Fort De Soto Park, along Florida's Gulf Coast, has seven miles of powder-white sand beaches, more than a thousand unspoiled acres, year-round sunshine and all the amenities a beach lover could imagine. All of these factors have contributed to the designation of Fort De Soto Park as the best beach in the nation.

Coastal geologist Dr. Stephen Leatherman, also known as "Dr. Beach," ranked Fort De Soto Park as the #1 beach in the United States. Nearby Caladesi Island State Park in Dunedin (just north of Clearwater) is ranked #4 and Clearwater Beach remains the top City Beach in the Gulf region in his latest annual survey. In addition, Fort De Soto Park has also received the Blue Wave Award for environmental management from the Clean Beaches Council and the Healthy Beach Award from the National Healthy Beaches Campaign.

Dr. Leatherman, director of the International Hurricane Center at Florida International University, compiles the annual listing of top beaches. More than 650 beaches throughout the United States are judged on a list of 50 criteria under four main areas: physical factors such as sand softness, and number and size of waves; biological factors such as color and condition of the water; presence of wildlife and pests; and human use and impacts such as lifeguard protection, far-reaching views and traffic.

The largest park within the Pinellas County Park System, Fort De Soto consists of 1,136 acres made up of five interconnected islands. The park opened on December 21,1962, after the Pinellas Bayway road was completed. Park attendance averages more than 2.7 million visitors each year. Locals know about its beauty and visit during the weekend, but it can be one of the least crowded beaches in the region during the week.

Fort De Soto has a multitude of public amenities, including two fishing piers, picnic and camping areas, a small history museum and a 2,000-foot barrier-free nature trail for guests with disabilities. A concession stand, bathrooms and covered picnic shelters are also available. The area has a popular biking and skating trail, as well as rental facilities for canoes, kayaks and bicycles.

Fort De Soto itself is a 105-year-old historic fort built during the Spanish-American War. Self-guided and guided tours of the fort are available for visitors. The fort includes a 12-inch mortar battery that is home to the last four surviving carriage-mounted, 12-inch seacoast mortars in the Continental United States, as well as two British breech-loading, rapid-fire rifles of 1890 vintage.

Other amenities at Fort De Soto Park include:

• An 800-foot-long boat launching facility with 11 floating docks. This is one of the largest public boat launching facilities in the nation.
• A 238-site family camping area with facilities including picnic tables, grills, water, electricity, washers, dryers, sanitary disposal stations, modern restrooms, showers, play areas and a camp store. The campground includes a section for people with pets. Visitors can reserve campground space up to six months in advance by making campground reservations online at www.pinellascounty.org/park.
• Paw Playground, a leash-free open field zone designated for dogs near the Bay Pier area of the park.
• Two fishing piers-one on Tampa Bay (500 feet long) and the other on the Gulf of Mexico (1,000 feet long). Each pier has a food and bait concession.
• A 2,200-foot barrier-free nature trail, which is a self-guided interpretive trail providing access to nature for all visitors to Fort De Soto Park, regardless of their physical abilities. Concrete strips placed along the trail alert visitors to the interpretive stations and rest areas. Trail amenities include rest areas with benches and water fountains, signs with interpretive messages, and recorded interpretive messages on touch-activated speaker boxes.
• A Quartermaster museum that includes a touch-screen computer program with information, images, narration and historical film clips. Visitors can learn about everything from the earliest area history to present day information on the Friends of Fort De Soto, nature trails and other park features. Three display cases contain Spanish-American War items, recovered artifacts from the park, and WWII military history, including an original practice bomb from the Mullet Key Bombing Range that was found in the park.
• A 6.8-mile recreation trail that connects the campground with North and East beaches and the historic fort.
• A 2.24-mile recreational canoe trail. A canoe, kayak and bicycle rental facility is located within the park for visitors.
• A one-mile nature trail in the Arrowhead Picnic area and a 3/4-mile nature trail in the Soldier's Hole area provide a glimpse of some of the native fauna and flora.
• Fourteen large group picnic shelters incorporating award-winning aesthetic and functional design features. The East Beach picnic shelter can easily accommodate 200 visitors.
• Twenty storm-resistant public restroom buildings.
• A snack bar/souvenir shop offering a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico and Surrey bike rentals.
• Youth camping area for organized youth groups.

Fort De Soto Park provides free parking, restroom facilities and drinking fountains for visitors. Admission to the park is free, but the toll on bridges to the park is 85 cents. Fort De Soto is open daily from 7 a.m. to dark.

Caladesi Island Comes in at Number Four
Nearby Caladesi Island State Park ranked #4 beach in the U.S. by Dr. Beach. This Gulf Coast barrier island's unspoiled beauty offers a glimpse of Florida the way it looked centuries ago.

Caladesi Island State Park is located just north of Clearwater Beach, three miles offshore from Dunedin, and is one of the 26 communities that make up St. Petersburg/Clearwater-Florida's Beach. The beach at Caladesi Island, also a recipient of the Blue Wave Award for environmental beach management, is one of the few undeveloped barrier islands left in Florida.

The island's beaches front the Gulf of Mexico, while the bay side is a mangrove swamp offering refuge for numerous wading birds and shorebirds. Much of the island's interior is a ridge of virgin pine flatwood and live oak hammocks. A self-guided nature trail winds through the island's interior. Park rangers are available to answer questions, and guided nature tours can be arranged.

Structures on the island are confined to one small area, preserving the remainder in its natural state. The structures consist of boardwalks, picnic shelters, bathhouses, a ranger station and concession stand. The boardwalks provide access from the beaches to the bathhouses and picnic areas while protecting the fragile dunes and sea oats. The 600-acre park is accessible only by boat.

Transportation to the island is easily arranged through the Caladesi Connection, a ferry service that operates from Honeymoon Island. Once the boat returns to the mainland, the island's silence is penetrated only by the periodic scream of ospreys soaring overhead. Several of these birds of prey nest on the island. A burial site excavated in the 1900s produced evidence that Native Americans inhabited the island prior to Spanish exploration in the 1500s. Which explorers visited the island is not known, but artifacts found on the island prove that one or more Spanish explorers visited Caladesi.

Except for a homestead established by University of Zurich biologist Henry Scharrer in the late 1800s, the island has remained unchanged except by nature. After Scharrer's death, the island returned to its primitive state. The State of Florida purchased Caladesi Island for use as a state park at a cost of $2.9 million in 1968. A 1921 hurricane made a major modification. It cut the island in two, forming Hurricane Pass, which separates Caladesi from Honeymoon Island to the north. Honeymoon Island is also a state park and is connected to the mainland by a causeway.

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