Fort De Soto Camping On The Florida Gulf Coast
Just 20 minutes south of St. Petersburg, Fort De Soto is a beautiful location on the Florida Gulf Coast for beachfront camping. The barrier island not only has a scenic RV campground filled with palm trees, but also easy access to the beach, boat ramp, and nearby attractions.
Fort De Soto Campground
Fort De Soto has a large 238-site campground with pull-thrus and back-ins nicely spaced out in three loops. Their sites 1-85 are for smaller campers such as camper vans, tents, and pop-up trailers, while sites 86-238 can accommodate most sizes of RVs. Several of the sites are pet-friendly and some also have waterfront views.
Each site has water and electric hookups along with a picnic table and charcoal grill. Modern conveniences including restrooms, laundry facilities, and a dump station, are all available on-site.
Fort De Soto Campground. Photo via Campground Reviews. Cover photo: CalMuziClover on Flickr
““This was about our 7th time here at this beautiful campground,” Says one RVer on Campground Reviews. “It can be hard to get a reservation but be persistent and flexible if you can and you should be able to get a spot. The waterfront sites are the best but honestly there are no bad sites here. We were in site 149, which is waterfront with a lovely view of the bay. You can kayak right out of these waterfront sites, if you want.”
Youtubers CampTravelExplore shared their review of Fort De Soto in this video:
Things to do in Fort De Soto Park
While you’re camping at Fort De Soto, take your time and explore the many other attractions in the park. There are lots of recreational opportunities during the day, including:
- Visit Fort De Soto Beach and watch for shore birds. There is a dedicated beach for dogs, as well as a large dog-free beach on the north end.
- Explore the on-site historic forts.
- Rent a kayak or canoe to take out on the water.
- Go snorkeling or paddleboarding
- Launch your boat for a fishing excursion or cast a line off one of the two fishing piers (license required).
- Hike or bike the seven miles of paved trail connecting North Beach, East Beach, the boat ramp, and the camping area. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on this path.
- Take your pup to the dog park.
- Have lunch in one of the picnic shelters.
Nearby, St. Petersburg has several shops, restaurants, bars, and attractions. If you want to branch out even further, Tampa is only 40 minutes away.
Sunset from North Beach
Plan your trip to the Florida Gulf Coast
Fort De Soto can be reached off I-275 and Florida State Road 679 (Pinellas Bayway South) about 20 minutes from St. Petersburg. For such a beautiful location on the Florida Gulf Coast, the campground is relatively affordable at about $40-45 a night. Entrance to the beach area of the park is included with the campground fee.
The campground has 160 reviews on Campground Reviews with an excellent 8.3 average rating. Add it to your route and find more great destinations on RV Trip Wizard and with the RV LIFE App With RV-Safe GPS. You may also want to check out these 15 Scenic Places To Camp On The Gulf Coast.
Fort Desoto is by far one of our top 5 destinations. We have been there off and on for decades. Clean facilities, beautiful beaches and a great variety of water type (IE) calm to wavy. A bit on the pricey side for a county park but as a get-a-way treat, well yeah, go for it. You will NOT be disappointed.
Don’t forget to take the bikes as there is a really nice bike trail.
At one time one of the top ten beaches in the entire USA. Not too shabby.
There is a toll booth that only accepts quarters so have change handy and plan your trips to the mainland accordingly.
We are locals in Clearwater. We love camping at Fort DeSoto. Awesome place to sneak away from life and get some beautiful nature rest. Been going for 25 yrs. My adults kids still go there. Wonderful memories ❤️ we go biking , kayaking, fishing or just a nature walk. I Love going there..
I w would love to come visit you how do I get a reservation
You can’t mention Fort DeSoto without mentioning the very aggressive racoons. It IS a beautiful park and the antics of the racoons are a story that I still tell 25 years after the fact, but as funny as it is in hindsight, chasing 4 racoons, hauling off a pkg of five split breast chicken, to no avail, or a cooler full of broken eggs, because of a crack between the cooler lid and the park bench(just enough to get their arm through, to swat and break every egg, it really ticked me off at the time. As long as you’re vigilant, you’ll laugh as someone else has these things happen to them.
Campground not being kept up, grass not mowed, palm fronds all over grounds except immediate site. No one at office not even at window for questions. Sites empty that could be rented to extend days for campers until next arrival but they won’t working you. Been there many times but they are not earning their money now covid is no excuse if they are open.
As a resident of pinellas County, all sites are taken.
Try to make a reservation through the new system stinks.