Texas to Tallahassee: Barrier Islands, Bayous, Beaches -- ?

[MarkBC]

From the map below, looks like I could call this topic "San Antonio to Savannah" But I'm mainly looking for suggestions, info about the more-coastal -- Gulf coast -- areas of TX, LA, MS, AL and FL (panhandle).


The Google Maps route shown is just a vague idea -- not necessarily exactly where I'll go.

Has anyone here visited and camped on/along any of the barrier islands along the Gulf coast of Texas?
I was thinking maybe the Corpus Christi, Port Aransas area would be preferable to the barrier island of Galveston -- since G is so close to huge Houston. Guidance?

How about any of the bayou areas of LA & MS? I swung through there in 2015 on a previous road trip -- loved the exotic trees, plants, birds, water...

How about the "Redneck Riviera" (aka, "Emerald Coast) of the FL panhandle?
I'm not really a beach guy -- just sitting on a beach...but if there were scenic camping areas near the water, that would be cool.

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Acknowledged that I may be testing the patience of the Moderators with this topic -- since this is not "wandering the West" (and to make it worse, I won't even be driving my pickup-camper -- car-and-tent for this trip). But seems like the Moderators are mostly reasonable nice guys...except maybe that Bend guy -- seems to be kind of a stickler.

 

[RicoV]

Mark, it looks as if you're passing on the Padre Island NS area of TX south of CC, maybe you've already been there? But I sure enjoyed the many days spent in years past wandering those mostly empty dunes and beaches; Aransas NWR was fabulous too. Also some rather nice swamplands near the LA cajun country, around Lafayette. And you likely know that an urban excursion in 'Nawlins can't be beat; jazz in the clubs well away from Bourbon St. is the hot ticket nowadays. Have fun.
Rico.

 

[MarkBC]

Rico, I haven't been along the TX coast at all, so your advice is welcome. If I don't go as far south as South Padre it's only because it's further -- on an already long trip, with lots of places to go.... but maybe.

I won't have a boat with me -- I'm driving my car. I wonder if there will be places in the "LA cajun counry" where I can rent a kayak or other small craft for a day from an on-the-water facility/resort. I'd love to paddle around a bit in swamps...among the gators...

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Acknowledged that I may be testing the patience of the Moderators with this topic -- since this is not "wandering the West" (and to make it worse, I won't even be driving my pickup-camper -- car-and-tent for this trip). But seems like the Moderators are mostly reasonable nice guys...except maybe that Bend guy -- seems to be kind of a stickler.

That Bend Guy is vicious, vicious I say! Tread with caution.

While you’re treading, drop down into Plaquemines Parish from NOLA, maybe stop in Belle Chase for crawfish, blue crab and red beans and rice at Ben’s. Take the ferry over to Pointe á la Hache, then up through Chalmette (Battle of New Orleans) and back to the freeway. How’s your French?

 

[longhorn1]

Texas has post warnings along the gulf coast for high levels of fecies in the water, levels higher Corpus, Padre Island, low in Galveston. I will be staying in Galveston Island SP for the next week. Never been to Padre, but it is on our list, went to college in San Antonio, but never got there.

 

[Old Crow]

As it happens, we just returned Monday from the area of Florida you're interested in. We spent a month touring Indian and colonial Spanish historic sites (archeological sites, museums, etc) all over the state, starting in Jacksonville and ending in Pensacola. We basically started out following this Trail of Florida's Indian Heritage map and supplemented it with Spanish Colonial sites as we went.

Florida does a whole series of excellent heritage tourism trails (link).

As far as barrier islands, we visited and can enthusiastically recommend Gulf Islands National Seashore (near Pensacola) and St. George Island State Park (near Apalachicola). We camped at the Fort Pickens campground in Gulf Islands National Seashore but were unable to get a campsite at the latter. We did a day-trip there and then made a long run into the Apalachicola National Forest for a campsite (and a look at the area) that evening.

The Civil War fort at Fort Pickens was an interesting visit and if you're a fan of long-distance trails, that also marks the northern end of the Florida National Scenic Trail (the other end is in Big Cypress National Preserve). Both Gulf Islands and St. George have wonderful white-sand beaches and beautiful blue-green-shading-to-deep-blue waters. In fact you'll probably find the same anywhere along the Emerald Coast.

Also- a few specifics....

- Many state parks in Florida have the annoying habit of closing the office and locking the gate at 5 pm. You can call them but they won't sell you a campsite over the phone. They may tell you if there's a campsite available at the time of your call (if they answer the phone) but won't hold it for you. Florida State Parks use Reserve America as their reservation system but their system doesn't do same-day campsite purchase. If you, like us, don't do reservations because you don't know where you'll be from day to day, this can turn into having to interrupt your touring day to secure a campsite. A few state parks offer overflow sites for self-contained rigs but even then can have odd rules. At Payne's Prairie we were told the campground was full until I asked if they had any overflow sites. We stayed the night (in a parking lot) and next morning tried to get a site in the campground. It was still full so we asked for an overflow site again but were turned down because there's a one-night-only policy on overflow sites (at that campground).

- State Forests in Florida also have some downsides. They recently began implementing a Reservations-only policy for the majority of campsites. In practice, what most have done is put posts at each individual site, marking it as either Walk-In or Reservation-Only. 'Walk-In' in this case means same-day arrival and you pay for the site at an on-site iron ranger. Unfortunately, they designate only a site or two in the entire campground as Walk-In. So if the few walk-in sites are occupied or you don't like the walk-in site, you can't just take an open Reservation-Only site. However, the one important difference with the state-forest version of Reserve America versus the state-parks version is you CAN make a same-day campsite purchase (and enjoy the privilege of paying an extra $6.70 fee for the $10 site). Also- some state forests campgrounds have no walk-in sites. Or they have another type of walk-in site, i.e., you have to park in a separate parking lot and carry your gear to the campsite. Also- dispersed vehicle camping is not permitted in state forests.

- County Park campgrounds. These are often less expensive alternatives but some have odd rules. In Mayport, we were told we couldn't use the tent camping area for our van as it wasn't a tent. But we also couldn't use the RV area unless we had hookups for electricity, water, and sanitation on the outside of the vehicle (which we don't). The clerk said the rule wasn't enforced but we should know about it.... and then gave us an RV site (????). In general, though, County Park sites tend to be OK. A bit too-close together and infrastructure tends to be older but OK.

- National Park/Preserve campgrounds. It's a mixed-bag in Florida. Some campgrounds are first-come-first-served only and others take reservations through the recreation.gov web site. And within recreation.gov there can be different policies. We happened to arrive at Gulf Shores National Seashore just after the site had changed its policy to allow same-day sales and in fact were told we were the first to take advantage of it there. I asked if that meant other recreation.gov sites allow same-day sales and was told no... it's a site-by-site decision to allow it or not. I see today that I can make a same-day purchase at Fort Pickens but at Flamingo campground in the Everglades I can't reserve a site earlier than two nights from now. I also happen to know (because I was there a few weeks ago) that I can actually get a site at Flamingo by simply showing up and paying for it at the iron ranger.

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[Beach]

If your in the Corpus Christi area there are a couple options for beach camping. Malaquite beach is at the north end of Padre Island Natl Seashore. Its open beach with no facilities except a couple travel can toilets,4x4 required if your going more than a couple miles down the beach, just ck in at the park pavillion. Farther north along Hwy 361 headed towards Port Aransas you'll pass Mustang Isle state park, there you park on asphalt and have a covered picknick table, water and showers are avail., I'd rather camp on the open beach personally and it is permitted all along that stretch of beach. You can take the ferry across the intercoastal at Port Aransas and head north along hwy 35 to get to Goose Island state park, used to camp there with my dad in the sixties, fish and shuck oysters all weekend. From there you can head north on hwy 35 to Bay City, at Bay City head south on hwy 60 to Matagorda, there is a park at the mouth of the Colorado River. From there, there is camping at Quintana beach near Freeport, I believe it is a county park. Take the coastal road #? north/east to San Luis pass where there is a small county park. Next stop(about 15 mi) would be Galveston Island State Park. After that, you can ride the Galveston ferry and stay on the coast road to the Boliver pennisula or from Galvestom head north on I45 to Houston, then take I10 east towards La. Hope this helps, PM me if you need additional info. PS, there are lots of nice inland camp areas that are a bit less humid and way less sandy than the beach parks. Camping is free and allowed along most all the Texas coast.

 

[MarkBC]

Great stuff, guys, thanks! Love all the detail. Keep it coming, if you've got more.

I'll probably hit the TX coast about 27 March and over the next 10 days work my east, more-or-less in the Gulf coastal plane to Georgia.

 

[Barko1]

Last year I spent a night at Sea Rim state park in TX, just drive out onto the 10 miles beach and camp for the night, small fee. Just don't turn on the interior lights at night and open the door ..... unless killing bugs for an hour @ 3 AM is something you would enjoy. Not a bug before the sun went down. Also stayed at a couple of state parks on the N shore of Lake Pontchartrain, 400+# hogs roaming around. That is a good overnight if you want to do a quick run into New Orleans. Haven't been for decades but Grand Isle State Park S of New Orleans might be an interesting ride down to the gulf.

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks, Barko! I didn't know you were still around.
Tomorrow night or Friday night I expect be in Louisiana, camped somewhere -- maybe one of those spots you mentioned.

I'm in Galveston tonight...in a motel due to high winds (tornado warning) and rain in the forecast -- the downside of car+tent touring: not as rugged as truck+camper.

I think I'll spend tomorrow, or much of it, touring the Space Center in Houston. I've been a NASA manned-space fan (TV spectator) from the time I watched Alan Sheppard launch when I was 5 years old.

 

[SeatoSea]

If your not staying in downtown Savannah and would like a comfortable camp ground with close access to visit the city, try Skidaway Island State Park.

 

[MarkBC]

If your not staying in downtown Savannah and would like a comfortable camp ground with close access to visit the city, try Skidaway Island State Park.

Thanks, StoS. I'm staying at a friend's house here in Savannah for a few days.
It's surprisingly chilly here this morning! Just 46°F at 11am and overcast...as if it's still winter instead of mid-spring at latitude 32°N.