Fort De Soto Park, Tierra Verde

This is a beautiful park, which offers so much, something for everyone! We visited for a single day, just for a few hours, and clearly didn't experience everything. But what we did see and do was fantastic! For dog lovers: there is a nice beach for our four legged friends to run free and play on. There are also a couple enclosed play areas for dogs, one for bigger dogs and one for smaller dogs. There are several beaches for sun bathing and swimming, and they are great! For history lovers: check out the hisoric old fort, loaded with old mortars and cannons, very cool! There are also remains of an old quarantine station for immigrants arriving in the United States. There is an old observation tower standing not far away from the fort. Plenty of restrooms to be found here, as well as snack bars and a couple gift shops selling most things beachgoers might require. There's a couple piers, although one is presently closed for repairs. There are miles of paved and unpaved trails for walking, running, and biking. The grounds are well maintained and the area plain looks nice! The beaches are a sea shell hunter's dream, we found many beautiful examples and even an intact sand dollar! Will definitely return to see all the other amazing things this gem of a park offers! Highest recommendation!

Such a beautiful place to visit and explore. It's not ideal for swimming, but the dog beach and fishing area are lovely. The fort is spooky and and especially good place for history lovers to visit. You'll see all kinds of sea birds and if you're lucky, you may see manatees, dolphins, sharks, and other sea creatures.

Wait for the weirdness…. As a history lover, Fort De Soto was a super exciting attraction while living in St. Petersburg. The site has an incredible half-sunken lookout, as well as cannons, bunkers and detailed informational plaques explaining the history of the 200-year old fort. The attraction also has a gift shop, and snack bar for tourists and anyone exploring the site. Fort De Soto park has beautiful, crystal-clear water and a plethora of shells for collecting… however…. During a walk along the beach, i noticed a very off-putting odor coming from the water. There was a great deal of decaying-sponge sea life baking in the sun that beach-goers need to be careful to step around, and definitely avoid when laying down a towel. WORST PART ….. these fist-sized pieces of meaty flesh had washed up on shore. It took me a while to figure out what they might be, but when I realized that they were rotting pig feet, I decided I definitely didn’t want to swim in the water. Bummer. Not sure if it was shark bait had made it to shore but regardless… it’s reason enough to find a new beach. 👎🏼 History = 5 stars Beach = 1 star (maybe)

Raccoons here are no joke. At checking they notify you not to "feed" the raccoons, however it is much more serious than that. Do not leave Any garbage or food out even if you are sitting nearby including food in coolers and totes. The raccoons absolutely know how to open totes and coolers. It's best to just lock this stuff up in your vehicle. That being said if you keep your food and garbage locked up or put in the provided trash cans you should have no problems and a really lovely stay. One of my favorite places to camp.

Been coming here for years. Staff are friendly and helpful. The rest of the park speaks for itself. The only negative things are the potholes throughout the campground roads to campsites. They are muder on campers. Otherwise, this place rocks. Highly recommend it. I just hope I get a chance to come back sooner than later!