Tierra Verde is a deed restricted community located on an island on the southernmost tip of Pinellas County and is connected by the bridges of the Pinellas Bayway to both St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. The community includes the subdivisions of Entrada, Monte Cristo, Pinellas Bayway, Sands Point, East Shore and West Shore. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,721.
At the southern end of Tierra Verde is Fort De Soto, 1,136 acres of award-winning Gulf Coast beaches set on five islands. In 2011, Parents magazine named it America's best family beach, and it was proclaimed the nation's best beach by TripAdvisor in 2009. A ferry runs from Fort De Soto to Egmont Key State Park, an uninhabited barrier island at the mouth of Tampa Bay where visitors enjoy the abundant wildlife, historic working lighthouse, building ruins, swimming, fishing, shelling and snorkeling.
Tierra Verde has a historic fort, three miles of beach, two fishing piers (one on the bay, one on the Gulf), a dog beach, a 6.8-mile-long paved recreational trail, a large camping area, and bike, kayak and canoe rentals.
Photo: William “Patrick” Ma… [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
