Best Dispersed Camping near Bay City, TX

Recent Dispersed Reviews near Bay City, TX

41 Reviews of 8 Bay City Campgrounds

• J

  John H.

  Guide

  

  Apr. 5, 2021

  Follett’s Island Beach

  Free Beach camping

  Parked on beach with nobody else in sight. Hard to beat free camping on the beach.

• 

  Ted S.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 11, 2024

  Magnolia Beach

  Boondocking only

  Right by the gulf and on shell and coral covered beach. Free camping for all types up to 14 days.

• M

  MARK T.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 7, 2022

  Magnolia Beach

  Wonderful

  Kind of an off the beaten place but a real gem for Boondocking.

• 

  Barb N.

  Ranger

  

  Apr. 1, 2023

  Brazoria Beach

  Free Beach front camping is the best!

  Hard packed sand. Tide is safely far from the rig. Boondocking and waking up to the ocean sound is amazing. Take a walk with a garbage bag and help pick up liter left by others

• 

  Robert O.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 31, 2020

  Magnolia Beach

  Great Beach camping

  What a great beach boondocking location! Fantastic view and hard-packed sand that made it very easy to drive on. We only stayed one night and will stay again next time we’re in the neighborhood. It was not crowded. Overall we had a really good time.

• 

  Gary N.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 20, 2022

  Follett’s Island Beach

  A weekend getaway

  Class B camping. Had beach mostly to ourselves. Primitive camping with no amenities. Just what we were looking for.
  Clean and plenty of room. Good cell services. Not much in the area so pack your pantry in advance.

• l

  leah

  Scout

  

  Jul. 20, 2022

  Magnolia Beach

  Beaten up

  This is a very beaten up part of a beach, but great for free camping! I would come here again for the camping part, not for a beautiful scenery(there's a factory right over the water on the other side which meant I did not want to swim in this), definitely not for the showers or restroom, but I would to sleep. The showers are absolutely horrendous. I told myself even if they were cold I'd use them, but these don't look to have been used in years and are DIRTY. Same as the bathroom, but those I'd have to use. It's beautiful to wake up to a beach no matter what and the best thing is that you don't need 4x4 to go here. It's hard shell beach, so there's no way you're getting stuck. Me and my friend used the outdoor shower made to wash off sand to rinse our bodies, but I wouldn't do a full wash in it. I also loved the fact that I could go to San Antonio and Houston then come back to the beach! I know it's about 2 hours away, but I definitely do not want to stay in a hot city. The best part about this place is if you keep your windows open at night a very nice breeze will keep you cool.

• 

  Lisa S.

  Ranger

  

  Mar. 20, 2021

  Follett’s Island Beach

  Free Beach Camping

  Saturday, March 20,2021 Surfside Beach Access Road #4 Third day here. Temp 72°, light breeze, bright sun.

  A couple of other camping rigs in the distance early this morning along with two část fishermen with pickups at water’s edge. My dogs ran free.

  I moved up here from Access Road #1 two days ago to get away from people and noise congestion and was successful.

  Any vehicle can drive on the upper beach and there is light traffic during the day from beach day users. Late Last night, there were kids doing wheelies in their pick ups and a very loud ATV blasted by around 2:00 AM so if this kind of thing keeps you awake you’ve been forewarned.

  You won’t find camping amenities here, just sun, sand, and surf rolling in with waves big enough for light surfing. Apparently, the fishing is pretty good, too.

  The Freeport beaches are popular, but clean (I picked up one small bag of trash from around my site. The County came through this morning with a clean up detail of four.) The beach is wide and there are very small Dunes on the up side to camp against. No chance of water encroaching on your campsite.

  Love it here.

• B

  Ben

  Guide

  

  Jan. 30, 2022

  Magnolia Beach

  Very busy on weekends

  Beautiful views, but the weekends get very busy. I stayed the full 2 weeks and loved my time there! Free bathrooms and showers if you are willing to brave the cold water. No warm water - But it’s free! Definitely glad I stayed.

• N

  NickFromTexas

  Traveler

  

  Feb. 10, 2022

  Matagorda Beach Dispersed Camping

  Matagorda Beach Camping

  This is camping in the sand on Matagorda Beach.

  No accommodations. Will need 4 x 4 to get out and down the beach.

  Be sure to get a beach parking permit from the gas station before crossing the bridge, costs $10.

  Plenty of driftwood to gather for huge bonfires that we do every time we go.

  Very secluded, usually no one passes by if you down far enough.

  It’s the Gulf, so the water is yeah…but lots of shells if you are into that, and even surfing back down near beach entrance.

  Just a great spot to go get away from it all and camp in the sand and make a huge bonfire.

• J

  John C.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 11, 2022

  Magnolia Beach

  Great location

  Plenty of space water is very calm not much noise especially at night definitely would go back Free 👍

• K

  Kassy B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 14, 2021

  Magnolia Beach

  Free Beach Camping

  Amazing water front camping-and it’s free. The town has a store 2 min away for any last minute essentials. Definitely staying here again.

• 

  Caitlin R.

  Guide

  

  Jan. 4, 2021

  Magnolia Beach

  Free beach camping!

  A mix of folks RV, car, tent camping! Some folks are definitely here for a long time.

  Pros

  • you can drive right on the beach and park feet from the water
  • plenty of space on the beach
  • pier at the end of the beach if you want to fish!
  • little pavilions with tables underneath
  • FREE!!

  Cons

  • one night we had BIG mosquitoes, there is some swampy standing water nearby
  • bathrooms are older. There was toilet paper but no soap or paper towels.
  • cold showers are at the back of the bathroom building, individual rooms. One shower room smelled like pee, another like smoke :/ but what can you expect for free?!

  Lots of good taco options in the town over! We enjoyed Mr. Tacos barbacoa and al pastor tacos.

• 

  Mike M.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 30, 2019

  Magnolia Beach

  Good free beach

  About a mile stretch of beach parking. Free, hard packed shell beach. 15 picnic shades with tables. Outside shower, flush toilets. Can park on beach or by shades. Plenty of trash cans. Very clean. 14 day limit.

• D

  Donald W.

  Scout

  

  Jan. 26, 2022

  Magnolia Beach

  Dry camp beach

  Great setting on the beach with water at your back door. Site is ground seashells (hardpacked) for a great road surface to drive on and park your rig. There are shower/ bath houses at the east end of the camping area. Did I mention that it is FREE?!

• 

  Rocco

  Ranger

  

  Feb. 1, 2021

  Magnolia Beach

  Free beach

  Free beach camping. There’s plenty of other campers here. And seashells everywhere!! By day there’s a seeming ugly view of an oil refinery across the water... but by night that place lights up and there’s something more whimsical about it. This was fun for a one night stop along the way.

• S

  Stefan H.

  Scout

  

  Dec. 29, 2021

  Follett’s Island Beach

  Great free beach camping spot

  Free beach camping between access 3 and 5. Stayed here end of December. Nice temperatures and great view on the gulf. A lot of space. Some campers but a lot privacy. Sand is not soft so no 4x4 required. You have to he self sustained since there is nothing here...just you and the gulf.

• B

  BL E.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2021

  Follett’s Island Beach

  South was better Beaching!

  Free beach camping, No reservations needed! We went on a weekend late July 2021, NO PROBLEM finding space. Recommend some type of canopy or awning, Texas Sun is HOT! Plan ahead, stores are few and far between. NO amenities, water, showers or hookups of any kind. Tmobile Cell service wasn't the best. Generator usage is allowed, but you barely could hear any due to all the space between campers & the WAVES SOUNDING SO AMAZING! Sunrise was beautiful! I'll go again!

  Pros: Amazing View, Lots of Space, No harassment, Ice Cream & Food Trucks pass throughout the day (if you have a sweet tooth), beach sand is compacted so you shouldn't get stuck, several beach access roads to enter from. Camp fires 🔥 are permitted & I found firewood laying around.

  Cons: North part of island has LOTS of debris, dead trees, branches, etc. No trash cans or porta pottys either (we didn't mind that, but be prepared to take your trash with & have a bucket for your business, lol). A goofball left all their trash scattered when they departed after their 3 hr beach adventure. Most everyone was mindful of leaving things clean. MORE trash cans could help.

• 

  Joel D.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 1, 2020

  Magnolia Beach

  Free boondocking (dry camping) beach

  Located between Port Lavaca and Port O'connor, TX. A mile or so of no-fee camping. No designated sites. Hard packed sand/sea shell surface, with paved access roads. Beach is pretty clean but beach appropriate footware is required. There is a bath house with free lavatories. We were there in August 2019 and March 2020 and the inside showers (4) were locked. There is a free use outside shower. There are picnic tables covered with 4 open sided concrete shelters. There are trash barrels in front of all the shelters. The picinic shelter closest to the rest rooms is wheelchair accessable. No electric, sewer or water sites. This is a very windy place. If you tent camp, low profile strong tents are recommended. I've seen many RVs with generators, PV solar arrays and wind turbines. There are small convience stores and bait and tackle stores nearby. There is a fishing pier towards the Southern part of the beach. A few RV campgrounds in the area. It is kept pretty clean. In the warmer months the crabs like to hide in the bathrooms out of the sun. Don't be alarmed, they stay away from people. Don't miss the Camel memorial at the Southernmost entrance. There is a Geocache in the area.

• 

  Elisha L.

  Guide

  

  Nov. 11, 2020

  Magnolia Beach

  Amazing!!!

  This is a BEAUTIFUL beach! You camp right next to the water and can listen to the (gentle) waves all day and night. The beach is really level. There are garbage cans, showers, and pavilions with bbqs. The sand is mostly varying sizes of crushed shell so careful walking barefoot. You can watch the ships go by, the fish jump, seagulls and sandpipers running around the beach all day, I have been told, dolphins occasionally swim through. We fished, kayaked, and rode our trikes. Every one there is super friendly and it's fairly quiet. And it is completely FREE!

• 

  Doug W.

  Ranger

  

  Apr. 8, 2021

  Magnolia Beach

  You can't get closer to the water without getting wet.

  Just chill. The place is clean, not much around and free. The beach is made up of shells, not sand, so some sort of protective shoes are needed. That aside, there is not much to do here except to relax. And that is just we wanted.

  When we stayed in early April there were plenty of other campers but at least I haven't been subjected to the sound of generators. It appears everyone is here for the same reason, chill.

  This is dry camping so bring everything you need. Any size rig will fit. Cell service is fair with 2 to 3 bars of Verizon 4g service.

• 

  Andrea P.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 24, 2019

  Follett’s Island Beach

  Free beach getaway

  You get what you pay for, but it’s still not bad. I would definitely come again. Flat packed sand makes it easy to drive any type of vehicle on the beach. There are no fees for driving on the beach, and no fees to camp over night.

  It’s tricky to find because there are only two access roads and you have to drive one way on the beach, so don’t miss the small sign that says free beach access road. There is not much info on the county website either on the address just a “general idea” on how to get here. But if you are down for a little driving adventure to find it, it’s pretty chill.

  There are porta potties every couple hundred feet and trash cans every few feet. So there are plenty of trash cans but the beach is a bit dirty.

  Pets allowed, on leash. I brought my small dog Yoshi with me in this camping trip.

  I have Verizon and have 3 bars LTE.

  You can have small fires on the beach but only if there isn’t a burn ban, which right now I’m pretty there is so I didn’t bring anything with me.

  Nice surprise is that there is an ice cream truck that goes by every now and then. Some people may not like it, but I think it’s nice.

• 

  Coleena and John Diggidy Dog H.

  Scout

  

  May. 8, 2024

  Brazoria Beach

  Great spot during the middle of the week

  Does not have the white sands of South Padre, but not much of a chance of getting stuck unless you really try. Dodge 2wd 1500 pulling 10 ft trailer with no issues getting in and out. Very quite during the week. There is some trash around and that is sad. We picked up every day but still needs help fosterm all. Weekend it get a bit crowed and becouse of the hard pack sand, some people we're going alot faster then the 15 mile an hour speed limit. Weelend also brings vender trucks coming down the beach all the time. We were a bit irritated at 1st but then bought ice-cream LOL  We live in Fort Worth and the trip here is about 200 miles shorter then South Padre so it will be a great place to hit when we dont want to travel that extra 200

• 

  Izzy T.

  Ranger

  

  Jul. 9, 2022

  Brazoria Beach

  Beach boondocking bonanza!

  We have stayed here multiple times in our camper van. There were RV’s there, other camper vans, and tents! There are no hook ups, water, or trash available - pack it in, pack it out, please! Driving along the sand packed beach was easy. Plenty of space to spread out. Obviously it’s not clear water and white sand beach, but the view is still amazing and listening to the ocean waves is dreamy. There are a few convenience stores nearby, but it’s highly recommended to stop for groceries elsewhere. Cell signal is strong

• J

  Jack K.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 21, 2022

  Brazoria Beach

  Beach camping

  Great place to park. Pulled in with 23 ft trailer and no problems. No amenities. Great spot to camp for up to 14 days. Few other campers but plenty spread out. Love this spot.

• J

  Joe K.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 30, 2024

  Brazoria Beach

  Easy hard packed sand to drive on

  Drove in on a Monday and love it already. They were combing the beach section I came in on and I picked the first spot that was at least 100 yds away from the only two others that were there. So far so great.

• 1

  15116 D.

  Scout

  

  Feb. 4, 2024

  Magnolia Beach

  Rough

  No sand, only rocks. One set of bathrooms was very dirty and the other set were locked. All the best area say no camping.