Fort De Soto Park Campground has 238 single-family campsites and is located on an island in a beautiful 1,136-acre park in the Tampa Bay Area. All campsites have water & electric hookups (30-50 amp) and are located very closer to the water. Sites 1-85 can accommodate tents, vans, pop-up campers and trailers under 16 feet. Sites 86-236 can accommodate tents, trailers and larger RVs. Each site also has a table, fire ring and grate.
Campground amenities include drinking water, laundry facilities, flush toilets, hot showers ($), and a dump station. There’s also a boat launch, playgrounds, 15 picnic shelters, and camp store that sells firewood, ice, groceries and supplies. Wifi is also available at camp store and office.
Shell Key Camping Permit does not include the Fort De Soto boat ramp & parking fee. Boat ramp fee is a separate permit. Overnight parking is allowed at the Fort De Soto boat ramp only. Any user parking at North Beach and Arrowhead Picnic areas are subject to a parking citation. Permittee must possess valid photo identification along with their valid, signed camping permit or electronic permit while camping.
The park offers a variety of outdoor recreation including boating, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, swimming, snorkeling, beach combing, picnicking, hiking, biking and wildlife viewing. You can also visit the historic Fort De Soto.
You may also be interested in E.G. Simmons Regional Park.
Make a Reservation for Fort De Soto Park
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 20, 22, 28, 30, 32, 48, 183, 184, 185, 186, 194, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 214
Year Round
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very nice but it was raining that day.
Great place but hard for a senior but young at heart Pinellas paying tax payer to get a campsite. Need a full time ranger to Man camp office.
The most beautiful park ,if you like beach camping in Florida.It is really hard get two weeks in succession.But if you can ,you will not be sorry.
Is park DOG friendly with tent camping? How to make a reserve spot
Yes, you can have dogs in the campground (on leash), and you can also take them down to the beach where there is an off-leash area.
It is a beautiful park. Lots of beautiful trees, shades, and very spacious. The campground area is very large, the sites are huge and very comfortable. But I noticed that the park is a bit neglected in landscaping maintenance. The super tall grass seems to have not been cut for a long time, many holes in the road, millions of mosquitoes. Really a nice place, but run down. The price per day a bit expensive for the low maintenance.
Can you tell me what weekend availability there is I was trying to look on the site but everything is booked.
Hi Carrie,
CampsitePhotos.com doesn’t process the reservations. We provide the photos of each site, campsite availability alerts and links to the official reservation website (Pinellas County). You can click on the ‘Make A Reservation’ button to check availability, pricing and make a reservation.
Do you have any pull thru sites I have 38′ Class A and I tow a car on a tow dolly 58′ overall
Hi Anthony,
Yes, Fort De Soto Park has pull-through campsites. Most are quite large and should fit your Class A and tow car. You can click on the ‘Campground Map’ button to see which sites are pull-through. Also click on the ‘Make A Reservation’ button to check availability, campsite size, pricing and make a reservation.
Good day. I am looking for waterfront tent camping where I can swim at the campsite.
Thank you
Hi Cathy,
You can click on the ‘Make A Reservation’ button to check availability (including site location), pricing and make a reservation.
We want to camp and bring our 17ft boat. Can we get a beach campsite on the water and leave our boat anchored there over night?
Hi Rhianna,
Shell Key Camping Permit does not include the Fort De Soto boat ramp & parking fee. Boat ramp fee is a separate permit. Overnight parking is allowed at the Fort De Soto boat ramp only. Any user parking at North Beach and Arrowhead Picnic areas are subject to a parking citation. Permittee must possess valid photo identification along with their valid, signed camping permit or electronic permit while camping. You can also call the park for more information: (727) 582-2100
Is there an easy way to reserve a campsite at Fort de Soto without have to go into each campsite to see if they’re available?
Hi Kathy,
From the Fort De Soto Park campground reservation page you can scroll down at there is a toggle where you can view by “grid” or by “list”. Choose the “grid” view and then scroll down some more. You should see all campsite listed as well as an area to change the dates. The grid/table shows 7 dates, but you can scroll (backward and forward) to see other dates and what sites are available. All sites are listed. I did a quick check though and none were available (at least through October).
Anybody camping in May/June? Just was wondering about the no-see-ems.
Can you show me a photo of campsite 97 please
Here you go (click on link below):
https://www.campsitephotos.com/campground/fl/fort-de-soto-park/photos/fort-de-soto-park-097
We love Fort DeSoto! Is it on Camp Assist? I couldn’t find it and would love to utilize that service to be notified when campsites become available. It’s tough to get a waterfront site if we don’t book 7 months out (for Pinellas County residents). No last-minute stay-cations for us, but we would love to have the option sometimes. Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
Unfortunately we do not scan for availability at Fort De Soto Park. Campsite Assist scans for availability at Florida State Parks, California State Parks, Minnesota State Parks, other state parks, all campgrounds on Recreation.gov and ReserveAmerica.com. Perhaps we’ll add For De Soto Park in the future.
How much is the fee for a 40 ft motorhome?
Hi Jacqueline,
The fee varies by site (waterfront or not) and midweek vs. weekend. You can click on the ‘Make A Reservation’ button to check availability, pricing and make a reservation at Fort De Soto Park.
Do you have photos of the youth campsite area? I am bringing a group of Scouts and don’t see on the map where that site is located and what it looks like.
Hi Delphine,
I double checked and unfortunately we do not have photos of the youth campsite area at Fort De Soto Park. Sorry about that.
Hi, can you tell me how old the photos of the sites are? Thank you.
Hi Kim,
We took the photos in October 2019.
Had IT issues registering & finalizing the reservation. I gave that up & phoned in for help. Susan was great. Much appreciated ! Fyi AMEXCO is no longer accepted & using a desk top is much better than a pad/Android for scrolling on their site…