Last updated on February 20th, 2026 at 04:35 pm
Park offers primitive tent camping, kayaking, a hiking trail plus famous fishing
Layton, FL — Once the site of a luxury resort for the rich and famous, Long Key State Park had long been a favorite beach-side camping spot in the Florida Keys. Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Ian in 2022 washed away that tradition and there are now no plans to rebuild this campground.
With a beach that doesn’t compare well to other spots in the Keys, Long Key is now a quiet spot in the sometimes crowded Keys. There’s a mile-long nature trail, waterfront picnic tables and a mangrove-lined lagoon where you can launch a kayak.
There are three walk-up primitive tent-only campsites. While they book up in advance, last-minutes cancellations happen often. Sites can be booked online. Read below for more on the camping experience.
Making the most of a day visit to Long Key State Park
Long Key makes an interesting place to spend a few hours hiking, beachcombing, wading and kayaking.
The main beach offers picnic tables with grills and an outdoor shower, as well as snorkeling in shallow waters featuring seagrass (not coral.) The beach is not ideal for swimming: The “sand” is a little mucky and the water stays shallow a long way out.
One of the best things to do in Long Key State Park is the 1.1-mile Golden Orb nature trail, which starts with a boardwalk and takes visitors out to the beach and through mangrove swamp, coastal berm, salt plain and rockland hammock habitats. (An informative trail guide explains what those are.) When we walked the trail after a high tide, a section was underwater and we walked barefoot.
As a testament to how much hurricanes impact this park, the trail brochure for the Golden Orb trail notes that the native Golden Silk Orb Weaver spider, for which the trail is named, has rarely been spotted since Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The park is on the Great Florida Birding Trail, with wading and shorebirds year-round and migratory birds seasonally. Herons, egrets, and ibis are common, and white-crowned pigeon and roseate spoonbills have been known to stop by.
Throughout the park, you may observe horseshoe crabs, mullet, snapper and starfish, while sport fish such as bonefish and redfish (red drum) can be found on the shallow grass flats. Kayakers may spot loggerhead and green sea turtles as well as nurse sharks.
Kayaking at Long Key State Park
Kayaking is another good option, although kayaks are no longer rented here. If you bring your own, you can launch into the ocean or into a mangrove-lined lagoon near the ranger station.
We paddled a few miles in the shallow lagoon, spotting a nurse shark and lots of tiny fish. It was a pleasant paddle, but nothing special with all the kayaking options in the Keys.
There are no boat ramps inside the park for vessels larger than a kayak or canoe. For larger motorboats and sailboats, there are two boat ramps three miles either side of the state park, one at the Fiesta Key RV Resort and another on Grassy Key.
Camping at Long Key State Park: Not many sites, but they’re gems if you like primitive camping
The three tent-only campsites are the only options for campers. Primitive sites are rare in the Florida Keys, as are campsites at this price — starting at $22 a night. The campsites, neatly fenced off into private spaces bordered with vegetation, are near the day-use beach area. These campsites have the advantage of being right on the ocean, but away from the traffic noise of the Overseas Highway.
The downside: The campsites are a long ways from the parking lot. You must carry your gear from the parking lot about 2.5 blocks to the campsite. The water, showers and restrooms are also at the parking lot, so that middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom? It’s a long walk.
The upside: Long Key has minimal light pollution and is an excellent place for viewing the night sky. When I walked to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I was compensated with views of a beautiful star-filled night sky.
The three campsites share a community fire ring. Each has a grill and picnic table and at least some shade.
Camping fees at Long Key State Park
Campground fees at Long Key State Park are $22.50 a night. Florida residents over 65 get a discount, as do those with a Social Security disability certificate or a 100 percent disability certificate from the Federal Government. (Proof is required.)
Day use fees are $5 per vehicle ($4.50 if only one occupant), $2.50 for pedestrians and bicyclists plus a 50-cent Monroe County surcharge.
Long Key: Fishing capital of the world
Fishing in the Middle Keys is legendary, among the best you’ll find anywhere. Just ask Zane Grey.
You do not need a boat to enjoy a great day of fishing. The bridges leading onto and off Long Key are renowned for the fishing, particularly the old Channel 5 and Channel 2 bridges that hop across Fiesta Key from Islamorada.
These bridges were the original railroad bridges, later paved for cars and now converted to fishing piers. Fishing balconies have been installed on some of the old bridges on the Long Key Viaduct.
If you have a boat, your focus will likely be on the offshore reefs and Gulf Stream, Zane Grey’s favorite fishing grounds, on the flats of Florida Bay or around the bridge pilings between islands.
Local knowledge is advisable, and you may want to consider a guide your first few times out. (Check at a local bait shop for information.)
Drift fishing trips can be booked at Bud ‘n’ Mary’s Marina, at Mile Marker 79.8, at the lower end of Lower Matecumbe Key. Charters and back-country guides are also available at Bud ‘n’ Mary’s and Robbie’s Marina.
Fly-fishing on the flats off the beach at Long Key State Park is popular. In some places, you can wade offshore for hundreds of yards.
Fishing License is required to fish in saltwater in Florida, even from shore. Florida residents over 65 or under 16 are exempt, although they must carry proof of age. A saltwater license is required to fish from a bridge, private boat, including kayaks and paddle-boards. A license can be purchased online or call 1-888-FISH-FLORIDA (1-888-347-4356). The license will take effect immediately. A license is not required aboard a licensed charter or drift-fishing boat.
History of Long Key State Park
In the early 20th Century, this island was a work camp for railroad workers laying track and building trestles to Key West.
When the railroad was completed, the camp’s lodge and cottages were converted into the Long Key Fishing Camp, served by the railroad and famously the winter home of Zane Grey from 1911 until 1926 .
An avid fisherman, Grey would write for a few hours every morning, then go fishing with local guide Bill Partea, returning to his cottage to edit his morning’s work.
In 1935, a monster hurricane with 200 mph winds and a 20-foot tidal surge wiped out the fishing lodge, cottages and the railroad, killing 800 people living on the islands of Islamorada, including Long Key.
The hurricane marked the end of the railroad and paved the way for converting the surviving trestles into a roadway that extended from Key Largo to Key West.
Although these early bridges have since been replaced with modern spans, many sections of those Flagler trestles are still visible.
Key State Park
Long Key State Park website
67400 Overseas Highway
Long Key, FL 33001
(305) 664-4815
Other nearby campgrounds:
FIESTA KEY RV RESORT
Phone: (305) 664-4922
70001 Overseas Highway ,
Long Key,FL 33001
We checked this campground out one morning and felt it would be pleasant enough for RVers, especially the waterfront sites. The tent pads were a bit sparse, but there were plenty of RV sites and some really beautiful rental cabins. Boat ramp and dockage available.
GRASSY KEY RV PARK & RESORT
Phone: 305-289-1606 *
Email: paradise@grassykeyrvpark.com
58671 Overseas Hwy.
Marathon , FL 33050
This park advertises premium and standard full-hookup sites (w/s/e/c). Pool, Dockage, WIFI, Laundry, Clubhouse. Views of Gulf of Mexico throughout the resort
JOLLY ROGER TRAVEL PARK
Phone: 305-289-0404 * Toll Free: 800-995-1525 * Fax: 305-289-7204
Email: email@jrtp.com
59275 Overseas Highway
Marathon , FL 33050
Waterfront sites, with full hookups, are quite nice, as was a newly added expansion. Lots of trees in the old section offer shade. Tent campers can pitch their canvas on the waterfront tiki island.
CURRY HAMMOCK STATE PARK
Phone: (305) 289-2690
56200 Overseas Highway
Marathon , FL 33050
We’ve visited this park many times. Most sites are spacious, on concrete pads with sand pads for tents. Excellent access to the ocean, although only a few sites are directly on the beach. This is a fairly new campground, and while the vegetation has grown fast between sites, it’ll still be a few years before it’s dense and shady.
Hotels and cabins nearby
Luxury: Hawks Cay Resort – Duck Key 61 Hawks Cay Blvd Duck Key, FL, 33050 United States, 1-866-925-4159
Moderate: Lime Tree Bay Resort – Long Key (1 miles) 68500 Overseas Hwy Long Key, FL, 33001 United States, 1-866-573-4235
Budget: Edgewater Lodge – Long Key. US Highway 1 MM 65,5, Long Key, 33001,
Budget: Fiesta Key RV Resort Cabins – Long Key (2.5 miles) 70001 Overseas Hwy Long Key, FL, 33001 United States, 1-866-678-6350
Restaurants near Long Key State Park
Habanos at Caloosa Cove (6 miles north). Excellent Cuban-influenced menu at reasonable prices. This is the closest restaurant to the campground and it’s frequented by locals. Definitely worth stopping here for a meal.
Islamorada Fish Company (13 miles north) Outdoor patio restaurant with tiki bar on the bayside. Great for sunsets, fresh seafood. (305) 664-9271
Fishing near Long Key State Park
Bud & Mary’s Marina (12 miles). Charter and party-boat fishing. Also boat rentals, rooms. (877) 453-9463
Marathon Lady (14 miles). Party boat fishing. (305) 743-5580.
Resources from Florida Rambler
- Mile marker guide with dozens of stops to help make the most of your drive south.
- Bicycling the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail
- Florida Keys wildlife: Places to see animals
- Tiki bars: Soak up the Keys atmosphere
- 12 great kayak outings in the Keys
- Top 10 pit stops on Overseas Highway
- Beaches in the Florida Keys
- The Old Seven Mile Bridge and Pigeon Key
- Indian Key: Kayak into history
- Feed the tarpon at Robbie’s Marina
- Sea Turtle Hospital in Marathon
