Best Glamping near Port Arthur, TX

This was a spur-of-the-moment trip from NW Arkansas so we could dip our toes in the ocean in the middle of winter. It's unfortunate that you have to go through Port Arthur to get to the state park, but totally worth it once you get there. WARNING: the mosquitoes are serious here. We have an Aliner and although we use pool noodles to seal gaps in the A-frame's roof, they found a way in--hundreds of them. We only stayed the one night because of it. Having said that, if you have a class A/B/C camper, you should be fine. I wouldn't recommend it to tent campers even with the best bug spray...and we went in December! Clean, beautiful facilities. You can park in a site, or if you don't want/need utilities, you're allowed to camp on the beach.

Or stay in the small, open campground with picnic tables, fire rings, water and electric hook up and a nearby comfort station. There’s an outside cold water shower and an elevated walkway crossing wetland to the beach.

The birding is absolutely fantastic so come with binoculars. I saw great flocks of Avocets feeding at the waters edge along with Willets, and a variety of sandpipers and terns including Caspian. There’s a paved trail to hike through the wetlands. Bug spray is essential.

Beach camping is available to any vehicle or camper. The upper beach sand is hard packed like a road and it goes for about three miles on the East side and about 10 on the West side.

I can’t say enough about the staff who became dedicated to rescuing me after a major storm dumped three inches of rain in a couple of hours causing an inland pond to overflow cutting a channel through the beach to the Gulf. I was stranded about two miles out in my 2X4 camper van for two delightful days before they brought out the heavy equipment and towed me across the channel and back to the real world.

Gas up in Port Arthur before driving down.

Campground Review

I have taken The Princesses to the coast three of the last four years for camping. We hit Galveston Island State Park and North Beach - Padre Island and had a mixed bag of struggles from sun burns to cloud bursts. I hadn’t visited Sea Rim, so that’s where we headed.

We arrived with little trouble taking a few of the back road highways to avoid going through Houston. We didn’t have to wait long to get checked it. We got to our site which had water and electricity, uncovered table, fire ring, garbage pole and plenty of flat area to place a tent. The first thing I noticed though was we were the only tent campers there. Everyone else was in RVs. The beach was a 300-meter hike over a boardwalk and was almost entirely vacant for our stay. There was a lot of wild life to see at night and the coastal waters were cool and inviting. There is lots of primitive camping if you choose to head down the beach.

The grounds are apparently being upgraded, which is a must. The only showers available were the outdoor, cold water for rinsing after being in the water. The toilets were unlit outhouses. The only concessions available for purchase are wood, ice and bug spray. Also, the temperature and humidity here didn’t seem to drop at all. It felt like a warm wet blanket all night. I’ve camped in some hot weather, but this was pretty miserable. We called it after the one night and headed to a hotel in Port Arthur.

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*****Product Review*****

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products from time to time and had brought along a pair of Mishmi Takin Kameng Mid eVent waterproof hiking boot. They are light weight, cooling and basically water proof. I didn’t wear them much here, but I have been wearing them for hikes in my neighborhood trails.

https://youtu.be/uRwihvuiveg

I left my foot submerged for a while and my foot was dry. The sole has a solid grip for getting over terrain and the insole give you plenty of support. The boots are a little ridged out of the box, so take a little time to break them in.

One of my Texas relatives mentioned this area to me in regards to my birdwatching. Decided I had to make the trip as I do love birds and the water. Saw at least 40 bird species (probably more but I didn't always have my binoculars handy).

Kayaks are available for about $15-20. Several paddling trails will give you a scenic trip.

Facilities at campsite itself are primitive (vault toilets). The site we had was right on the beach, and I believe the other campsites were as well.

As with most of Texas, bring mosquito repellent or prepare to be covered in bites!

The Mosquito Coast Dec 2022•  We had RV campground reservations for 3 nights but left after one because of the mosquitoes. I had read reviews and came prepared with Thermacell repellent and DEET spray but were overwhelmed by the mosquitoes. My Labrador had mosquitoes swarming him. The campground and park is surrounded by a marsh. The mosquitoes are not bad on the beach where there is a breeze. The park rangers are very nice and the campground itself is nice with spacious flat spots with electric and water hook ups. A dump station is available. Verizon coverage is poor. About half the RV spots were used however I only saw one other camper outside of their RV while we were there. I guess everyone else stayed inside their RV because of the mosquitoes. If you are a first time beach camper to the Texas Gulf Coast, try boondocking on the beach here or further down the Bolivar Peninsula near Crystal Beach. You need to be away from the marsh where the breeze keeps the mosquitoes away.

Wonderful absolutely wonderful you travel down to coastal road find yourself at this quaint little state park where there are actual sites and bathrooms and outdoor showers… But what a lot of people don't know is that if you pull onto the beach and drive either on the west or east to beach do you find a spot in the sand that you really like that can be your campsite . This is one of the few state parks that really does have primitive camping on the beach just yards from the seashore. I stay there the other night it was absolutely wonderful. It was only $12 for the night there is a roadway if you want to call that a pact see saying it was not necessarily that crystal white sugar sand but it was the beach there were seashells everywhere. Don't forget your bug spray because the mosquitoes do come out sometime during the day and make sure to bring enough stuff to tie everything down because there will always be a coastal breeze it's actually very nice