Shired Island Park Campground

Do not use the water, vary unsafe, bring your own! Swimming area has black mud on top of the sand and is very messy.

This is probably the best beach camping between Cedar Key and Steinhatchee. There's a long fishing pier, and when the tide is in, the beach is nice. It gets busy on weekends, of course. There are a few developed sites, but you can also dry camp on the beach. A county man will come knocking around 7am to collect $20, if you're still there!

We could not have been more disappointed. We got a strong recommendation, and it looks so quaint and peaceful when you pull up. You can, in fact, park your camper right on the beach, and you basically take whatever spot you want. There aren't designated campsites, really. $20 for non-county residents, $10 for residents. We encountered sites with trash everywhere and human feces/used toilet paper in broad view behind our site. The bathrooms were unusable, due to more feces on the toilets and walls. The water has pungent levels of sulphur and permeates the whole site, and is otherwise unsafe to use, much less drink. The campground got quiet at a normal sleeping hour, and then some local non-campers showed up to play loud music, drink beer on the hood of their car, and generally party for a few hours. The airboats were non stop cutting the motor on and off from ~11pm to 1am. I would not plan a trip around this place, or plan on paying to use any of the facilities. It might be nice for a day trip fishing.

This little campground was exactly what the doctor ordered. After almost 6 weeks of nonstop cities and people (visiting family), we desperately needed some beautiful nature and some quiet. Shired Beach CG delivered on both counts. We arrived on a Saturday in January hopeful that we would be able to get one of the FCFS sites. It's a small CG but we had no trouble getting our 40 feet (combined length of our truck camper and utility trailer) into Site 1, by the bathroom, not the ideal site but it worked. The day we arrived it was very windy (winds 16+ mph) but there were still quite a few day visitors. Although there was less wind on Sunday, the place cleared out with just a few campers staying overnight. The CG is roughly configured in a circle with two sites sharing an electric pedestal next to a picnic pavilion. It's a little odd so walk around first and identify the sites. The Dixie County web site says there are 21 sites but it appears that only 12 are electric, 30 amp. There is NO potable water on site but there is a dump. Bathrooms have a shower, sink, and two stalls - all very dated but clean. There's a nice pier and a tiny slice of white sand beach. When the tide is out, it's quite mucky.

I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida and love the "old Florida" feel of this area, maybe one of the last areas to escape development. All of the surrounding area is protected Wildlife Refuge. This is not the part of the state to visit if you're after a white sand beach - this is more tidal creeks and extensive marsh.

It is a public beach surrounded by the gulf and salt marshes. Gets crowded and noisy on the weekends,everybody is friendly. Don’t drink the water, you can smell the sulfur 30foot away. Got fresh water from cemetery in town. Sunsets are beautiful! Noseeums are bad, just throw some leaves on the fire to keep them under control.

We absolutely loved it here! $20 for gorgeous beach camping can't be beat.

It was all first come, first serve, but we got there on a Sunday, and there was plenty of space for us. There wasn't any formal checkin or office -- a man from the County comes by each morning and collects $20 from anyone who is there (you can also pay for a few days at a time if you know you'll be staying longer).

The only downside was the water, which has high levels of sulfur in it and smells awful. We used the toilets there, but did not hook up the water to our motorhome or use the showers because it smelled so bad. Definitely make sure your tanks are full and you have plenty of drinking water before coming!

Maybe 10-12 sites. Elec. bathrooms not so great. Bring your own water. The views are spectacular!

Basically a hunting camp without supervision. You pick a spot and someone comes by in the morning to take the $20. Cash. Everyone is armed. Boats are used to get out to islands and marshland for hunting. The first night we were here someone hung up a pair of feral hogs that they had shot to skin and dress out. This was in one of the pavilions.The rig that they used to hang them is still there so they are probably expecting more. There is a boardwalk out over the water. The bathrooms have one fungus caked old shower and the one toilet in the Mens room looked like nobody ever flushed it. Brimming with poo. The water comes from a well and smells like sulfur and muck. Some here say that if you get it on you you may never get the smell off.

Arrived Sun afternoon. Parked overnight, got spot next morning. Loud children roaming the camp until after 12:30 AM. $20 fee collected most mornings before 8 am. Don't plan on quiet mornings. If not screaming, crying children, it is the neighbors talking loud. So no sleeping in, wear earplugs. The payment system is unbelievably loose. If the guy doesn't get to someone, they get out free. If he knows you'll be there a while, he makes sure to keep tabs on your payments. He mostly stays in his loud diesel truck and drives around.
The water is truly swamp water. Brown/black, smelly. Even washing your hands with it leaves smell. So bring all of your water for drinking, bathing, cooking.
It is a lovely nature spot w/birds, lots of crows, the air is clean (except for the water smell), the pier is nice, the sunsets are beautiful and fires on the beach are sweet.
If no winds, the no seums are wicked. The water at the shore is always brackish color.
I will not come back.

This is a beautiful place but since the hurricane, I don’t think this place gets sprayed for mosquitoes. There is a lot of sitting water which makes for a breeding ground. There is no power or water, which is fine. You can’t complain if it’s FREE. There are port-a-potties so that’s a plus. We’ll probably be back when it’s cooler.