Best Glamping near Austwell, TX

Goose Island SP is a great little hidden gem of a park on the Texas Gulf Coast.  The camping area is small, but they've arranged the spots very well, with good vegetation between each spot that hides your spot from your neighbor.  They offer both 30 amp and 50 amp service, water, fire ring, table on cement pad and nice flat spots.  Good day use spots and excellent boat ramp with a fish cleaning table.  Yes there are bugs, but this is in the middle of reclaimed wetlands, so be prepared!  This is their world and we must adapt.  The bay-side camping area is the island part of the park and is still being renovated (as of Aug 2020), but according to park staff, they should be open by Nov 2020.  There is also a brand new, huge pier with boat access and fishing that will be open soon.  Near-by there is "The Big Tree", purported the oldest tree in Texas (1000-2000 years old!) and Rockport beach and all the other Texas coast attractions.   Highly recommend and we will be returning soon.

Each site is very spacious. Lots of trees and shade for South Texas. Bathrooms were ok. Lots of bugs but clean.

Goliad is next to a historic site for Texas history. The river is beautiful and during the spring time there are tons of blue bonnets that bloom.

I visit a lot of the state parks in Texas. Goose Island is a good one. It's a great area for fishing because it's really close to rockport. While most of the state parks do not have WI-FI, they say they do. It's very poor. I have T-Mobile, and the cell service at Goose Island was great. 5G was great. Also, the digital TV signal was excellent. The park staff was very friendly and helpful. Goose Island is close to Walmart. HEB and many other stores in restaurants. The park all around is great. I will definitely return.

The wooded area camping loops wind through lovely groves of Texas Live Oak, and Loblolly Pine, which make great habitat for winter warblers. The sites are spacious and set reasonably apart from each other to offer some privacy. Most campsites offer water and electricity. These sites are MUCH quieter than the Bayfront sites, which are plagued by loud boat engine traffic.  This area is much for secluded, thus not alot of walk/drive by traffic going through.

The bathroom building with internal hot-water shower stalls was relatively clean and updated. The area is great for all kinds of low-key activities like fishing, biking, walking, paddling etc. I wouldn’t go here if I had my heart set on swimming, though. The water is relatively shallow and in the middle of a massive oyster colony, pretty sharp edges on those bi-valves, so be careful. 

One of the best activities, especially during the winter months, is birding. The area is the winter home to the endangered Whooping Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, Spoonbills and many, many more. Grab your binoculars and your birding guide!

We stayed 14 nights in one of the Bay sites. Really enjoyed the view and sunsets. We watched Dolphins right in front of us every day. Pros: Bayfront site's view, easy in and out, easy set up, fishing, close to stores and restaurants, nice pavillion with picnic table at each site, Nice dock to fish off of and can fish right at your site. Clean restrooms. Pet friendly with 6ft leash rule. Cons: TTs and 5th wheels are supposed to back in. This causes the pavillion to be on the wrong side. You open your door to your neighbors pavillion. Motorhomes, Cs & Bs can pull in so the pavillion is on the correct side however the W&E hookups are then on the wrong side. (They are working to fix this issue) Wooded section is not big rig friendly. Low hanging branches and many sites difficult to back in to. (We didn't stay in this section, we drove through without 5th wheel) The air boats. There are 3-5 different ones that come in and out ALL day every day starting around 6:30am. They are so loud they vibrate the campers.

We hit some big wind 3/21/22. We were in the beach front with waves crashing over so we got luck and moved to the wooded area. While there are some low branches- I was able to carefully maneuver into #125 with my tall fifth wheel. But it was close. Lots of birds, deer, and fishing. I see attraction of the beach front, but the wooded area is really nice with private sites, camp for grills, tables and….trees for shade.

We really enjoyed staying in the wooded area of the park. Most spaces are very private because of the thick plant life. The beach spots looked cool but we didn’t want the noise from the boats as mentioned in other posts. Has a great pier and trails through the woods too.

I camped here 25 years ago and it was just as lovely as I remembered. Lots of walking trails, some bird feeders and a great place to stay to go out to Aransas Reserve with Rockport Adventures boat tour. Captain Tommy knew his birds, not just Whooping Cranes.

The tent site is a "walk-in" but it was only a few feet to the site. The bathrooms and showers were clean.

This State Park is really well maintained. The fishing pier is large and easily accessible. You can rent kayaks. Fish cleaning station. Boat ramp. The views are great! Fish right from your campsite.

Nice private spot in wooded area. Great fishing!

The waterfront sites are superb. Great view of Copano Bay and love being right on the water. They are very level, have electric and water. The dump site is also great - level, paved, water hookup, easy to get to and easy to use. I have decent cell service on the waterfront sites (T Mobile) and no service in the wooded areas.

I’ve been to about 10 different campgrounds this year on several different states. Goose island state park is by far the best. This time we stayed in the wooded area. I didn’t think I would like it (I loved the waterfront sites) but I loved it. The sites are a good distance apart and have new paved driveways that are very level. There is a pole for hanging lightning and a campfire pit. There is electricity and water. We are in site 115 and I have cell service which makes me very happy. I don’t think the site numbers 200’s have cell service as they are father in. It’s quiet and dark at night. The site has woods and trees behind so it’s very private. It can hold a pretty big rig. Ours is only 26 ft but it can hold much bigger. This site is fabulous. The weather is great and there are tons of things to do in the area. Book it! We are coming back.

My wife and I went for a quick trip and decided to go to a place we haven’t been. I guess we chose the wrong time to go to this state park. Nothing but misquitos at the campground. And sand fleas come out at night near the water. The staff was super friendly and the bathrooms were okay.

site: lots of trees. some sites on the water. many sites shaded. amenities: clean. more updated. attractions: big tree. beach. wildlife. I would go camping here (just drove through checking out the campground).

Right next to wildlife refuge, convenient to lots of beaches. Visited in winter for birding. Range of camping facility options, we used the most basic and they were adequate. Amazing sunrises. Make sure to see “The Big Tree”which is a short drive/bike ride away.

WE stayed in the wooded area and the sites are so shaded and secluded. the park offers beach camping too is that is something you would like. For last minute campers they have some non reservable sites that can be picked up last minute (if no one is already in them)

The campground was nice and clean. There is still a lot of damage from the hurricane. I hadn’t been there in over ten years and was very surprised at how much the area has changed. There are beach houses all around and that kinda spoiled the natural vibe.

large well spaced out campsites. Allows pets. Quiet. Great area if you like to fish. Only downside was lots of bugs, especially mosquitoes.

Not the best for tent camping in the middle of summer. Had fun but not used to the humidity

You can choose beach csmping or wooded area camping.

The park itself doesn’t have much to do as they are still recovering and renovating from Hurricane Harvey a couple of years ago(this was my rationale for a lower rating). Having said this,it’s a great park and I highly recommend it and we would surely return. The bathrooms are above average, clean with nice showers. Our campsite was nice and shady with a picnic table and water. We saw deer and one snake (too quick to identify it). We hiked the trail in the park which was nice and well maintained. The next town over is Rockport which has million dollar mansions on the water. We rented a kayak for half day and kayaked in and out of the canals gawking at the boats and houses. There is a bird sanctuary on the island in little bay where we kayaked and in addition to all the birds we saw two dolphins swimming around. We were close enough to port Aransas to drive over and took the ferry (had to stay in the vehicle due to corona virus). We ate seafood at our favorite seafood restaurant “Snoopys”.

Very clean. Friendly staff. Lots of wildlife around. Make sure to bring plenty of bug spray, the higher the deet % the better. We will be going back very soon.

Wish I would have come better prepared to fish. Did see a Whooping Crane. Stayed on the bay side. Kinda strange the had restricted capacity so they shut an entire loop instead of spreading people out. Air boats are loud early and late.

Beach & wooded sites. Remodeled after 2019 hurricane. A steal @ $22/night with TX Park Pass!

It is a great spot for anyone wanted to fish with a HUGE pier. The sites were well groomed. We were on Live Oak Circle with a nice view of the fields. One thing I’d say is BRING STUFF FOR MOSQUITOES. One bottle of bug spray won’t work. Bring more. There is a Walmart in Fulton if you underestimate. Short trip to Rockport beach as well

This state park has campsites right on the water and back in a more forested area. We were right on the bay and loved watching birds and watching the fishers camped in the area. Basic amenities include water and electricity. Showers okay. This area has got lots of mosquitos so bring your spray!