Egmont Key lies southwest of Fort De Soto Park and can only be reached by boat or ferry.

Among the wildlife in the refuge are box turtles, gopher tortoises, dolphins, manatees, and birds such as osprey, brown pelicans, white ibis, royal and sandwich terns, black skimmers, American oystercatchers and laughing gulls.

The southern end of Egmont Key and a section of the east beach are closed year-round to all public use to provide nesting habitat for the laughing gulls, terns, white ibis, brown pelicans, and American oystercatchers.

Egmont Key is only accessible by boat and has no drinking water, restrooms, or shops due to the remote nature.

Visitors needing transport to the island can utilize the Egmont Key Ferry Cruise provided by Hubbard's Marina departing from the Bay Pier located within Fort De Soto.

The Tocobaga tribe had a persistent but impermanent presence on the island, as evidenced by the discovery of arrowheads and spear points.

Spanish surveyors first mapped the island in the 1750's, naming it Isla de San Blas y Barreda, in honor of a Cuban official.

[7] As with the rest of Florida, Egmont Key transitioned between rule by Spain and England multiple times before finally becoming part United States in 1821.

[2] Defense considerations during the Spanish–American War led to the construction of Fort Dade on the island in 1898, and Egmont Key remained a military reservation until 1923.

[11] On August 15 that year, a Fokker/Atlantic F.VIIIb/3m that was turned into a "C-2 Tri-motor", General Machado (NC55 or 53[12]), was operating a Pan Am flight from Havana to Key West, when it became lost and ditched off of the island after running out of fuel.

After a yearslong effort, the jail structure from Fort Dade was rebuilt and repurposed as a visitors' center for the park in the early 2000s.