Best Dispersed Camping near Bellaire, TX

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.

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.

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.

Very nice strip of beach. Very easy to access regardless of car type you have, won’t get stuck in sand. This is a 13 mile Long Beach, so amenities may be far and few. Didn’t have any at the spot I stayed. There are multiple beach access points and you can drive right on and drive where you need to get privacy. There was no trash where I stayed and no debris. There is a sand and grass barrier between the beach and the main road. Water is about 100-150 feet from top of beach. Being November, the temperature was mild and there weren’t that many bugs nor people. Lots of gas stations and stores along the way. No need to pay or get permit besides a $2 toll when coming from the East through Galveston.

Bolivar Beech: A nice experience during the week. However, there is lots of activity on the sunny weekends. I have heard that it is very crowded with campers during spring break and in the summer. Also, there is a gated community being built behind the section of beach near Retilion Rd. I spoke with two city officials with Nuisance Abatement. There is talk of instituting a 2 week limit.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4 - would be a 5 but for heavy usage of day users during sunny weekends. Many are great. Few are not. One child came behind our camper and helped herself to our collection of shells while her mom watched. Careful of your belongings.

Price 2023: $10 to the right of Rettilon Rd. Free to the left of Rettilon Rd. Security: None Usage during visit: Campers: Light this time of year Site Privacy: None Site Spacing: Plenty of room to spread out and most campers do. ‘Pad’ surface: Sand Reservations: No Campground Noise: Noisy on weekends. Quiet, for the most part at night, but for the occasional party persons.
Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: Lots of folks driving the beach on the sunny weekends. Minimal during the week. Dispersed Camping . Potable Water Available: Bring what you need. Generators: Allowed. Bathroom: One pit toilet in our area, at the beach end of Rettilon Rd . It is very full after the weekend. Bring your own TP. It runs out.
Showers: No Cell Service (AT&T): 2 to 3 bars Setting: Beach, dispersed Recent Weather: S50s at night and 60s during the day.
Solar: Great Host: No Rig Size: Largest.