By:
Submission
Located along both sides of U.S. 1 starting at Little Crawl Key, Mile Marker 56.2, 11 miles west of Long Key. The entrance to the facilities is on the oceanside of U.S. 1.
Awesome place! I took my 3 dogs with me, they were able to go all over except the beach area behind the park. Lots of dog friendly stuff around the area. They will tell you there’s no dogs allowed on the beach behind the camping area and they’re not allowed in the water however, that is not water that is the nicest to walk around in. Do you want to go 3 miles down the road to Sombrero Beach. Keep in mind high tide brings the water about 20 yards closer in the morning. It was very nice to get up at 6 AM and watch the tide and see the animals waking up. I went down the third week in August. To rent a single kayak for two hours is $17 and they’re right next to the water very easy to launch. There is a phenomenal sandbar a couple hundred yards out you’ll see a lot of boats over in that area and very very clear blue water. That’s how you know where the sandbar is.
This has by far been the best place we have camped at everything from the sites to the bathrooms were super clean. The beach was super close for some amazing sunrise and sunset pics and they also have kayak rentals which we did rent for a 2hr time slot which was with tax about $22 for a double and 17.95 for a single and they give you a nice map to follow which takes you around several islands and an amazing mangrove maze which is shaded and covered and also looks like your in a cave which was amazing to see nature this way. There were lots of Iguanas and we also saw several large land crabs which were pretty cool to see. There are raccoons everywhere at night so lock up your food and don't leave anything out. Also all the staff were super friendly and had so much insight on things to do. We are definitely going to be back and hopefully we can get another site for multiple days. The only one negative thing is that we did hear that people did have to move from site to site that were staying multiple days in a row as it's hard to find a site that's open for more than two days in a row.
excellent park Ocean side for hangin' out, picnic, camping, or enjoying the water many ways. Ask at the entry ranger paying your fee for names of those local that will rent kayaks and bring them to the park to use. Caribbean Kayaks were the first on their card and super accessible. Coincidentally, Daniel had not picked up two which we needed so over the phone he confirmed our payment and allowed us to use those already near the water. The park's map is sketchy (could easily provide more detail than it does) and takes a bit of studying to know where the few facilities are located but overall, the park was a pleasant day. We 'yak'd around the outer "Deer Key" island on the ocean side and on the southern end headed to the northwest to follow the main island "Little Crawl Key" around West\North toward the road and go yak'in thru the mangrove tunnel and under the park bridge. on the park map you'll find that that will eventually take you back to the kayak landing....... nice afternoon. all this took a little over two hours. saw jellies, comorants, small grunts, heard osprey, and a few egrets. wind was out of the north at 10-13 so this ocean side day was excellent and doable.
This is a special campsite! It's very small and all sites are close to the water. The restrooms and showers are as clean as I've seen any campground. The hosts and staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the area. Reservations are hard to come by but we got lucky...most likely short notice cancellations. Kitesurfing is allowed in the day use area. There is great kayaking and paddle boarding as well. Sunsets and sunrises are gorgeous. It's about halfway down the keys so close to many things.
