Fort Desoto Park - Tampa Bay in Nov - good/bad/ugly?

Great place. You can see site size and photos directly on Pinellas County website where you make reservations.

For some reason I was under the impression that out of county residents had to appear personally for reservations. Does anybody know whether or not that is true? I had written that place off.

tomkaren13 wrote:
Hard to get reservations, but well worth the effort. Last time we looked at the website, there was a place to see the camp sites and determine in which you can fit.

I can't find a site that gives me info as to what fits or not, nor anything visual. Is there a link?

thanks

If you're after a beach camping experience there are better ones to be done.

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).

Great park - sites easier to come by during the week.
If you have a pet, you are restricted to one particular loop so keep this in mind when searching sites. Their website is excellent - shows pictures of the sites and gives size. We found most sites were quite large.
There are great paved trails for bicycling so if you have bikes be sure to bring them along. The beach is about 2 or 3 miles from the c.g. (going from memory) but is really nice.

Hard to get reservations, but well worth the effort. Last time we looked at the website, there was a place to see the camp sites and determine in which you can fit.

I live about 25 miles from the Park and we visit about twice a year. Is is a great park but there are lots of low hanging trees and the roads are very narrow. According to which site you have, getting into your spot can be a challenge if you have a large rig.

That being said, I see a lot of big rigs in the park.

Burch

Beautiful place. Make reservations ASAP as it is extremely popular.