Best Tent Camping near Harlingen, TX

Boca Chica Beach is the end of the road for South Texas. The beach is about 15 miles outside of the Port of Brownsville Texas and very close to the Mexican Border. The beach is a wild and desolate place. It’s quite a contrast from the overly commercial and manicured beaches to the north on South Padre Island. The beach has a lot of debris from river run off and storms. The amount of trash and plastic waste can be overwhelming at times. The campsites are primitive and only include metal trash barrels. This is a good day trip for locals or a place for visitors who really want to get away. Of note, the beach is currently closed due to Covid 19. However, locals are exercising and walking their dogs despite the closure. When it’s open, you can drive on the beach but will need a 4x4. They don’t allow atvs or RVs on the beach. You will be able to see the Space X facility on the road near the beach.

The park is located on the southern end of South Padre Island. It’s a very popular RV campground with hundreds of sites and multiple loops. This very large site is a little overwhelming in size but offers a number amenities for the RV and camper community. The park has a new outdoor picnic pavilion with the bathrooms, outdoor showers, grills, and a huge picnic table area under a large canopy. They offer parking areas for boats and the camp has ample restroom and shower facilities. The sites have picnic tables, water, and electric. The sandy beach is huge and great for families. They provide lifeguards during the summer months. This park is very crowded on weekends and holidays and reservations for RV sites are highly recommended. Just outside the cafe they have pub but most of the restaurants and other sites are a few miles to the north by car or bike. This is also the dock for ocean site seeing boats. This may be a good choice for RVs looking for long term stays or locals enjoying a day at the beach.

The park was nice, close to the beach, and had pretty low traffic compared to the rest of the island. The roads weren’t great and needed to be resurfaced. I picked a premium site that didn’t happen to be very premium. While the location of the site was perfect, all of the sites around me had concrete pads but mine... (I guess they hadn’t upgraded my site pad yet) the online map was showing a finished park with a boardwalk, showers and restrooms right behind my site (hints: the reason I chose this site) but it was all still under construction and not available for access. Other than those minor issues, it was an okay experience and for the size of the park, it was pretty quiet.

Many of the campsites are right on the water, which is the Arroyo Colorado, a canal that runs east-west to the Laguna Madre, the bay between the south Texas shoreline and South Padre Island. I've visited the park many, many times over the years because of its proximity to the Laguna Madre. I fish from a kayak, and have tried fishing South Padre Island, Port Mansfield, and Boca Chica Beach with some success. But I always go back to Adolph Thomae County Park because I have better luck there. I don't have to worry about leaving my vehicle unattended, either.

What else? There is a website - http://www.cameroncountyparks.com/adolph-thomae-park - that has all the info you need if you plan to visit. There are even a few pictures. But if you want to get a much better look at the park, download and load Google Earth and type 'Adolph Thomae County Park' in the search bar. For some reason, the locator map on thedyrt is way off. The latitude for the park is  26°20'42.65"N and the longitude is  97°24'50.43"W. I've tried editing the location to no avail.

If you use Google Earth, you'll see that there are 2 lighted fishing piers that are free to park visitors. There are also 3 public restrooms - one at each of the piers and a third between the two large parking lots at the end of the road. There are also two boat ramps at the end of the park road.

It's 3 miles from the park to the Laguna Madre, so if you're bringing a kayak be prepared to paddle for about 45 minutes before getting to the bay. The park opens at 6:00 AM, and the fishermen with motorboats start lining up about 5:45 AM. If you want a parking spot near the water, get there early. I've found that the best parking lot to use is the next-to-last. The water is just a few steps from the parking lot, and the grade down to the water is not that steep. There are no streetlights in the next-to-last parking lot - at least not yet - , so bring a headlamp. It's a relatively new parking lot, so lights may be installed at some point.

The sites were fairly level, but with some broken concrete areas the need for levelers were necessary. Sticker burrs were legit and everywhere. I liked the fact that you could easily access the beach or the bay. The beach was not too busy during the week when I was there. Umbrellas and beach chairs were available for $30. I’m not sure there are any sites that can actually see the water, maybe a couple. The dunes and the other 599 campers block most all views. Close to neighboring campers, but to be expected I guess. My particular site did not have a picnic table.

This park has it all. Top notch fishing, easy access to beautiful beaches and surfing. The check it was easy, but be warned that the little white building is a 1/4 mile before the entrance on the right. There is a parking area at the office to park while you register. You need to sign in and they call your cell when its time to come in due to covid. The only single complaint is the tiny burrs that are all over the grass area and dunes. They get tracked in an hurt when finding them with bare feet. Our youngest screamed bloody murder the first time walking in flip flops over the grass. Shoes required for most of this park. Lots of winter texans and most were really friendly. You have an excellent view of Spacex' Boca Chica launch facility across the channel. We ended up staying a few extra weeks, and we plan to return as often as we can. The horseback riding on the beach by Island Adventures is expensive but well worth the money. This place is too beautiful to get crammed into the local KOA.