Description: Imagine the perfect public campground. Ft. Desoto is probably as close as you can come to making that image a reality. This park was likely created by a camper - and parks designed by campers suit campers extremely well! The only complaint some might have is no swimming pool, but look around you, there are long beaches with the Gulf of Mexico just a short bike ride or drive away.
Ft Desoto campground is located on islands at the southernmost tip of Pinellas County (that's the one with St Petersburg in it - just west of Tampa Bay). This land could be prime development land, but instead, the county has deemed it a county park (not a state park) - how incredibly wonderful. See my other journal entry for the many beaches and activities available.
For camping, there are 236 sites all having electric and water. Sites #1 - 85 are for tenters, vans, or pop-ups only (hence, where we stayed). The privacy is nice with shade trees and vegetation between you and the folks next door. You can still see your neighbors, but not crystal clearly.
Sites #86 - 164 allow pets, and sites #86 - 236 allow anything (tent to large RV). Through the park's website (www.pinellascounty.org/park ), you can see a picture of any site you wish - what you see is what you get. If you see a water view, you have one - and many sites have nice ones. The vegetation puts a serious damper on the wind and we easily tented through a night of thunderstorms with no problems on the tent (or us) whatsoever.
Additionally, the campground also has flush toilets, hot showers, laundry facilities (inexpensive ones at that!), a playground, a small camp store, and a great "Day-Use Room" with a working fireplace that ended up being a great place to spend rainy times and dark evenings (nice book or cards, warm fireplace...).
Any site can be reserved 6 months in advance, but no refunds are given at all. Once you "buy" a site, it's yours whether you use it or not - meaning even though the campground was "full" some nights, the actual occupancy was a bit less due to folks that couldn't make it. It also means you can't look for last minute cancellations as you can with the state parks...
A short bike ride or drive away gives you access to history and award winning beaches in the rest of the park. You're also right next to St Petersburg for city activities. Two last notes... First, there are SEVERAL raccoons (seen day and night) - my son nicknamed the place "Raccoon National Park." Guard your food carefully - and enjoy watching the critters. Also, there are two driving tolls to reach the park - 50 cents and 35 cents - a small price for an otherwise free admission. Just have your groceries, etc, first to avoid additional tolls!
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