Egmont Key State Park is a Florida State Park located on Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay, in the state of Florida, United States. It lies southwest of Fort De Soto Park and can only be reached by boat or ferry. The Egmont Key Lighthouse and the ruins of Fort Dade, a Spanish–American War era fort, are located in the park. Egmont Key is in Hillsborough County in a narrow strip of the county that extends along the Tampa Port Shipping Channel.
Located on the south end of the island is the Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, was established in 1974. The entire 328 acres (133 ha) island is actually part of the Refuge. It is one of the three 'Tampa Bay Refuges', along with Passage Key NWR, and the Pinellas NWR, that was administered as a part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex but changed to the Crystal River Complex headquartered in Crystal River, Florida. The complex also manages the Crystal River NWR.
Egmont Key was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1978.
Among the wildlife in the park are gopher tortoises, hummingbirds, and seabirds.
Activities include sunbathing, swimming, shelling, boating, picnicking, snorkeling, touring the fort, and wildlife viewing. Amenities include beaches, nature trails, and picnic tables. Food, water, and restrooms are not available in the park. No alcoholic beverages or pets of any kind are permitted on the island.
The park is open from 8:00 am until sundown year round.
Egmont key was surveyed by Spanish explorers in 1757. In 1761, the English named the island Egmont Key for the Earl of Egmont. With the rest of Florida, it passed back and forth between Spain and England and finally to the United States in 1827 In 1847, concerns with hazardous navigation at the mouth of Tampa Bay led the construction of the first lighthouse. The Great Gale of 1848 swamped the island and all but destroyed the lighthouse. The lighthouse keeper reportedly rode out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palmetto. After the storm had passed, he rowed to Fort Brooke and tendered his resignation. In 1858, the lighthouse was replaced.
Defense considerations during the Spanish–American War led to the construction of Fort Dade. Egmont Key remained a military reservation for years. In 1974 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over and turned the island over to the State of Florida in 1989 and it became a state park. In 2009, budgetary concerns led to a proposal to close the park.
For over 70 years, Egmont Key has been the location of a pilot station serving ship traffic into and out of the port of Tampa.
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