Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park

3.2 mile hike through mostly open Florida pine forest with the occasional swamp. Perfect time of year to come. Site has great shade and opens up at the fire pit for great star gazing. Only downside is that you are under the flight path for Tampa Intl. so you get the occasional jets above. We had a small spike buck come into our camp at night and he didn’t even flinch at us from 20 yards. Awesome experience for my son. Weather was absolutely perfect. For being generally surrounded by urban areas this place is a win for ease of access. Good cell service with T-Mobile as well. We will definitely be doing this again!

Starkey is an amazing spot. After having such a good time recently at campsite #9, I decided to venture back.

The site was spacious and many trees to hammock from, but the best part was the field directly in back of the site that is easily accessible. Bathroom was also directly across from site. Unfortunately, these were really the only good things about site #14.

Site #14 is practically on top of 13 and 15 giving very little privacy.

IF YOU ARE HOPING FOR PEACE AND QUIET, DO NOT GO ON A WEEKEND

I went on a Friday night, and the entire campground was PACKED. Very loud, too many tents packed into each site (2 maximum per site, saw almost 8 tents at campsite 12). Though the field behind 14 is super nice, on a Friday night, all I could hear were screaming cars blazing on Starkey blvd.

Over all, this would have been a great site to stay at had it been during the week.

Starkey’s Campground has everything you could want or need. Friendly staff, plenty of critters, and beautiful trails to walk.

Campsite #9 has so far been my most favorite spot here. It’s VERY spacious (could easily fit 5 large tents here) and the back of the site has a trail that leads directly to The McNeil Homestead. If you’re looking for a bit of a spook, I highly suggest walking this at night time.

This campsite is the only one that has a turning grill on the fire pit, so you won’t have to bring any cooking gear.

Great place to camp, especially site # 9.