Finished my 1st week at EG Simmons County Park on Tampa Bay

The forecast is finally calling for warm weather and my reservation at WPF ended on Saturday 1/25/25. The plan is to drive 100 miles north to Tampa Bay and see if I can get a campsite at EG Simmons County Park. They do not take reservations and I heard that since the hurricanes all of their sites may not be available because of power problems or trees that need to have branches removed. 

I needed to get propane and grocery shop before I got to the campground, which delayed my arrival until noon, but that is the checkout time anyway.

There were a few sites available and I got site #70 which is just down the line from the picture I posted in my last blog.

You can paddle here on their canoe trail within the park or you can paddle out into Tampa Bay going north to Apollo Beach or south to Bahia Beach as long as there are no storms or windy days. I’ll probably try all options on sunny days to get some exercise.

You can take a 6 mile bike around the large park on the paved roads.

There are lots of residential streets nearby to ride your bike but there are no designated bike trails. I like to ride over to Bahia Beach or Apollo Beach and bike through the upscale neighborhoods or shop at the nearby grocery stores.

One place I like to ride is to the Manatee viewing area about 8 miles away in Apollo Beach. There is a large power plant that discharges warm water back into the bay. The Manatees love the warm water. If the bay temperature goes below 70^o they head here by the hundreds. The bay, after the cold spell, is only in the 50’s.

When I was getting ready to leave a big truck from the Manatee Hospital rolled up to return a small Manatee back into the water. I swear I saw Peggy trying to help walk the Manatee down to the bay, since the 14 volunteers were having a hard time carrying it.

Peggy at Julies Fish House

Peggy used to love going out for a Grouper dinner at this popular outdoor restaurant only an easy 3 mile bike ride from our campground.

I found out that it has been closed since the hurricanes. I happened to be riding by yesterday and they were having a grand reopening and the place was packed.

I got a menu and since I had been there 2 years ago the menu hasn’t changed and the dinners all went up by only $1.

I thought I would add the map below to see where all the places are that I wrote about, at the south end of Tampa Bay east of St. Petersburg.