Campground on Dry Tortugas, closed since June 2002, reopens

DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK, Fla. - The campground on this cluster of small islands near the Florida Keys has been reopened after a 1 1/2-year hiatus, an official said Tuesday.

The campsite on Garden Key had been closed since June 2002 after heavy rains caused a malfunction in the septic tanks, but the park remained open for day visits, park spokesman Rick Cook said.

The National Park Service reopened the campsite Monday, complete with new toilets in the visitors' restroom, plus new grills for cookouts and a walkway for the disabled, Cook said. "We looked at a long term fix, which is one of the reasons it took a while to reopen," he said.

Located about 70 miles west of Key West, Dry Tortugas is the site of Fort Jefferson. It boasts a wide array of vegetation, fish and other wildlife on more than 64,000 acres of coral reefs and azure waters.

Fort Jefferson was built as a coastal garrison and later was used as a Union military prison for captured deserters during the Civil War. President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Fort Jefferson National Monument in 1935, and the area was renamed Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992.

The site has six individual camping slots and additional room for groups. It averaged about 6,100 visitors per year in the three years before it closed.

The park - accessible only by ferry or seaplane - attracted more than 85,000 visitors last year, Cook said.