Fort Desoto Park - Tampa Bay in Nov - good/bad/ugly?
Thinking about doing a few nights in Fort Desoto Park in Florida in Nov. Looking for advice and recomendations.
Forum Discussion
You can reserve six months out (seven months if Pinellas County resident) and it keeps getting more popular. Some sites now are held back, available weekly on Fridays for the week ahead.
The park is set on a batch of islands. Some sites have beautiful water and sunset views (you have your own, personal "millionaire's view," though sometimes folks stroll past or kids may play between your camp chairs and the water).
There are sea walls, not sandy beaches, in the camping section so you can't swim from the campsites but the park beach is gorgeous. You can, however, launch small craft like a kayak from your site I believe. Sites have grills but not fire pits. You can rent a portable fire pit tub from the little store. The sites are sandy, so a plastic RV rug or door mat helps hold down the tracking in.
Be sure to tour the fort and small museum nearby - interesting history. There's a ferry to Egmont Key off shore (keep meaning to do that) and a dog park.
The best time to go is midweek and not on weekends or during holidays when younger locals use the park. We've had noisy partying groups next to us during those times, and also been stuck in long lines of cars approaching the beach (you don't pay extra as a camper but when you turn right out of the CG you can encounter a backup of day trippers paying during heavy demand times).
The park is set on a batch of islands. Some sites have beautiful water and sunset views (you have your own, personal "millionaire's view," though sometimes folks stroll past or kids may play between your camp chairs and the water).
There are sea walls, not sandy beaches, in the camping section so you can't swim from the campsites but the park beach is gorgeous. You can, however, launch small craft like a kayak from your site I believe. Sites have grills but not fire pits. You can rent a portable fire pit tub from the little store. The sites are sandy, so a plastic RV rug or door mat helps hold down the tracking in.
Be sure to tour the fort and small museum nearby - interesting history. There's a ferry to Egmont Key off shore (keep meaning to do that) and a dog park.
The best time to go is midweek and not on weekends or during holidays when younger locals use the park. We've had noisy partying groups next to us during those times, and also been stuck in long lines of cars approaching the beach (you don't pay extra as a camper but when you turn right out of the CG you can encounter a backup of day trippers paying during heavy demand times).
