Fort DeSoto Campground

A few years ago I had booked a two week stay at Fort DeSoto Campground. Unfortunately things happen and we had to cancel. This year when making plans for wintering in Florida I decided to book a stent at Fort DeSoto. Prior to booking I read that many of the sites were tight for big rigs, so I aired on the side of caution and grabbed a pull-thru. We arrived a little early and that wasn’t the problem, getting out of the parking lot proved to be the challenge. If you have not been to Fort DeSoto a word of caution, don’t pull too far ahead when registering. I had to back-up to get down the road to our campsite. Not usually a problem if there are no cars coming.

Registration Office

Campground Store

There are 3 sections to the campground. One area for people with dogs (large or small RVs), another for large RVs no dogs allowed, and another for tents and/or very small campers again no dogs allowed. The interior roads are all hard packed dirt, tight in places so going very slow is the name of the game here.

This is the widest road in the campground

I’m glad I chose a pull-thru, seeing some of the sites I would not have been able to get the rig into them. The waterfront sites are a little more expensive but are convenient for kayaking and fishing.

Our site

Waterfront Site

Fort DeSoto is a county park consisting of a group of five interconnected island or keys. The main island Mullet Key is the largest. The islands are connected by toll bridges to St Petersburg. This can become quite costly since grocery stores, diesel, restaurants etc are on the other side of the toll bridges.

The rich history of this area dates back thousands of years. The Tocobaga Indians lived here first from 1000 A.D. until 1500 A.D. In 1539 Hernando De Soto landed on these coastal shores to begin exploration of the area. February 1849 US Army Engineers surveyed the coastline and recommended Egmont and Mullet Key for military utilization thereby preventing private development. Because of the close proximity to Cuba and the U.S. involvement in the Spanish-American War, the first signs of a military post on Mullet Key began in 1898.


In 1923 Fort DeSoto was abandoned and in 1926 it was offered up for sale to the highest bidder. Two bids were rejected. A quarantine station had also been established on Mullet Key in 1889 and remained open until 1939. The stations job was to examine immigrants aboard ships from foreign ports. In 1948 Pinellas County purchased the area turning it into a county park. Today the park has a 500’ bay pier and a 1,000’ gulf pier, miles and miles of sandy white beach, seven miles of multi-purpose paved trail, a 2.25 mile kayak/canoe trail, a large dog park, snack bars and gift shops, a historic fort and museum, and of course  the beautiful campground.

The fort

The 1000' gulf pier

Miles and miles of beautiful white sandy beach

Campground surrounded by water and vegetation

Lots of clean restroom

Interesting camping
facilities

After a long day of sightseeing and beach walking we ventured out for some early supper in Pass-A-Grille which is south of St Pete’s Beach. We decided on The Hurricane which is a great restaurant overlooking the beach and water.

The Hurricane

Outdoor dining...
got to love it

Blackened grouper sandwich

After a wonderful meal we headed back. The toll this time was $1.25. If we are going to be here a couple weeks I’m sure it will add up. Oh, the troubles of being in paradise.

What better way then to end a day but with a
nice sunset...life is good