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Published: November 8th 2011
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Dunes and Back Water Fort De Soto
The Fort De Soto Beach is beautiful. It's that soft, white, talc-like sand that we all love!
Fort De Soto County Park, 35 Pinellas Bayway South, Tierra Verde, Florida, is a real gem. It’s located near St. Petersburg/Tampa on the Gulf of Mexico. A bit about the nearby attractions and some of our favorite restaurants follows at the end of this blog entry.
You can’t escape the lovely water views with five interconnected islands making up Fort De Soto Park. Expect to share the experience with a wide variety of birds, fish, an occasional raccoon, and tons of squirrels. We really enjoyed watching water birds – egrets, herons, and pelicans – hunt for fish. We spied a few dolphins making sleek arches in the calm waters and tons of floppy mullets flying high and landing in the bay with a slap and a splash. There is enough room at the park so that the 3 million (according to the brochure) annual visitors won’t cramp your style. The park is a convenient day trip for local people and a wonderful camping destination for locals and travelers alike. The campsites are designed with indigenous plants between sites. If it weren’t for the campfires, you would hardly know other people are camping nearby.
I’d say De Soto is one of Wes
Picnic at the Camp Site
This is the campsite on the western side. Beautiful view; lovely sunsets. and my favorite camp grounds. We’ve probably camped here six times, always with a water site. Water sites on the west side have sand beaches (perfect for kayakers). Water sites on the east side are bordered by a tie up wall for motor boats. Both sides are great for bird watching; but the western exposure offers a bit more wild life and great sunsets!
The park is owned and operated by Pinellas County. Cars enter for a 35 cent toll. The beautiful beaches and indeed everything except camping, the boat launch, the ferries to the islands, and operations run by concessionaires are FREE. Among the features are: great beaches (one designated as a leash free dog park/beach), great picnic facilities including covered pavilions for groups, two fishing piers, a historic 1898 fort (the cannons were manufactured at the Watervliet Arsenal near our home in upstate NY), food concessions, a gift shop, walking and bike trails (including a barrier free trail), a self-guided canoe trail (kayak and canoe rentals available), and access by ferry to Shell Island and Egmont Key State Park. The beaches have that distinctively soft, white Gulf of Mexico sand, making them among the top rated beaches in
Campsite on the Eastern Side
The first RV on the left with the yellow tablecloth is ours. We had to "move" because of a previous reservation at our first site. People with boats like this side as they can tie up along the wall. the US.
The camping area where we stayed accommodates everything from tents to RVs like ours which is 34 ft long. The sites have picnic tables, grills, water and electric hook ups, and very clean restrooms with showers (with lots of hooks and benches) and laundry facilities. The camp store, new since our last visit, is well equipped and now stocks hand dipped ice cream, hot dogs and pizza to eat while enjoying the picture perfect water view from the upper deck. Camp sites fill up fast! Expect a “no vacancy” sign most weekends. Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance (7 months for Pinellas County residents). Fees range from $30. - $41. With higher rates for water front sites and a $3.50/night increase for the “season” January 1 - April 30). The campground area is gated – those with reservations can use a gate code- after 9am.
Aside from the obvious beaches and recreation, we like Fort De Soto for camping for its proximity to some of St. Petersburg’s great attractions like the new Dali Museum (full blog forthcoming). We’ve also visited the St. Pete Fine Arts Museum (which has a Georgia O’Keefe “Poppy”), the Pier
Camp Store and Typical Site
The upper deck at the camp store is a great place to have a snack and enjoy the view. The people at the campsite are "work campers." They camp at no charge in exchange for odd jobs like raking out a site between departures and arrivals.
(the stores are cheesy, but there is a Columbia restaurant on the third floor with great Cuban food, special sangria, and wonderful views of Tampa Bay, a yacht club and the St. Pete skyline; Dale Chihuly’s masterful glass exhibit and some nice shopping and sidewalk cafes from 2nd to 5th Avenues along Beach Drive. I hanker to stop in for high tea at the aristocratic looking Vernoy Hotel on 5th Ave.
You have to pass through Tierra Verde to get to Fort De Soto. We’ve enjoyed $1.99 Margaritas, seafood, sunset, and music at the top deck of Billy’s Crab Shack and authentic German food at the German Crepe House in the strip mall near Billy’s. The German Crepe House is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The baked goods case sets one to drooling.
Almost parallel to Tierra Verde, Passé Grille is quaint and artsy. It’s the furthest south of the St. Pete Beaches. There are aa few condos, many lovely homes, and a nice beach with a little strip of clubs and restaurants. A few galleries are sprinkled about. Passé Grille is quite appealing. We attended a “Mullet Fest,” a fun community fundraiser for a church, the library and
Fort De Soto Beach
This is North Beach at Fort De Soto. We got there early on a weekday - not crowded at all. a Montessori School for the Deaf. We crashed (literally but we didn’t partake at the bar nor of the catering) a fund raiser at a gallery for at risk youth at Gelena’s Gallery. The Passe Grille grand finale was delish Margaritas (made with FRESH SQUEEZED LIMES) and very fresh seafood at Sea Critters, a little fish house on the canal.
On our to-do list when we return to the Fort De Soto area would be taking the ferry to Shell Island (or maybe renting a boat for the short trip), renting a kayak to do the Fort De Soto Kayak Trail, and taking in the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum – DeLorean and Maserati here we come! We would always return to the Dali Museum.
Readers can find our previous blogs of Fort De Soto and the Tampa Bay area by scrolling through our previous entries. Our Fort De Soto blogs get the highest amount of hits of all of our destinations. We were advised to put one out that contains prices and specific features (boring but useful stuff) – so, here 'tiz!
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Jeff
non-member comment
What a trip
Said it before,and i'll say it again..you guys wrote the book on fun !!