Egmont Key State Park and National Wildlife Refuge

Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Egmont Key Light
Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge Show map of Florida Egmont Key State Park & National Wildlife Refuge Show map of the United States
Location	Hillsborough County, Florida, United States
Nearest city	St. Petersburg, Florida
Coordinates	27°35′11″N 82°45′41″W / 27.58625°N 82.761389°W / 27.58625; -82.761389
Area	328 acres (1.33 km2)
Established	1974
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Website	Egmont Key State Park
Egmont Key
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Coordinates	27°35′24″N 82°45′46″W / 27.59000°N 82.76278°W / 27.59000; -82.76278
Area	450 acres (182 ha)
Built	1840
NRHP reference No.	78000946[1]
Added to NRHP	December 11, 1978

Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park is a National Wildlife Refuge and State Park located on the island of Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay. Egmont Key lies southwest of Fort De Soto Park and can only be reached by boat or ferry. Located within Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park are the 1858 Egmont Key Lighthouse, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the ruins of Fort Dade, a Spanish–American War era fort that housed 300 residents.^[2] Egmont Key is located in Hillsborough County Florida on a narrow strip of the county that extends along the Tampa Port Shipping Channel.

Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1974. The entire 328 acres (133 ha) island is all part of the Refuge.^[3] Egmont Key is one of the three 'Tampa Bay Refuges', along with Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge, and the Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge, that was administered as a part of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge Complex but changed to the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex headquartered in Crystal River, Florida. The complex also manages the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge and the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.^[4]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns and manages Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and entered into a cooperative agreement with Florida Park Service to cooperatively manage the entire island in 1989 and is known as Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge and State Park.