pet, they have a small doggie playground next to the office. For the people, there are large games such as jenga and chess.

It's about 4 miles to the historic district.

Overall poor maintenance in campsites. Ours had safety issues with dock. After pictures and reviews we expected a lot more from this place. Nighttime staff is just plain nasty to guests and doesn’t follow the rules. Daytime staff was excellent. Was told only reason this place has all positive reviews on website is because they don’t post any less than 5. Very dishonest. We live in Florida, regular maintenance prevents rust and dock issues. Came here to relax and unwind and instead we were screamed at like children that were misbehaving badly for sitting at the pool relaxing or walking our dog.

Travel with my service dog and had no reservations. Nice’s people on the planet, ask for Mona and say hello from campsite #60. She knows. Ocean view like nowhere else. Clean bathrooms,fishing,no seaweed…

The pros are it was an affordable campground and great staff on site.  The cons, prepare to get eaten alive by bugs.  These are the 'no-see-ums' you read about and the bugs are tiny, but their bites last weeks and cause a lot of discomfort.  If you have dogs, not the best option because they are not allowed, anywhere.  This is a small park, pretty beach, but didn't work for our stay.

I have camped all of my life, mostly tent camping. This is the worst tent camping facility I’ve ever paid for. It is disgraceful. This place is designed for RVs and not well designed for them. The closest trash, potable water, and bath house facilities to much of the tent sites are over a block and a half away. All facilities are in the middle of the RV sites. Tent sites can be rocky. Not every site even has a picnic table. There are no fire rings or grills. Few tent campers were cooking at all. Tent campers have no privacy. You hear people farting in other tents. You can’t have a private conversation. So much for getting away from it all. The management doesn’t care about tent campers. Dennis, the main MWR manager, in his own words said “I don’t care any more” when it comes to dealing with problems reported like - people having a pit bull mix dog not tied up, tent campers expanding beyond their assigned spaces, RV school bus conversions illegally boondocking in tent site parking areas to avoid paying camping fees, no assigned parking spaces for tent sites, etc. Our 8’ wide, four person blue tent is shown in the photo. We were told tent sites were 20’ by 20’. There is no way our site was that wide. When I showed the photo to Dennis, he said to me ‘that photo doesn’t tell me anything”. I felt like saying to him, “Get off your dead a$$ and get out there and look at what is going on!”  Again, it just shows the terrible attitude of the people who run the place. It really shows. Other campers do let their dogs run loose, especially at night. One evening I was charged by someone’s unchained, growling large dog that I had startled as I was out walking. Had I not stood my ground, I think the dog would have attacked me. The bath house facilities are mostly clean, but the facilities are OLD, think built in the 1950’s. The entire campground (all RVs and tents) has TWO toilets in the one men’s room. The bar and lounge are really kinda sad. Food available is mostly fried. Drinks are only ok. Prices aren’t great. The commissary and exchange which are small and not well stocked are closed all day on Sunday and Monday. There is no real place to eat a sit down meal with table service or get coffee anywhere on the base. This isn’t a “real” military base. Navy MWR runs it. Most of the time there is no on at the gate checking people coming on the base. So much for security. The entire operation is nothing short of a sh!t show. The campground is near the water. That is its only redeeming quality. Do yourself a favor. Pay more and camp somewhere else in the Keys. No matter how cheap this is, it isn’t worth it. It really sucks. Needless to say, even though we only live a few hours away we will NEVER EVER be back.

We were so excited to visit this highly rated Thousand Trails Sunshine Key!  The pictures online are not exactly accurate.  The RV sites are barren with little shade - feels like a parking lot.  There are a LOT of full-timers here and they have the best sites, close to the marina and pool.  The resort has a fun/upbeat vibe with lots going on - happy hour with music, crafts and farmers market.  Our site 57 was more isolated and the park was only 2/3 full, even though the Thousand Trails website says it is full!

There is a small beach area with lounge chairs and a Tiki hut.  Our dogs ran off leash and swam in the ocean as there was no one around.  They also have a marina and dock with beautiful sunset views.  The other guests were very friendly and we wish the weather was better to hang out and meet more people.  We had one day, out of 14 with clear, sunny skies.  The other days were raining a tropical storm and the winds were insane.  This was unusual however for December.

Everyday the staff sends texts to remind you of activities - happy hour, live music, bingo, farmers market and crafts.  Friendly and welcoming and would recommend again.  I don't however, think it lives up to the hype of one of the very best Thousand Trails/Encore in the Keys.

Marathon is a laid back, Keys island with eclectic dining, shops and activities.  We had dinner one night at Isla Bella - very upscale, but expensive.  The Sombrero Beach is beautiful and dog friendly if on a leash.

Stayed here one night. There are only 11 sites with full hook ups, no showers, restrooms, laundry or WiFi, but you can get spots right on the water. They are strict with the rules there which isn't a problem, just a heads up for those disrespectful people who do not clean up after their dogs and those with inadequate sewer hook ups on their rigs. We were told they were recently fined for such behavior from visitors with is sad and that there are cameras to keep a closer eye on things. Chris and Fiona were very nice. It's a quick bike ride into downtown Key West.

Good cell reception with AT&T and Verizon.