Butler-Douglas Memorial Park — Attraction in Horseshoe Beach

1st time here. It is a similar feel as other small outlets to the Gulf of Mexico. The drive in was greeted by a 25 mph slow down time kind of community. There are several roads that make up the fingers around the canals and boat ramps. The marina is capable of launching many boats that will use the bay and grassy flats for fishing. As with most openings to the water from a road off of hwy 27/ 19 there are the folks who make a living on the water and those who are just here for a short time. The neighborhoods are packed tight with varying aged houses noticeable by the different heights. Many are ground level block structures that look to have been here many years that several coats of paint over the years have kept them cute. I talked with a man before lunch with my family at The Shrimpboat Restaurant that said he hadn't been there in 8 yrs and how the place had really changed. One of the owners of the restaurant said Hurricane Hermaine had brought 11 ft of storm surge and pretty much had its way with rearranging most of the structures, their old location being one of them. The seafood lunch was real good. The spicy crab bites are flavorful and well complimented with the pineapple mango sauce. Other sauces went well with the calimari and fried shrimp my wife had. Others at the table had a flounder poboy, Shrimp scampi, blackened shrimp and soft shelled crab. We were going to the beach to celebrate my mother in law's 83rd birthday so we skipped the dessert, but the choices for the day were coconut creme cake, blueberry pie and key lime pie. If there flavor was anything like the lunch baskets then I am convinced that any of them would have made a nice finish to a nice filling meal. While at the pavilion on the bay next to one of the boat ramps we enjoyed the beautiful views of the coast and the grassy peninsula. While talking to one of the folks launching their airboat, we learned something about the dynamics of the boat. The man offered to run us around for a few minutes while his wife parked the truck. So off we went across the bay with Scott. He took us to the peninsula and over a section of coastal grass in the skinniest water I have ever been on without sticking to the bottom. He took us back to the dock, picked up his wife and headed back out. The rest of the afternoon was spent with the family in conversation and killing no see ums. The wind was good on the Southside, but the wind that was on us was light so the bugs were on us. Luckily I keep a can of sportsman colonge, Deep Woods deet, in the truck so a fair misting all around kept us happy. The sun was bright against a few distant clouds, turning some of the folks a nice shade of medium rare. We started packing up to head home in different directions as many of the pleasure fishing trips had come to a close. Horseshoe Beach is a gem of a spot that offers the laid back atmosphere of the fishing villages many of us know of the West Coast of Florida. We hope to return in the Spring and possibly even rent a house for the weekend. Thank you to everyone who helped make an 83rd birthday get together in your community...

Went to horseshoe beach park today after over a year,the lady who is watching the park was rude and condescending towards our group,at first she came and asked our group if we speak english.One of our male friend used the restroom,there were no sign outside that someone was cleaning the other stall and the door was not locked so he proceeded to use the restroom,without his knowledge she was in the other stall cleaning and got upset with him and banged the door on him.And on top of that,when I arrived with my family and our small chihuahua,she immediately told us that dogs are not allowed on the park.Prior to this visit,we always brought a dog with us before and we've seen other visitors with dogs in tow and was not an issue.This time,she insisted we leave right away coz dogs are not allowed. I explained to her that I am not aware of this new rule and that I drove 2 hours just to get to the park to do crabbing which we always do every year,and told her since this is the case that I will keep the dog in our car with my kids taking turns being with our dog until we leave.The lady continued to insist for us to leave,citing the dog issue...mind you we saw other people with their dogs with them in their camper and in the car and she had no issue with them at all. She threatened to call the police on us,we were at that time was just minding our business and eating lunch. After eating lunch we decided to leave already and then the police came.We explained the situation to the police,and even the police stated that he was not aware about dogs not allowed in the park.We explained to the officer that it seems like we were targeted by her because of our ethnicity.It is so disheartening for such a peaceful,nice place to visit and enjoy crabbing to be tarnished by prejudice of that lady towards people of different ethnicity.The place is a 10 but today i'll score it at 1 due to that disheartening situation caused by indifference of one.The officer even told us that hopefully we will always come back to their county and enjoy the park.Kudos to the officer for being so open minded and respectful. Hopefully,others wont have the same issue that we had encountered today,being subject...

NOTE UPDATED SEPT. 27, 2024: Three tropical storm systems in a row, Idalia, Debby, and Helene have left Horseshoe Beach devastated. Helene's whopping 2 story storm surge and category 4 winds of 140-150 mph ripped through this tiny fishing village. Call Horseshoe Beach Town Hall before venturing out as there is much work to be done before tourism can resume in this hard hit area.

Visited 02/2023: For starters, there is no beach at Horseshoe Beach unless you consider the teeny-tiny swath of sand at Horseshoe Point a beach. The water is brown and murky. Personally, I would not swim here. As for the park, it is a TINY county park with limited parking. If you have kids, there is no playground and not much for them to do. It's a good spot to have a picnic at sunset. No shade other than pavilions. There are a couple of day use pavilions available first come first served. Eight campsites and accompanying pavilions are also first come first served. You cannot reserve campsites. Camp host usually comes around at sunset to collect camping fee. No fee to use boat ramp. No dogs are allowed and this rule is strictly enforced. Dump station, bathhouse, campsites have water and electric only. The bathroom facilities are not the best, but they're not the worst I've ever seen...they are a big step up compared to Shired Island. 😳 The park and bathrooms are maintained and kept clean. NOTE: It does tend to get busy and very noisy on weekends in warmer months with loud airboat traffic, especially by the boat ramp and canal. Horseshoe Beach is a very isolated, rustic, "old Florida" fishing community. There isn't much there. A marina with a small hardware/convenience store is close by the park for firewood, limited food staples, and basics. There's a Post Office and a couple of little restaurants, an art gallery, and a couple of quaint little shops a short...