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No room at the camp

Fort De Soto's popular campground has some local admirers seeking an easier way to get a site.

By CRISTINA SILVA
Published March 18, 2007

	Lukas Damjanovic, 2, sits in his stroller while dad, Neb Damjanovic, sister Avery, 5, and mom, Tori, prepare to fish recently at Fort De Soto Park's campground. The Tampa family make reservations six months ago.
[Times photo: Keri Wiginton]

TIERRA VERDE - With its waterfront camp sites and modern amenities in the middle of 1,136 acres of nature, camping at Fort De Soto has become very popular with visitors from around the country in recent years. For some local residents, maybe it's a little too popular. As of last week, each of the park's 241 campsites were booked for nearly every weekend until May. Some local daytrippers have taken note and are now calling on the county to make it easier for Pinellas residents to get a campsite without having to book months in advance. Camping in the local park shouldn't have to be such a premeditated activity, they argue.

"Can you imagine? Here is our own park that we can't even use," said Liz Schroeder, a St. Petersburg camper who was recently denied a campsite at Fort De Soto during a busy weekend.

County officials argue locals should know better than to show up at the park and expect a campsite to be available at the last minute.

"I know the frustration that people go through, because I have seen it and had to deal with it, and I tell them when at all possible, plan ahead," said Bob Browning, district park supervisor.

With campsite rates at $28 a night, the camping demand has become a cash cow for the county to the tune of nearly $2-million a year. January to April, when snowbirds come down for a warm break, are the camp's busiest time.

Fort De Soto is an attractive site for campers interested in spending quality time at the county's most celebrated beachfront park. The camping area's facilities, including picnic tables, grills, electrical outlets, washers and dryers, and showers, are also enticing to families looking to get away from it all while experiencing minimum discomfort.

To outdoorsy types, Fort De Soto is worth the wait.

"It is just so beautiful here, where else can you sleep on the beach like this?" said Mary Baker, who was visiting the park last week from New York. Her family made their reservation in November.

Traditionally, locals had a better shot at getting a prime campsite at Fort De Soto than anyone else. Until two years ago, park officials only accepted reservations in person. But then county officials began allowing campers to reserve campsites online up to six months in advance. After some local campers complained, county officials approved a new rule in October that allows Pinellas residents to make a reservation up to seven months in advance.

About 10 percent of the campsites are reserved for walk-in campers, Browning said.

The county is also looking to add more campsites. Last year, three new sites for recreational vehicles were opened.

Still, residents complain there aren't enough sites. Already, the county is getting requests for sites for Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

Part of the problem, according to some local campers, is that the county allows campers who make online reservations to show up at any time on the day they are supposed to check in.

If the camper doesn't show up at all, the county has already obtained that person's reservation fee, so park officials will not rent out the site. Often, this means some of the sites in the park go unused during busy weekends.

It would be too labor intensive to change this system, Browning said.

But Schroeder, who claims to have camped at every state park in Florida, said the county should return the camping fee to the person who originally made the reservation if they don't show up after a certain time and allow walk-in campers to purchase the site .

In November, Schroeder tried to reserve two campsites for her daughter's birthday celebration in January, but only one waterfront site was available.

"But when we got there the park was empty and we went and asked and they said everything was reserved," Schroeder said. "The policy has to change. There is not a hotel in the world that would hold a room all weekend."

Just in case the county doesn't change its policy, Schroeder knows to plan ahead. Two weeks ago, she went online to reserve two campsites at Fort De Soto for her family's next camping vacation in June.

Fort De Soto campground by the numbers

$28 Nightly rate at the campground, including taxes.

241 Number of campsites at the park.

15,000Maximum number of phone calls placed to the camp on one day in November, the busiest month for reservations.

250,000 Number of campers at Fort De Soto in 2006.

$1.8-million Total revenue produced from campground reservations last year.

[Last modified March 17, 2007, 20:29:53]