Fort Dade / Egmont Key

 park, island, lighthouse, nature conservation park / area, refuge, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, state park, historic landmark

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Egmont Key - An island located in the mouth of Tampa Bay, between Egmont Channel to the North, and Southwest Channel to the South. This was the site of Fort Dade, named in honor of Major Francis L. Dade, U.S. Army, massacred by Seminole Indians, December 28, 1835. Egmont Key and the Fort Dade site were added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Egmont Key and its southern neighbor Passage Key are part of Egmont Key State Park and Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge. Portions of the island are operated by conjoining and overlapping jurisdictions, including the Florida DEP, National Wildlife Service, Tampa Bay Pilots, US Coast Guard, and Egmont Key Alliance.

Vessels are not required to pay a fee, and on-board overnighting is excellent. However large organized groups are recommended to contact the Egmont Key Alliance. A few private homes, including those of the Pilots, and environmental researchers are located on the east-central portion of the island, and trespassing is prohibited in certain areas.

Anchoring is recommended anywhere but the southern end, which is designed a bird sanctuary. Docking is limited to government vessels.

Anchoring and Navigation tips: On the Gulf side, anchoring is somewhat protected by a stretch of shallows extending west. The current cuts a swash channel for your entrance on the northwest tip - between the island and the southern shoal of the shipping channel - to bring you down the western side in fairly deep water. Caution is recommended at the northwestern and southwestern tips where submerged boulders and remainders of the fort remain, but these can be easily spotted giving the usual clear visibility of these waters.

Egmont Key is not considered a "barrier" island because it is not subject to the longshore current and barrier island migration. The island has grown wider and narrower, but has kept its general location, simply meandering around in a circular pattern for thousands of years, in some form. This is due to its location in the mouth of Tampa Bay. The current always runs counter-clockwise around the island, giving it the characteristic tail depicted in the aerial view.

The eastern side has few hazards. A 94 ft. naturally-cut drop-off exists at the northern tip near the lighthouse providing for great fishing. Sharks are frequently reported off the northern tip, especially during tarpon fishing season. But for those wary, relaxing swimming and snorkeling can be found along the western beach. Stingrays are common. The island has no lifeguards or restrooms.

Egmont Key has an extensive Spanish-American and Civil War history. It is home to an automated functioning lighthouse (normally locked, but accessible by contacting the park ranger), a new visitor center created from a renovated structure, and of course the remains of Fort Dade (sister to Ft. DeSoto on neighboring Mullet Key). The largely unmanicured vegetation provides for excellent black and white photography. Visitors are left mystified by the network of brick roads throughout the island, which once boasted a military base, complete with shopping and bowling alley.

A public ferry operates out of Ft. DeSoto County Park to the north for those who do not have their own vessel.
floridastateparks.org/egmontkey/default.cfm