Galveston Island State Park Campground

What a hidden gem! We stayed in the beach side. Our site was #11 and it was about 100’ from the beach path. We could feel the breeze. Unfortunately the beach side is shutting down on Sept 3, 2019 per their website for renovations. The lake side is still open though. Beautiful area. In the morning took my coffee down the beach path with my chair and watched the sun come up. Great place.

This review is for the marsh-side sites. There are sites on the beach, but they are difficult to reserve unless pretty far in advance. There are two "circles," one with hookups for RVs, and one for tents.

Sites are level and angled so that they're easy to back in. Big grassy area in the center of the ring to throw balls/frisbees for the dog. Lots of trails nearby (but watch out for alligators). Sites are very close together and there is absolutely no privacy, but the views over the marshes make up for it. There is no restroom in the RV circle, but there is a big one in the tent circle, and it's well-kept. Hookups are water and electricity only.

There is no WiFi, but both Verizon and AT&T signals are very strong for using hotspots. Good location for getting into town; lots of bars, restaurants, and things to do and see (highly recommend the Bryan Museum and the docent-led tour).

We met some fabulous people there, so this review is a little prejudiced towards it being great.

We had really looked forward to our visit to Galveston Island and the State Park, boy were we disappointed! We chose to stay on the bay side rather than the beach as I am not a fan of wind blown sand.

The sites are very tight! laid out in a circle the pads or about 10 feet apart. there is a large grassy area with a pavilion in the middle for cooking out and eating but it is just not very convenient. There is only one shower facility on this side of the park and it is on the other loop for tent camping. We will not return any time soon!

Galveston Island State Park has two separate campgrounds, one on the Gulf Coast beach side of the island and the other, about 1.5 miles away, on the bay side of the island. We stayed on the beach side for a week and then booked an additional week on the bay side. The beach side costs $25 per night, while the bay side costs $20 per night.

The beach side felt much more spacious than the bay side. On the beach side, sites are lined up next to one another, facing the beach, with a covered picnic table between each site. There is no natural vegetation, but there is a good amount of separation between the sites and the camp fire ring is placed at the back of the sites, so if you're sitting out at night, you don't feel like you're looking in your neighbor's windows.

On the bay side, sites are arranged in a ring and they are offset from one another. While this meant we had a nice view of the bay from the driver's side of our rig, it also meant we were very close to our neighbors on both sides. When our neighbors were sitting outside talking, we could hear every word, and we noticed that there were no fire pits at any of the campsites. There were some in the circle in the middle of the campground, but none at the individual sites - likely because the sites are so close to one another, the smoke would bother folks. There was very little sense of privacy on the bay side, at least in our site. If they removed 3 or 4 sites, they could make the existing ones more spacious and it would make a huge difference.

The sites here could use some TLC, but it's mostly because they are prone to flooding. When we arrived, many of the beach side sites were basically ponds because of the rain. The park employees came out during the day to pump some of the water out, but the end result of constant flooding is sites that look pretty beat up. They were reasonably level though, and the hookups (just water and electric) worked fine. We thought the price was fair given the quality of the sites.

As far as proximity to the beach and bay, you can't get any better. There is direct access from the campgrounds to the water on both sides of the island (there is a dune separating the beach from the campsites). The park is also about a 10 or 15 minute drive from downtown Galveston Island, and an hour from downtown Houston, so it's a really great location to set up shop for a couple weeks and explore a pretty interesting coastal area.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay here but we much preferred the sites on the beach side to those on the bay side.

We were lucky to find 1 beach site available for 3 nights :) and it was close to one of the bathhouses. The showers and bathrooms are old but clean.
The paved sites are close to each other giving little privacy but they have a nice covered picnic table.

The beach is a short walk from the campground and there are miles of beach to walk on.
The nature trails on the Bayside are beautiful and with lots of birds. We would have enjoyed them more if not for the “jurassic” mosquitos.

Notes: The price per night was $25 plus $5.00 per person per day
Bathhouse and bathroom are only available in the first and third loop.

We stayed here in a Class B motor home

We stayed on the Gulf side campsites. Each one has a covered picnic area. It's a quick walk to the beach. We were cautious about the 3 types poisonous snakes that live in the park. You can walk or bike to a small grocery store south of the campsites. I never realized how much of a resort area Galveston is. Plenty of restaurants and entertainment.

I made a youtube video at: https://youtu.be/vuk4WRh9LAg

Cell phone data download/upload speeds (Mbps) tested by Speedtest:
Verizon 40.4/13.3
T-Mobile 25.4/19.3
ATT 7.94/8.46

Using Weboost cell booster:
Verizon 35.3/17.9
T-Mobile 23.5/21.7
ATT 7.94/8.46

Stayed here on the Bay side for 1 night after being on the beach for 10 nights so it was great to have water and electric to get everything clean. Shower house was clean and updated, though quite a walk from the rv sites. The rate of $20 doesn’t include the $5/person per day entrance fee so in reality it cost $30/day for us. If you plan on staying in Texas State parks, I would recommend getting the annual pass. It cost $70, which covers entrance fees for everyone in your vehicle for 1 year as well as a 50% discount on 2nd night stays, 4 times, which helps cover the cost of the pass. Also worth note is that when staying in the State Parks, you don’t need a fishing license to fish/crab.

We bought a new to us TT this past September and promptly took a one night shake down trip to a nearby lake. Worked out well.

This past week we finally got around to a real trip. Wife insisted on a beach trip which I was against (sand/rust/salt/etc.). Rockport and Port A were possibilities but I dint want to be right on the beach.

We checked around (Jamaica Beach, Stella Mare, and others) but they were full. By luck we found Galveston Island State Park. What a gem that is and for only $25/night. (Buy the season pass for State Parks for $70 or you pay $5 per person per day access in addition to Rv site). The State employees were exceptionally accommodating. We had a great view of the Gulf with great breezes and ocean sounds. You could see the highway on the back but there as no noise. We booked for 1 night and ended up staying for a second. We loved it. Again, ATT coverage was good-good enough to stream TV. There were probably 40 digital over the air channels available (many were foreign language).

As newbies we are still trying to find out what is important to us. I’m certain that this is different for every couple. We drove the other major parks in the area. They were all much more developed (pools, putt putt, other activities, lots of kids). If you are looking for quiet yet civilized (and a bargain), don’t miss Galveston Island State Park. We will be back.

Having lived in Texas my entire life, this was my first adventure towards Galveston. I was a bit apprehensive given my travels to Port Aransas and South Padre Island. I was pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of the facility. We were fortunate to have stayed during wonderful weather. The temperatures were in the middle 70's during the day and low sixties during the night. I would like to give you some of the reasons why we enjoyed our stay.

The State Park is off the beaten path, located just outside of Jamaica Beach west of the city of Galveston. They offer both beach and bayside sites that offer up to 50amp service. We stayed at one of the beach side sites. There are three groups of sites, with only the first and third groups having restroom facilities so if your in the middle section, you'll have to drive because it would be a long walk to the bathroom. Our campsite was located in the first group of sites. The park recently completed a new restroom facility with modern ascetics and handicap accessible. There was plenty of hot water for showers and was very clean.

Each of the beach side sites are within close walking distance to the beach. They are so close that only a dune separates them from the water. At night the waves can be heard without interruption. The sites are equipped with a level paved drive for RVs and include a covered picnic table (see picture below). As standard with Texas state parks, they also include a fire pit and grill. The days preceding our stay included approximately 4 inches of rain so the ants were a bit of a problem in certain parts, but was to be expected.

The staff at the facility was top notch and friendly. They were very helpful with our questions and were polite to offer us a site close to the restroom facility when asking about our children. As been our experience at state parks, the staff was friendly and were seen strolling the beach when not in uniform. Lastly, the beach was perfect. It was maintained well and wasn't littered with seaweed like other sites along that coast I've visited. The park claims a lot of real estate along the waterfront which enables a secluded getaway. There were plenty of shells to be found and the family enjoyed the stay.

I highly recommend this place for your next vacation. We purchased a parks pass ($70.00) which offers discounted rates on multiple nights and free park entrance to guests. The park generally charges $5 per person for entry. If you plan to stay at other state parks during a calendar year, the parks pass is well worth the investment. Texas offers a number of options across the state so it made sense for us.

We arrived late in the day, missing the check-in time. Our site was identified on the bulletin board and we went in search of it. Perfect location near the third bath house, which was next to the beach access. It was high tide so we didn't get to walk the beach the first night but hey, it was getting late and we needed to set up and get cooking. There's a covered area for each campsite with a picnic table and plenty of room to set up a couple chairs and our little red campfire. Each site also has a fire pit and wood is sold at the entrance.