A county park, Fort De Soto Park consists of
a string of five small islands (keys) off the coast of St. Petersburg. The fort
for which the park is named was built during the Spanish-American War in the late
1890's and is open to the public. The last brickwork fort built in the United States,
the fort never saw action and was turned over to the county for use as a park in
the 1940's. The beaches in the park are enormous, and numerous visitors stroll and
sun themselves along their expanse while feeling totally isolated. North Beach faces
the Gulf of Mexico, and East Beach offers a stunning view of the St. Petersburg
Skyway. Massive picnic shelters are located at both the North Beach and East Beach
areas.
The campgrounds at Fort De Soto Park occupy all of St. Christopher Key. The campground
offers 235 combination tent and RV sites, some of them bayside. The bayside campsites
enjoy a picture-perfect setting of tall, tropical plants and shrubs, offering cooling
shade and a perfectly framed window on the bay. The sites are strictly first come,
first serve, with no advance reservations.
