Keystone is an unincorporated lake district in the northwest corner of Hillsborough County, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Tampa, reached mainly by Gunn Highway and the Veterans Expressway. Its Census area covers about 35 square miles of land and 4 of water, and a county community plan aims to keep it rural, with large parcels, private lakes, equestrian properties and 434-acre Lake Keystone. Mailing addresses here read Odessa, Tampa or Lutz.
Living in Keystone
The W.M. Mobley family, who came from Savannah, Georgia, settled the area in the mid-1800s; Mobley Road carries the name. The local civic association dates the Keystone and Odessa community to 1884. Today the area is governed under the Keystone-Odessa Community Plan, part of Hillsborough County's comprehensive plan. The plan aims to keep Keystone a rural community that values nature above commercialism, dark night skies and quiet, with limited commercial development allowed only in specific locations.
Lakes in Keystone
Water covers about 4 square miles of the area. Lake Keystone, a private lake of about 434 acres and up to 24 feet deep, is the largest. Lake Rogers, one of the larger lakes in Hillsborough County, anchors a county park. Many homes sit on private lakes, and the area's large parcels include ranches and equestrian properties.
Parks, preserves and trails in Keystone
Lake Rogers Park, at 9010 North Mobley Road, covers 272 acres around its namesake lake. A 2.25-mile trail winds through oak and pine woods, and the park has picnic shelters and camping. Brooker Creek Headwaters Nature Preserve, at 18102 Ramblewood Road, covers 1,121 acres with a marked 4.3-mile hiking trail, birdwatching and picnic tables. It is open sunrise to sunset with no fee, and pets are allowed. The preserve meets the paved Upper Tampa Bay Trail, whose Lutz-Lake Fern Road trailhead, at 7020 Lutz Lake Fern Road, is also inside Keystone. There the trail connects to the Suncoast Trail at the Veterans Expressway.
Homes in Keystone
Keystone's housing runs from lakefront homes on private lakes to acreage estates, ranches and equestrian parcels, with some subdivisions in between. The community plan's rural goals shape how land here can be divided. The area's ZIP codes are 33556 and 33558, and it overlaps the Odessa page because many Keystone addresses say Odessa.
