Best Tent Camping near Semmes, 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.

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

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

I will preface this review with this: if you're an RV camper who enjoys all the amenities then you may very well love this campground. I will also say that the staff were very accommodating when we expressed our concerns and we were able to move to my parent's RV site and pitch our tent there for our four night stay. That being said, I am going to continue my review as it pertains to my experience as a tent camper.

I've stayed here before and the tent sites, of which there are only 12 (the entire campground has over 500 RV sites, so it's big) have really been neglected. When we arrived to our site it was littered with trash, the lantern post had been run over and was on the ground, there were more fire ants than grains of sand and the small marshy canal that ran through the back of the site was only about 10 feet from the picnic table and frequented by large alligators sunning themselves in the campsite. There was no way, especially with two dogs, that we were going to stay in this site. The campground personnel had us move to another tent site which was just as bad as the first one. We wound up pitching our tent in my parent's RV site where the grounds were actually maintained and landscaped.

You can rent bikes here, there's also a pool and a cool little nature center. Lot's of amenities available to guests and many of the RV folks are here for weeks upon weeks. It's a short bike ride to the beach and there are many miles of bike/walking paths throughout the park (it's quite large in terms of real estate).

There is a "dog park" but use at your own risk. My cousin lives a short drive from this spot and passed by frequently, often seeing large alligators sunning themselves on the "dog park" beach. They live in the "pond" that is fenced in as part of the dog area. There have been a few incidents and interactions with dogs and gators.

The RV sites are quite nice, large concrete pads and picnic tables. Stand up grills and lantern/trash poles (not run over and on the ground). Be aware of the raccoons and other critters that like pilfering through the garbage at night. Some of the sites are on canals which are home to large alligators and they do sun themselves in the sites from time to time. Unlike the heavily wooded tent sites, you can see the reptiles in the RV sites due to the impeccable landscaping in that part of the campground.

BONUS: We were there during the super moon and it was spectacular!