Campground · Biscayne National Park
Boat in for island camping; bring repellent for biting insects.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Biscayne Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Biscayne National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Elliott Key Campground sits on the Biscayne Bay side of Elliott Key, the park’s largest island. There’s no ferry or sales facility, so bring the food and supplies you’ll need for the stay. Campsites are first-come, with no advance reservations. The marina has 33 slips, and the harbor entrance is about 2.5 feet deep at low tide; check that against your boat’s draft before coming in.
The campground has restrooms, cold-water showers, picnic tables, grills and potable water outside the building. The water system depends on a generator, so bring a backup supply in case it’s down. There’s no trash pickup, and ground fires aren’t allowed. In warm weather, mosquitoes and no-see-ums can be intense; repellent and covering clothes make a real difference.
A one-mile loop starts near camp. Elliott Key was once home to settlers who farmed pineapples, sponged and salvaged shipwrecks. Today its warm, humid climate keeps the foliage growing year-round, and trails can become overgrown.
Wildlife
201 sightingsWest Indian ManateeMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
154 sightingsAmerican CrocodileMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
15 sightingsBurmese PythonMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
17 sightingsTamanend's Bottlenose DolphinMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
23 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
146 sightingsGreat BarracudaMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Biscayne. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyElliott Key Nature Trail1 mi · 45 min · 0.1 mi awayA short island walk from hammock shade to Atlantic boardwalk
ModerateSpite Highway Trail15.8 mi · 7.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA bulldozed highway cut now shelters a tunnel of tropical forest.
EasyAdams Key Loop Trail1 mi · 30 min · 4.6 mi awayA shaded island loop through a former presidential retreat.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayElliott KeyA boat-only island with a shaded trail between bay and ocean.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayBache ShoalAn offshore reef stop for snorkeling and shallow-water diving.
Sight · 4 mi awayTracy ReefA shallow-water reef stop with a designated boat mooring.
Sight · 4.4 mi awaySchooner WreckA boat-only snorkel stop over an unidentified 19th-century sailing vessel.
Picnic area · 4.6 mi awayAdams KeyBoat-only island stop with a short hammock walk and Cocolobo history.
Sight · 4.7 mi awayMandalay WreckA luxury cruise schooner now rests as a shallow snorkel wreck.
Sight · 4.8 mi awayLugano WreckA 1913 steamer wreck for divers exploring Long Reef.
Sight · 4.9 mi awayErl King WreckAn 1891 steamer wreck best explored by scuba.Parkwolf’s Biscayne ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
