E.G. Simmons Regional Park — Attraction in Saint Petersburg

I have been to the park 3 times including today. The 2nd visit went just fine, however the 1st and 3rd not so much. On my first visit I went with a friend who was visiting out of town. We seemed to be the only people there (in the non-camping part anyway) and this apparently made us a magnet for the park ranger. Everywhere we drove he seemed to follow. Well, big deal - he's bored I guess. We parked where it said there was a beach (in reality just a place where the bay meets the shore, not a beach in the traditional manner). I decided to go check it out, while my friend said he needed to use the restroom. Once I got to the 'beach' and saw what it was I pretty much turned around immediately and walked back to the car. I saw the ranger stalk past me again and this time he parked and went into the bathroom. When my friend got back to the car, he told me that the ranger just walked right in. I asked did you lock the door behind you and he said yes. Apparently without knocking the ranger just stuck his key in and went on in. He told me it was a one commode affair. I myself have not been in the restrooms there, but I believe my friend. On our way out I stopped at the entrance booth and let whoever was working there know what had happened. I really couldn't believe what had happened, I was deeply embarrassed for my pal, but this is Ruskin after all. As stated previously, my next visit was incident free. Today, my third visit, I went back (again with my friend) and we had just entered the park and placed a table cloth on the picnic table and began to eat when a ranger drove up. He drives up next to the table and says, just want to let you know that the park closes at 7 and the picnic area closes at 6. That would be all good and well except for the fact that it was 4:55 P.M. (nowhere near when any part of the park closes) and we had just purchased our entry ticket 5 minutes prior.

Let me be the first to say that I have no qualms with park rangers doing their job, which is to make sure there is no illicit activity and a safe environment; that's what they're there for. However, there is a balance to be struck so that guests are not made to feel that they are patrolled and hassled needlessly. How would you feel if you went to have a nice relaxing picnic in a serene environment (in an area you paid to be), all the while feeling like park cops were just sitting around waiting for you to, I don't know, have sex in a bathroom, throw trash on the ground, spray graffiti, or run naked through the park - or whatever the heck it is that they think you're up to when sitting at a picnic table eating shrimp? I mean, seriously. Maybe it's the car I drive. Maybe a ford explorer just screams ghetto trailer trash - I don't know, but the profiling I find unsettling. I am a teacher, I pay my bills on time, I treat others kindly, and I am not a threat to anything or anyone in that park. That said, today's trip will be my last. I'm not paying good money (albeit $2) to have myself or my friends under needless scrutiny from glorified park cops. When I give a test, I do not sit there and watch my students like a hawk making them needlessly uncomfortable all the while. I give them all the benefit of the doubt until I have a reason not to. I respectfully urge the park rangers at e.g. simmons to extend the same courtesy to the guests of the park unless they have a reason not to, other than a misplaced sense of entitlement. Some training on 'best practices' as we call them at work. may be long overdue for their...

We stayed at this campground overnight in late October 2018. It was a weekday and there were plenty of spots to choose from despite being first-come, first-serve. With the cost and location, I can imagine it would fill up during peak season. I believe you can stay up to 5 months at the park at a time which is surprising. There were a few people who seemed to take advantage of that and their areas were a bit overrun and trashy. Overall though the park was clean and well-maintained. We stayed on spot #25 on the west campground. We did not have to level and we did not unhook since we were only staying one night. That spot was away from everyone (all others around it were empty) and was nice and shaded. All spots seem to be right by the bay, but you do not have a good visual because of all the overgrowth. That was a bit disappointing, but it is a conservation park, so I’m sure they keep it that way for habitat. We walked the entire campground and park when we arrived. The west and east campgrounds seemed very similar. I would not say there was a better side. They have a nice boat dock area and we were able to see St. Petersburg and Tampa from there. There are several fishing piers and a beach as well. The beach was a little run down when we were there, but several hurricanes had come through the area recently, so it was understandable. Tons of osprey and shorebirds throughout the park. We enjoyed watching osprey eat their fish dinner. We didn’t use the Verizon hotspot so cannot speak to it, but we had good signal for AT&T. We also had a good number of TV channels over the air. Each spot has water and electric and there is a dump station on each side of the campground. Any size RV should be fine to stay there as well. Overall, it was an excellent place for an overnight. Easy access to Tampa if you want to explore it while you are there. We would stay again if ever...

I have been coming camping in the Hillsborough county parks since 2023 and have had no real issues until now. For the last 2 nights in a row I have been completely terrorized by racoons. I have no food in my tent and 2 animals crated inside with me at night. For the last 2 nights I have awoken in the middle of the night because of racoons opening the door of my tent and walking right in. I have kept a light on to try to deter them, not working. Last night I again had to sit up until dawn to protect myself, my service animals and my $200 tent from these rodents. I barricaded my door in hopes that if it took them longer to get in I could scare them away before they made it. I had 3 large racoons at once standing up and pawing and hissing at the side of my tent, while I'm sitting inside awake. I had to scream so loud it hurt my throat and they still just want to stand there looking at me. I've had a baby walk right up to my feet and almost couldn't scare it away either. I have reported the activity to the rangers and my fiance has called the main office twice. I understand this is a conservatory, but the aggressiveness of these racoons is at a point where they need to be removed. I didn't even feel safe enough to leave my tent to use the bathroom and it seems that that parks and rec are more worried about these rodents than the safety of PAYING customers. I'm scared of being attacked inside my own tent while trying to sleep, but there's nothing wrong with the way these things are acting at night?......... I don't...