Baker Creek Boat Ramp

A DOH-Hillsborough blue-green algae health alert issued July 15, 2026, on a sample collected July 9, was still posted with no stated expiration at the end of July. It is an advisory, not a ramp closure — the ramp is open. Do not swim, wade or run personal watercraft where a bloom is visible; keep pets and livestock out of the water; wash skin and clothing after contact. Boiling will not eliminate the toxins.

Hours are sunrise to sunset, and FWC appends “(Closed at Night)” to the ramp's name. No ordinance codifying the night closure is published — do not plan a night trip on the assumption it is unenforced.

Hurricane Milton (October 2024) put the Flint Creek water control structure “completely under water,” per SWFWMD. No post-storm inspection of the ramp, dock or creek channel is published, but the county's ramps index — updated August 12, 2025, ten months after the storm — still carries Baker Creek as an active freshwater launch.

The run to open water is not documented: no published distance, controlling depth or low-water behaviour for the Baker Creek reach. Boats up to about twenty feet make it routinely; when the lake is low, the creek is the unknown.

Boat-size ceiling of roughly twenty feet, per FWC's forecasts and the USF/FCCDR ramp survey sheet. This is a practical limit on the ramp and the creek run, not a posted regulation.

No toilet, no potable water, no fish-cleaning station recorded. FWC's inventory row records RestroomType "No Toilet" and Amenities None; the county page lists "Boat Ramp" only. Come self-sufficient.

Unpaved parking. FWC records the surface as gravel, limestone or packed soil in Good condition. Expect it to be soft after heavy rain.

Craft Access

✓

Motorboat

✓

Kayak / Canoe

✓

Jet Ski / PWC

✗

Large 22ft+

Site Details

Conditions change rapidly due to water levels, prop wash, and weather. Always visually inspect before backing down.

RampConcrete, 2 lanes

Water DepthNot published. No depth appears on the county's page, the USF survey sheet or FWC's record, and there is no current stage reading for the lake. You launch into a creek, not the lake.

DockFixed and floating dock plus a canoe launch, installed under the county's 2018 boater-registration-fee ramp improvement program. · ADA

Trailer ParkingLimited / unposted · unpaved — gravel, limestone or packed soil (fwc), condition rated good

Vehicle-Only5 spots

Crowding No published use counts, but the structure tells you enough: the only public access to the largest lake in Hillsborough County, an unpaved lot of 8 to 15 trailer spaces, and sunrise-to-sunset hours. Crappie season and weekend mornings are the pinch, and airboats are routine traffic.

Plan B — if this lot is full There is no second public launch on Lake Thonotosassa. Hillsborough County's ramps index names four freshwater launches — Edward Medard Conservation Park, Riverview Civic Center, Harney Park and Baker Creek. The first three are other water with other rules: two are Hillsborough River access, and Medard is a separate reservoir carrying $2 park entry on top of the $5 launch.

Fee$5 per day to launch, or a $100 annual county boat ramp pass

HoursSunrise to sunset

SeasonYear-round; no seasonal closure published by the county

StaffedNo — FWC records fee collection by meter or permit

Accessibility"Low Level of Accessibility" per FWC: no accessible trailer or vehicle spaces, no toilet at all, unpaved gravel or packed-soil parking. The county publishes no accessibility statement for this site either way.

Not Available Fish cleaning · Fishing pier · Restrooms · Pier

Scout's Notes

Ramp Quirks & Etiquette

A Creek, Not the Lake

You back into Baker Creek — the county calls it “a canal leading to Lake Thonotosassa” — and run out to open water. Nobody publishes the run's distance or controlling depth, so idle out and read the water, especially in a dry spring. If you planned on a lakeshore ramp, plan for a creek instead.

Fees and the Hang Tag

$5 to launch; Baker Creek is a stand-alone ramp, so the $2 Conservation Park entry does not attach here. A $100 annual hang tag covers county ramps only — buy online, at a conservation park, or weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (813-829-2626). What device takes payment at the ramp is not published, so at first light carry cash and a card.

Twenty Feet Is the Ceiling

FWC says the ramp serves fishing boats under 20 feet plus kayaks and canoes, and the USF survey sheet agrees — most traffic is airboats, small fishing boats and personal watercraft. A practical limit on the ramp and the creek run, not a posted rule.

Small Lot, Daylight Only

Hours are sunrise to sunset — the night closure is real enough to sit in the ramp's official FWC name. The unpaved lot holds 8 trailers by FWC's count, 15 by the undated USF sheet; either way it is small for the only public access to the county's largest lake. Crappie-season weekend mornings are the pinch.

Dock and Canoe Launch

The county's 2018 ramp-improvement program installed a dock and added a canoe launch here, superseding older records that show no dock. The canoe launch is why this ramp genuinely serves paddlers as well as trailers.

Come Self-Sufficient

No toilet, no potable water, no fish-cleaning station, no bait or fuel — the county lists “Boat Ramp” only. Buy what you need in Thonotosassa or Plant City on the way in. The address is 12095 Thonotosassa Rd, Thonotosassa; county contact (813) 987-6240.

Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation — hcfl.gov Baker Creek Boat Ramp location page and county boat ramps index, plus the Conservation Parks & Boat Launch Passes page (all read 2026-07-31); FWC Florida Boat Ramp Inventory layer 4 row HL00144ED (fetched 2026-07-31); USF/FCCDR Baker Creek ramp survey sheet and USF Water Atlas; SWFWMD Oct 2024 Flint Creek newsroom items; DOH-Hillsborough algae alert of 2026-07-15; Patch, Dec 5 2018.

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