Park featuring five offshore keys, or islands, and features two piers, beaches, picnic area, hiking trails, bicycling trails, kayak trail, and a ferry
General Information
Hours:
Fees:
Pet Policy:
No pets allowed
Seasons:
All year
Overview
Fort De Soto Park is a Pinellas County park on a chain of barrier islands at the mouth of Tampa Bay, with white-sand beaches, a historic fort, and a campground. North Beach was named America's Best Beach by "Dr. Beach" in 2005 and has appeared on his top-10 list many times. The park is open year-round.
Highlights
- Fort De Soto: built in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and abandoned in phases from 1910 to 1948, with gun batteries and a Quartermaster Storehouse Museum
- Beaches: North Beach and East Beach for swimming
- Trails: a seven-mile multi-use trail, a 2.25-mile canoe trail, and a barrier-free nature trail
- Camping: a campground with a camp store, restrooms, and laundry
- Ferry to Egmont Key: from the park's Bay Pier
- Birding: more than 300 documented bird species, an important stop on the Great Florida Birding Trail
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fort De Soto Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
