Edward Morton
Google
My wife and I stopped here late in the morning on July 18, 2025 for about 90 minutes, in conjunction with our leisurely drive down the Overseas Highway to Key West. We had first camped here (on the southeast beach side of the park) as young teenagers back in 1975 when we were 8th graders on a chaperoned one-week camping trip with student parents escorting our Junior High School Marine Science Class. At that time, this was a PRISTINE place, and the Atlantic Ocean water just off the beach was almost as crystal clear as the Bahamas'. I went back again the following year (in 1976), on the same chaperoned trip and had a similarly awesome time. During those years, we were even allowed to snorkel out off shore and spear fish for our campfire cooked dinners, and the reef and fish life was abundant. I went back again in the early 1980s while on college breaks, and it was almost as nice as I remembered in Junior High. The next time I went back was in the early 2000s after retiring from the Navy, and I definitely noticed that overpopulation pressures and over-tourism in the lower Keys had really made a negative impact on this once idyllic place, particularly in terms of the offshore reefs and water clarity. During this most recent visit, we drove up to the beach side campsite area were we'd camped as 8th graders and drove around. This camping area had been closed for about the previous seven years we'd stopped at the park during our annual trip to Key West because of massive storm surge and wind damage it received from Hurricane Irma in 2017. It was great to see that the State of Florida had finally gotten the infrastructure repaired and the campsites and bathrooms restored and re-opened, however, the beach side campsites, which used to have lots of shade from "invasive" Australian Pine trees and coconut palms, are now much smaller. They barely have enough space for a tent or a small travel trailer and a car on each site, and there is no privacy between each of the campsites. Additionally, the beautiful (25 yards wide) natural sandy beach that once existed here along the southeast side of Bahia Honda Key has mostly been washed away. During our most recent stop here, there was also a massive amount of seaweed washed ashore along the entire south side of the Key, which we also observed up and down the entire length of the Florida Keys during this visit. I would not want to camp here now because this seaweed and the small crustaceans that live in it stinks quite a bit as it rots in the sun. The Park Rangers don't clean it up, and according to a sign we read, they claim its a natural phenomenon and it helps to fertilize the soil in the "dunes". I don't buy that lame excuse at all, because the sight and smell of this massive amount of decaying seaweed REALLY detracts from the beauty and pleasant experience you would otherwise have when visiting this place for a hike, picnic, or a camping trip. The park itself is still worth visiting and has a few nice hiking trails, but we only did the trail up to the base of the Old Railroad Bridge. There is a nice concession store here, but the Marina is closed to boats as they appear to be putting in a new seawall and launch ramp. It's worth a stop to have a look around here for an hour or so, but if you go during the main tourist season (December to April), get there early in the morning when they first open. They will close the park once the car limit is reached because there is not a great deal of parking spaces for day visitors.