Best Tent Camping near Dauphin Island, AL

You could stay at this park for your whole trip and not have to leave. There is an awesome pool and splash pad, basketball courts, and boat launch on the property, plus a laundromat and impressive camp store. The restroom facilities are relatively nice and are always air conditioned during the warmer months. The only complaint I have of this park is that there are only 11 tent camping sites. They claim any site can be used for tent camping, but no one in a tent wants to set up on a concrete pad, especially when it is hot! The tent sites they do have are primitive without water or electrical hook ups - it would be nice to have some sites with hook ups. The sites they do have for tents are very shady and clean. They do back up to a swampy canal, but I have never seen any alligators although I am sure they are in there somewhere.

I would definitely recommend this park for families.

This park is like a small city, there are over 500 sites, only 11 tent sites. My husband and I tent camped at gulf state park in February, 2019 and it was very nice, they have so many amenities here you don’t ever have to leave. If you were looking for solitude time, this is not the site for you. The bathrooms were nicer than some hotels I have stayed in. There is a store on site, tennis/pickle ball courts, swimming pool, activities center, horseshoe pit, nature center and over 25 miles of very nice hiking trails, oh yea, and less than a 20 minute walk to one of the best white sand beaches in the USA. Also playgrounds for kids. There is a laundromat and they have a church service and other scheduled activities.

Dauphin Island is an amazing place! The island is not very large, but has lots to do. There are several good restaurants, ice cream shops, a great seafood market called Skinners, where you can order fresh seafood from the steamer (we ordered crab legs twice during our stay 😋), parks, bike paths across the entire island, great fishing, a bird sanctuary, an Estuarium (similar to an aquarium), and beautiful white sand beaches, just to name a few!

We stayed at the Dauphin Island Campground in the tent area on site 8. The check in process was fairly time consuming , as it is all written out by hand. Check out is the same way, and they don’t take online reservations. The people in the office are amazing though, so it was ok!

The campground map is not accurate for site selection. We were first given site 5, which looked great on the map, but was not great for our rooftop tent. Also, there is no way to see the ocean from ANY site, so don’t think you’ll have ocean view. On the map I thought we might be able to have a glimpse of the Gulf, but not so. Site 8 was perfect for us, nice shady spot with view of the trees in the bird sanctuary. All tent sites have water and electric hookups. They do not allow anything to be hung from trees, including hammocks, so bring hammock stand if you plan to use them.

The RV sites are all pretty close to each other. The row nearest the bay has water views, but is also next to the road and auto ferry. Several long time residents stay at this campground, Possibly seasonal.

The restrooms/bathhouse was immaculate! They have a designated cleaning at 9-9:30 daily, and they were in excellent shape. There’s also laundry facilities on site. There’s a camp store, and a fish cleaning station, and playground as well.

Beach access is in the back of the campground near the tent sites, we took our bikes and that was the best way to get there. It took us less than a minute to be on the beach. The beach was fairly empty and that’s what we loved the most! Like having our own private beach. Take a cart to haul your chairs, umbrella, etc, or plan on packing it on your back like we did. The people who were fishing were catching fish the whole time, so if you enjoy fishing, this is a great spot.

We absolutely LOVED Dauphin Island, and will definitely return, but if we come back in the summer, we will bring the pop up tent so we can have A/C, as it is blazing hot!

This place is very cool.  I love the raised boardwalk style bike paths all over the place.  Our kids rode their bikes all over the place here.  You can also take a path to the beach or the pier.  Just a nice place.  We camped in a tent here...   but we were literally the only tent here that week.  Everyone was in an RV.  We have since purchased a pop up camper so we will return and fit in better lol...

They advertise as tent camping however that is not true until the end of May

Tent camping was very peaceful and great location to everything. Such a great few days we had here

You cannot tent camp here anymore. Very unhelpful staff. When I informed them this application info wasn't updated, they didn't care.

Super easy check in after hours. Host was very nice. Bathrooms/showers clean. Electric/water at tent site

Beautiful park along the gulf coast and one of the few beach options in Alabama. They have really nice RV and tent camping that has easy access to the gulf as well as tons of walking and biking trails. The campground also has an incredible nature center with so many amazing animals. If you are feeling up for a little adventure you can stay at the backcountry campground accessible via bikes or walking.

We’ve stayed here several times. Nice flat sites in the pines and next to the Bay. Bathhouses are nice. Only problem is they are push button showers so it takes a couple pushes to get it hot. Shelter houses, boat ramp, tent sites, and a few cabins. Only 5 miles west to the USS Alabama Memorial Park. Well worth a visit!!

I called to make reservations for September 21 for a5 days and she said that they are not offering tent camping at this time. Not even a overland trailer (Turtleback with a RTT), it has to be a RV only.

Beautiful clean park. Getting upgraded. Two wonderful boardwalks. One to the Bayou. Ice machine, showers cabins, upgraded tent sites and wifi. Large sites with full hookups.

This place is a ok campground, lot size is decent. Grounds keeper can't keep up with all the grass that's about 3ft high. Tent sites are way overgrown. Location is about 3 minutes away from OWA which makes it worth 3 stars.

2000 acres Walking auto cell phone tours of civil war Boat tours Big pull through rv spots and a tent campground. Awesome

The park is set up on a historic site where they have several trails set up talking about civil war battles that occurred there. They have two separate areas for camping where one is for RVs and tents and the other is the more basic tent only sites. I visited the tent only area which had many many sites and most had a nice amount of space with a good bit of privacy. I was there in June though and it gets really hot during the day and night and also very buggy. If you were here in the fall or winter it could be a great place to camp though. The bathrooms were nice but nothing special. There is a single bathroom for all of the tent sites so if you are far you could have a pretty long walk. The sites are pretty cool to see so if you are a civil war buff it might be worth checking out. The camping is expensive though at $20 a night for the tent sites and $30 for an RV site. People were friendly though and it was one of the nicest places in the area.

RV sites are cramped, but the tent site have lots of room. A bridge runs right over the campground and it can be loud at night with cars driving over it. The kitchen and common room is really nice to hang out in, and there are always events happening at the campground or nearby.

There's a lot to do in and around the park. There are alligators in the park so keep an eye out during the summer. There's a large pool, hiking trails, fishing, kayaking and food vendors along with a store and laundrymat. Lots of shade for tent camping. Much cheaper than renting a condo to visit the beach. Lots of stores within quick driving distance and a ton of things to do in the area.

This is a scenic campsite along the river. The tent sites are in a general area, not specific sites. It worked out well for me since I was the only renter but I imagine it could get very crowded. The facilities are clean and the staff were so nice. My one complaint is that they don’t provide fire pits for campers.

We camped for 3 days in a tent. There is power and water even the tent sites. I loved the path/boardwalk to the beach. The beach is beautiful white sand and is not crowded at all. The areas around the beach are not developed so you get a more natural view. There are lots of nature trails that are connected to the campground. There is an aquarium, a fort, and the ferry to Fort Morgan within walking distance from the campground.

Great tent campground. Most sites have some privacy but a few are close to neighboring sites. Its a short walk to the bathhouse and tons of hiking trails are nearby. Rates are reasonable, picnic tables, and fire rings at the sites. Our favorite nearby camlground!

This was my first time to camp on a travel trailer. As I usually tent camp. The trails here are super easy and would only disappoint if you wanted to do hard core back packing. The park is an easy walk to the beach. I took my kayak and my bike and it was a perfect fit. I was able to bike, snorkel, run, and kayak on a 4 day 3 night trip. The facilities are clean and the park is quiet. It is alcohol prohibited however.