- Parking
- Paid lot
- Typical crowd
- Steady
- Best for
- Shade, Kite surfing, Picnics, Families
- Facilities
- Restrooms, Picnic shelters, Playground, Kayak launch, Concession in season
Fred Howard Park is two places joined by a mile of causeway. On the mainland it is a shaded county park with oaks, picnic shelters and a lot of grass. At the end of the causeway it becomes a small white sand island in the Gulf.
That split is the reason locals like it. The mainland side is where you go when the sun is too much, and it is one of the few beach parks in the county with genuine shade. The island is where you swim.
Because it is at the top of the county it draws a north Pinellas and Pasco crowd rather than a tourist one, and it is calmer than anything from Clearwater south.
What makes it worth the trip
The causeway
A narrow spit with water on both sides. Shallow, protected and consistently windy, which is why the kite surfing and windsurfing crowd congregates here rather than on the open Gulf.
Real shade
Mature oaks on the mainland side. A rarity on this coast, and the reason this park works in August when open beaches do not.
Birds
The flats around the causeway hold godwits, willets and wading birds year round.
Parking
County park lot with a per-vehicle fee. The mainland lot is large; the island lot at the end of the causeway is much smaller and fills first on hot weekends.
Rates and hours change. Confirm the current cost with the city, the county or the state park before you go rather than trusting any published figure, including ours.
Crowds
Busy on summer weekends, quiet most weekdays. The causeway shoulder fills with kite surfers when the wind is up.
Rules
- Dogs are not allowed on the beach.
- Alcohol is prohibited in Pinellas County parks.
- Glass is banned on every beach in the county. Cans and plastic only.
- Sea turtle nesting runs 1 May to 31 October. Fill in holes, knock down sandcastles, take gear home at night and keep lights off the sand after dark.
- Shorebird nesting areas are roped off in spring and summer. The nests sit on open sand and are nearly invisible, so stay outside the posted zones.
- Beach warning flags are not advisory decoration. Double red means the water is closed. Purple means dangerous marine life, usually jellyfish or red tide.
- Most beach towns clear unattended chairs, tents and umbrellas overnight. Take it with you.
Getting there
West on Sunset Drive from Tarpon Springs. About forty minutes from Clearwater and a little over an hour from St. Petersburg.
Good for
Photo: VitaleBaby at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Source