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National Park Service · Biscayne National Park · FL

Elliot Key Campground

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Information
Camping and Docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Keys Day Use Docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Keys: $25.00 Friday - Monday and Federal Holidays. Overnight Camping and Docking at Boca Chita and Elliott Keys: $60.00 per night. Payments must be made on site using the recreation.gov phone app.
Caution
Boater Awareness Please use caution in park waters due to navigational markers that may be missing or moved due to unforeseen circumstances.
Information
Ride Share Services Convoy Point grounds, Jetty Trail, kayak launch, and picnic area open at 7 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m. If you are using a ride share service for transportation to and from the park, ensure ride share services can be onsite before closing…
Alerts: National Park Service alerts API · Oct 17, 2026
Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:22 UTC
Why it’s closed, and what’s open near hereTell me when it comes back
Right now
Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:22 UTC
A night
$35–$60When it reopens, per site
Sites
99In the agency’s record
Photos · NPS photo by Karen Adkins
3.5 miWater · an unnamed pondOcean · under 10 ft · to the Atlantic Ocean
9 miNE of North Key Largo, FL
n/aTree cover · water-masked cell
Bortle 5Night sky · 55th darkest of 60 in FL
SpottyCell signal · Park Service says

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices

In the agency’s own words

Eliott Key is only accessible by boat. No services are available on the island. Elliott Key is the park's largest island. Restrooms with sinks and cold water showers, picnic tables and grills are available. Drinking water is available, but bring water as a precaution if the system goes down. There are 33 boat slips in the marina. This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Once on-site, you can pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. There is limited cellular connectivity at this location. Please download the free Recreation.gov mobile app and create an account prior to arrival. Keep reading

Recreation

Daytime use and overnight camping - the campground is located on the Biscayne Bay side. Overnight camping and docking fees are required. Picknicking - tables and barbecue grills are available in the campground and marina. Hiking - a mile-long loop trail starts near the campground. Also, "Spite Highway" runs approximately six miles down the center of the island. It affords a good opportunity to see a variety of habitats in the martime forest. Fishing - permitted from the maintenance dock (south of the harbor) or from the shoreline outside of the no-wake zone. Fishing regulations apply.

Facilities

Camping - the campground is located on the Biscayne Bay side. Overnight camping and docking fees are required. Picknicking - tables and barbecue grills are available in the campground and marina. Restrooms - cold water showers are available. Fresh drinking water is located outside the building. It is recommended that you bring your own fresh water, just in case the generator breaks down. Hiking - a mile-long loop trail starts near the campground. Also, "Spite Highway" runs approximately six miles down the center of the island. It affords a good opportunity to see a variety of habitats in the martime forest. Fishing - permitted from the maintenance dock (south of the harbor) or from the shoreline outside of the no-wake zone. Fishing regulations apply. Things to Remember - Mosquitoes and no-see-ums (biting midges) are prevalent year round. Pack out all trash. There are no sales facilities Boats may dock among 33 slips. Pets on a leash are permitted in the developed areas of Elliott Key. Pets may not be left unattended.

Natural Features

The largest island in the park was once a thriving community of pioneers engaged in pineapple farming, sponging, wrecking, and other pursuits. Today the island offers camping, picnicking, wildlife watching and a hiking trail. A mile-long loop trail starts near the campground. Also, "Spite Highway" runs approximately six miles down the center of the island. It affords a good opportunity to see a variety of habitats in the martime forest.

Nearby Attractions

Elliott Key is located just south of Boca Chita Key.

Charges & Cancellations

Ensure one of the designated campsites is available prior to paying. Once payment is made on-site, we do not offer refunds or modifications.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

- Elliott Key is only accessible by boat.  - No services are available on the island. - This location is available on a first-come, first-served basis only. Once all designated campsites are filled, there will be no additional space allowed for overnight camping. Visitors are required to physically arrive at the campground to purchase and claim a site. Prior to paying, ensure one of the designated campsites is available. Once payment is made on-site, we do not offer refunds or modifications. Once on-site, you can pay for your campsite(s) by scanning a QR code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. Download the free Recreation.gov mobile app on Android or iOS prior to your arrival as some remote areas have limited or no cellular service. You can also pay using Recreation.gov and searching for Biscayne National Park.

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites
99 · 32 tent-only, 66 boat-in
Hookups
None
Accessible sites
None listed
Pets
Allowed at 67 of 99 sites
Campfires
Not allowed
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
FLUSH TOILETS on 35 of 99 campsite records
Showers
Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
SHOWERS on 35 of 99 campsite records, Shower/Bath Type states a shower on 34 campsite record(s) that are not a cabin, of this campground's 99
Drinking water
Yes
“Fresh drinking water is located outside the building.”
Source: read from the agency description and counted from this campground’s own campsite records, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Beach, Coast
Hiking
Picnicking
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Nothing to book until it reopensread 15:22 UTC

recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend

Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.

A night, when it reopens$35–$60plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itNational Park ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
What’s open near here
Tell me when it reopens

Watch for it to come back

One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the agency reopens it.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Every line of the receipt · 15

What you actually pay

The sign priceNational Park Service
A night, when it reopens$35–$60
Overnight (Tues-Thu)$35
Overnight (Fri-Mon)$60
Rates for the season the campground is in now, Jan 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026. Every site here is walked, hiked or boated into; there’s no drive-in rate to quote.
Fees are required for overnight camping and docking and must be paid upon arrival or by sunset if camping.
As of January 1, 2024 there is a $25 docking fee Friday - Monday and Federal Holidays and must be paid upon arrival.
Campers that dock a boat Friday-Monday are required to pay both the camping and docking fee.
The campground overnight camping fee is $35 and must be paid by sunset if camping.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

“Ensure one of the designated campsites is available prior to paying. Once payment is made on-site, we do not offer refunds or modifications.” · this campground’s own terms

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5
Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026
Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026
This campground’s own terms: recreation.gov facility cancellation policy for this campground, quoted verbatim. Recreation.gov states that policies listed for specific locations supersede its site-wide policies. · Sep 9, 2026
Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026
The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025
Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026
Why this page can’t say why

recreation.gov lists every site at Elliot Key Campground closed this Friday and Saturday night. The National Park Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.

Closure: National Park Service status record · Oct 17, 2026

There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.

Open within 60 miles · 3

The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.

Open near here: Agency-published status, in the CAMPANAC campground index · Oct 17, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 15:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

99 sites

All 99 sites

SleepsUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 67 of the 99 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 1tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 10tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 11tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 12tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 13tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 14tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 15tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 16tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 17tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 18tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 19tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 2tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 20tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 21tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 22tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 23tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 24tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 25tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 26tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 27tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 28tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 29tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 3tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 30tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 31tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 32tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 4tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 5tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 6tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 7tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 8tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite 9tent only nonelectric
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 1boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 10boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 11boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 12boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 13boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 14boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 15boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 16boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 17boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 18boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 19boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 2boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 20boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 21boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 22boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 23boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 24boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 25boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 26boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 27boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 28boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 29boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 3boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 30boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 31boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 32boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 4boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 5boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 6boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 7boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 8boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundCampsite T-Th 9boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDay Use (Fri-Mon)mooring$25
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 1boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 10boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 11boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 12boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 13boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 14boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 15boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 16boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 17boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 18boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 19boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 2boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 20boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 21boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 22boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 23boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 24boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 25boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 26boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 27boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 28boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 29boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 3boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 30boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 31boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 32boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 4boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 5boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 6boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 7boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 8boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundDocking and Campsite 9boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundOvernight (Fri-Mon)boat in$35–$60
Elliot Key CampgroundOvernight (Tue-Thu)boat in$35–$60
Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

25 of 99 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate25.45317, -80.19644
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight81°Chance Showers And Thunderstorms49% rain
Saturday86°Chance Showers And Thunderstorms69% rain
Saturday Night77°Showers And Thunderstorms77% rain
Sunday83°Showers And Thunderstorms81% rain

NWS forecast for North Key Largo, FL

Source: National Weather Service, MFL forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 76°F, day 87°F.

100°50°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: CAPE FLORIDA, FL (USC00081306), 15 miles away and at about the same elevation
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Watch

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 28, 2026

Who answers for this land

Carlos Gimenez, official portrait

Elliot Key Campground is in Florida’s 28th congressional district. Its representative, Carlos Gimenez (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: recreation.gov lists every site here closed on Friday and Saturday night (read 15:22 UTC). National Park Service has published no closure notice we hold, so the reason isn’t on this page. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one, and the reservations the record still carries predate the closure. That reading is ours, off the agency’s own booking record.
Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 3 of the 99 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026
Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 2.5 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 60 rated federal campgrounds in Florida · Sep 8, 2026
Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model
Cell signal: the Park Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise. · Sep 8, 2026

“…code using the Recreation.gov mobile app. There is limited cellular connectivity at this location. Please download the free Recreation.gov…”

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026