Best Tent Camping near Wilmer, AL

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Harper Campground is designed for tent camping, $20 for unimproved and $30 for improved (electricity and water). If you have a $20 site, you have to bum water from one of the $30 sites. The restroom is nice and clean, showers are hot, and dumpsters are close to restrooms, but is a bit of a walk since the campground is so spacious. I rode my bike to use the bathroom. Enough brush to discreetly pop a squat if that’s your style. A small RV or camper van can easily fit in most of the sites. They’re quite spacious and only a couple (17 and 19) had mud pits. Every site is quite flat and clear and has good hammock trees. Sites 20 and up are not very private since the day use people can see right into your camp but otherwise they’re quite private since the shrubs are thick. Lots of cover meant less dew-covered gear in the morning. Each site had a nice wooden picnic table and fire pit. They sell small bundles of wet firewood for $6 a pop online and at the gatehouse so I recommend buying the regular sized dry bundles at the local supermarket a couple minutes down the road. Wildlife was good for birds, and we had an armadillo visit us all 4 nights! The history of the place is also really cool and we did not get any creepy vibes.

While the tenting sites were inexpensive at $15 per night, the campground is next to I-65 and the noise levels are extremely high. Only one of the 4 bathrooms was available and it was an unusable mess. In addition, part of the door frame had broken and a board with long nails was hanging down, waiting to fall on an unlucky bathroom user. There was no attendant when we checked in and someone was in our reserved space. You would be much better off parking overnight for free at the Cracker Barrel the next exit towards Mobile.

It is all in your perspective, but we prefer a bit of privacy and separation with foliage between sites, and if you do as well, I would recommend you choose a tent site. Most back up to the wooded bird sanctuary (watch out for bird poop!) However, if these sites were full they would not have much privacy, but we were the only ones for the first night and there was only one other camper in this loop the second night. The RV sites have zero privacy, however! Some of these sites back directly on to the road. It seemed to me that there are many returnee snowbirds who stay here so they don’t seem to mind. When we were there, there was a snowbird arts and crafts display. If you do choose an RV site, I would recommend Site 15-21. BUT, you do not have the option of reserving a specific site; it is assigned to you upon arrival. After reading other reviews, I dreaded the laborious check-in process, but it did not take very long. Also, driving up to the window to let them know you were leaving is all there was to the check-out process. 

The bathhouse was immaculate, regardless of the time of day. There is a sign prohibiting pets from being in the bathhouse, but some disregarded this rule. In fact, there almost seemed to be as many dogs as people here! The laundry room looked nice and had a television but has limited hours(closed at 8 pm). 

There is an approximately mile-long walkable beach with access directly from the campground; if you head east, you will get to Fort Gaines and if you head west, you will eventually reach private property and cannot go any further on the beach. There were nice sunsets for the two nights we were there. The Mobile Bay ferry terminal is also directly across the street from the campground; yes, you will hear the whistle!

A small town with shops and restaurants is about two miles away and there is a wide bike/pedestrian path. Although we enjoyed our time here, I likely would not return as there are nicer beaches and other places to explore!

No tent, no car stay

This spot is remote located on halls mill creek which feeds the dog River water shed. Not an organized campground. Hike in. Tents only. Great spot for a hammock.