De Soto National Memorial
Florida
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
7.9 h fully dark
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
De Soto National Memorial: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; De Soto National Memorial: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; De Soto National Memorial: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Entrance
Free entry
Park Visitor Center Is Closed
Due to damage from the 2024 Hurricanes. The Park's visitor centers and restrooms are closed due to health and safety issues. The Park has installed portable restrooms located at the front of the park for visitor use.
In May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto’s army of soldiers, hired mercenaries, craftsmen, and clergy made landfall in Tampa Bay. They were met with fierce resistance of indigenous people protecting their homelands. De Soto’s quest for glory and gold would be a four year, four thousand mile odyssey of intrigue, warfare, disease, and discovery that would form the history of the United States.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
De Soto National Memorial is open with a Visitor Contact Tent. The park's Visitor Center remains closed due to Hurricane damage. The park cannot offer the movie at this time. Trails are awaiting rehabilitation and access is limited for those who need mobility assistance. There are portable restroom facilities and handwashing stations on site for visitor use.
⚠ De Soto National Memorial: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; De Soto National Memorial: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; De Soto National Memorial: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Nov 26 – Nov 26; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Dec 25 – Dec 25; De Soto National Memorial Entrance Gate and Parking Lot Hours: closed Jan 1 – Jan 1
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 9417920458
✉ deso_interpretive_staff@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Sep, Oct, Nov
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: ☁️ Overcast, 76°F
🌦️ 86°/75°
🌦️ 88°/74°
🌦️ 87°/74°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
52%
Feb
75%
Mar
100%
Apr
71%
May
67%
Jun
51%
Jul
58%
Aug
46%
Sep
30%
Oct
15%
Nov
37%
Dec
51%
Log a sky reading
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Visitor centers
De Soto National Memorial Visitor Reception Tent
Accessibility
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
De Soto National Memorial Parking Lot · 12 accessible spacesaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on De Soto National Memorial — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
Passport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 De Soto National Memorial Visitor Reception Tent
Audio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
Learn about the significance of art in the National Park system and see three selections from the South Florida National Parks.
This finding aid describes the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southest Region Collection, part of the NPS History Collection.
Joining an international research team for a study published in journal Nature Communications, National Park Service (NPS) archeologists provided valuable research for a new global study finding that Indigenous groups sustainably harvested massive amounts of oysters over hundreds and sometimes thousands of years with minimal impact before European colonizers arrived.
Read about the two major Scouting events that took place in July 2023 - the Girl Scout Convention held in Orlando, Florida and the Boy Scouts Jamboree held in Beckley, West Virginia.
How De Soto National Memorial connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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Activity
Topic
State
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
ParkingLot
Trail
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