Best Tent Camping near Thompsons, TX

Tents are allowed at Surfside sites but they are more difficult to get reservations then at the tent sites a couple miles from the surf. we stayed in the tent sites away from the surf. Fishing was close by. water at the sites but no electric. Electric and water at Surfside sites. Mosquitoes are worse at Surfside at night. Full hookups available with dump stations for RVs.

RV hookups, the tent camping has super beautiful facilities, there's beachfront swimming, salt and freshwater fishing, the state park spans all the way from the forth to south side of the island

The

This campground is right on the beach, giving ready access to swimming, sunning etc. We stayed in a tent and it was very windy off the ocean. Hot and sand was everywhere! It was fun for the kids but tent camping here was not my cup of tea. Still, there are lots of things to do in the area if you have had your fill of the beach -Moody Gardens, the Strand, NASA is not far.

Camp Mohawk is a great get away close to home for many of us.  The staff is very

helpful and and kind.  They have cabins, dorms, tent camping, hiking trails, stocked

ponds for fishing, playgrounds, volleyball, basketball courts, pavilions for rent with

bar b q grills, plenty of picnic  tables throughout the park for convenience of park goers.

 Pet friendly with waste stations around for disposal of their waste.  Free  for day use

To make reservations call 281-756-2319 you and the whole family will have alot

of fun and won't regret it!!!

I've camped at Stephen F. Austin a number of times and have always enjoyed it. I've been with my family and by myself. The primitive walk-in sites are great for tent camping. My kids had a great time building a campfire and roasting marshmallows. There are 4+ miles of trails and we had a wonderful hike on the ironwood trail. I definitely recommend this park. The only caution is to call ahead to confirm trail conditions. 2015 and 2016 have been very wet and flooding and rain have resulted in trails being closed.

The best part of this park is the observatory, which has special events and regular weekend hours pretty much all year. It’s absolutely worth staying up late for this! Hikes and wildlife are good too, lots of easy trails along water for the kids, cool ponds, great little observation tour to climb. There are standard RV/tent sites, screened shelters (for sleeping), and rustic cabins, horse sites, and youth group sites. The sites are pretty spread out and maybe half of them are very shady. Awesome little park outside Houston.

We made a reservation for a tent site and found the rate very reasonable. Sites are well equipped with water, a fire pit with grill grate, picnic table, and pole to hang food if necessary. Bathrooms and dumpster area are clean and well lit. The park hosts were very friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the short trails that were accessible from the campsite. Saw deer in the camp area and enjoyed (mostly) watching the big yellow garden spiders building their webs next to the trail in the morning.

We have been to this park twice now, once at a tent site and once at a Yogi on the Lake cabin. Both during Halloween time a year apart. What a FUN place to be!! Our kids loved that we got to go Trick or treating at a campground! But probably my favorite thing about this place is the waterpark. Really refreshing on a hot day, and the best part? The staff are usually pretty lienient about slide rules, so small kids and parents alike are allowed to ride! I just can't say enough good about this place. Can't wait to go back again!

We had a really nice relaxing stay at Stephen F Austin State Park near San Filepe, Texas. Great little state park easily accessed from I-10. The 38 RV sites are all asphalt pad pull throughs with 30/15 amp electric, water and sewer complete with concrete pad for table, fire pit, lantern and all well spaced for plenty of privacy...big rig friendly. They have an additional 39 tent only sites with water and 25 primitive. Screened shelters are reservable for tent camping with 20 amp electric and water plus one rustic cabin with amenities. There is a$5 daily entrance fee in addition to camping fees. The bathhouse facilities are brand new. It's a small park but they do have five miles of trails for hiking/biking with views of the Brazos River. We enjoyed the wildlife; deer strolling in the campground every morning and evening, birds, rabbits, frogs, turtles, a bobcat and numerous owls. They have a Nature Center; however it was not open during our visit. The park office has a small store with sundries and park souvenirs. The nearby San Felipe de Austin State His­toric Site tells the story of early settlers to Texas and is worth a visit. We made a run to the nearby town of Sealy to do a much needed laundry stop...small community with grocery, dining and fuel to meet most needs. GPS 29.811982-96.108059 l(979) 885-3613 l Park Road 38 San Felipe, TX 77473

There is not enough room here for me to describe how much I love Brazos Bend State Park. The campgrounds are wonderful- a bit cozy with your neighbors in some spots- but overall comfortable and sufficient for tent camping.
The park staff here are exceedingly polite and helpful. I've never had a bad experience with the folks who work here, and I've been coming here my whole life.
The things to do and see at this park are seemingly endless. The hiking trails are phenomenal for all ages and fitness levels, primarily because they're mostly flat. The wildlife you can get up-close and personal with is incredible. Your kids will definitely learn about wildlife here.
Hike to the observation tower, or in the evening, head over to the observatory to look at stars and planets through a variety of different telescopes.
Be sure to check online for updates on flooding status- the Brazos crested its banks this spring and the park was extensively damaged. When they get back up and running, they're going to need our support!

This is the best place to go in Galveston, even if you aren't planning on camping. It is beautiful and the beach is so clean. My husband and I, plus our kiddo (3yo) and 2 dogs went tent camping here for 3 nights. We went in January, so there was literally NO ONE there! Lucky for us though we got to pick our site and enjoy the solitary. We have state park pass, so entry was free otherwise it it $5 dollars. We picked a site on the bay-side instead of beach-side so we had grass for the dogs. They do however have beach-side camping, RV sites, and cabins.

Note: if you do stay in the bay site, you will have to drive across a main road to the beach side if you want the waves, but there are some coves, a bayou, and a lake on the the bay-side in walking distances from the camp sites so you still get that ocean feel without the crowds.

We walked a few of the trails, but it did rain (dogs were not having it) while we were there so we didn't get to do all we wanted. We did some fishing which was nice, and my son loves just casting and reeling to his hearts content. (Fishing is free in state parks and a license is not required.) Since we went in January it was too cold to swim but we did walk the beach and it was so lovely. The best part for me is the sound of the waves and wind at night mixed with a beautiful star-lit sky!

They do sell firewood on site which is nice and there is a town just 3 miles down the road with a grocery store. Obviously the heart of Galveston is just 10 miles down the road where you can go to the shops or the historic district, but sometimes it is just nice to be on a beach and joy some quiet, which is what we did! If you do go into the tourist area of Galveston make you park on the seawall and take the trolley to the historic district downtown. The trolley is just a few dollars round-trip and you can get off and on where you like. They have some great shops and restaurants. Make sure you go to La King's Confectionery on the strand, it is so fun and cool! They make salt water taffy right in front of you and it's fun for the whole family!

The bathroom facilities were very well maintained and looked brand new. The campsites are set un in a circle with a bathroom in the middle of ever circle which is really helpful! I loved that the park was not overly crowded like the rest of the island! The rangers were helpful and kind, but I expect no less at a Texas State Park! Wonderful trip for us! We will be back!

Campground Review

Galveston Island State Park is a really beautiful, peaceful stretch of land south east of Galveston (the city) straddled by Galveston Bay along its north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. We were amazed at the number of day use patrons there were but it was Easter Weekend and about the best possible place to picnic in all of Galveston. (Day use is $5 per person, kids under 12 are free, or if you have the $70 Texas State Parks pass it gets everyone in the car into any TX State Park for a year.)

There are two areas to camp at GISP - on the Bay Side and on the Beach Side. There are 10 Bay Side Primitive Tent Campsites at $15/night and Water/Electricity Hook-Up Sites are $20/night. Beach Side only offers “Premium Camping” with Water/Electricity Hook-Ups at $25/night. IMO, the Beach side is worth the extra $5/night since you are literally steps away from the water. All sites have picnic tables with shaded cover, trash, fire pits, and nearby restroom access. Additionally, there are two really beautiful cabins you can rent at $200 or $250/night but they are booked months in advance...

A couple other things about GISP. No trees so plan on waking up with the sun cooking you in your tent (RVs outnumbered tents). There are no open alcohol containers are allowed (but I think that applies more to glass bottles) and dogs must be on leashes at all times. We saw some well-behaved dogs off their leashes along the beach but I think this is more for the safety of the animals because there are long grasses between the beach and the bay sides with venomous snakes. Galveston’s water is not my favorite and it was particularly cold this early in the season but there were tons of people swimming, boogie boarding, kayaking, and fishing along the beach (especially on piers closer to town). It’s a great place to ride bikes and Galveston has a great cultural history that is unique in Texas.

4/5

14901 FM 3005 Galveston, TX 77554

Product Reviews

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this weekend I tested two new products, Midland USA Two Way Radios (GXT1000VP4) and Mountain House Turkey Dinner.

Let me start with the Midland Radios. They. Are. Rad. I am so excited to have these and am considering buying a second set as you can hook up additional radios and put them on the same channel. Without an FCC license you’ve got to stick to specific channels (certain ones are reserved for police, first responders, etc). These have lots of different ring tones and settings. They are water resistant (I took these into the ocean but didn’t submerge them… that makes me nervous) and they have a fantastically long range. Website says 36 mile range. I wasn’t able to test it that far but we got to 10 miles down the beach and they worked great. (We also used them in downtown Houston and were able to get about 2.5 miles away but that was with lots of big buildings and trees obstructing them - pretty impressed!). These walkie talkies came in extremely handy - whenever anyone would head back to the campsite or into town we could call back and forth. Considering the cell service on Galveston Island is pretty miserable, these were seriously great and came in so handy. (Furthermore, I cannot wait to use these puppies at music festivals this summer!!!!)

5/5

My second review is for the Mountain House Homestyle Turkey Dinner. Let me preface this with, I’ve got a particularly snobby chef husband who was very very skeptical of this just-add-water meal in a bag situation. Well. He loved it. And honestly, it tasted like Thanksgiving. Basically a stuffing with chunks of veggies and turkey. The directions on the bag could’ve been a little clearer. I think the time to re-hydrate should’ve been a bit longer as the turkey was a bit chewy and maybe a little salt? But overall, really quite good. Cooking while camping is either super fun or terrible, so this was extremely convenient and easy. I definitely plan on try some of their other products (I’ve heard the Mac & Cheese is yum).

4/5

November 2020 ALERT! Due to Interstate 10 construction, the eastbound exit for San Felipe is closed so the navigation system took us further East and then backtracked on some horrible condition rural roads. Recommend going to Brookshire and using FM 359 and then FM 1458 to reach Park Road unless you want to really beat up your rig. West bound entrance onto Interstate 10 was a bit crazy also so you may want to do some recon before finding yourself down a horrible back road. No notice of this on the State Park website. 40 FHU sites here under Spanish moss-draped trees. Good spacing between most sites, but no privacy from neighbor sites. The site required leveling side-to-side. Quiet campsite. No highway noise. Train whistle in distant. Saw lots of deer that came fairly close to us. Nice trails but very busy on weekends as Houstonians escape the city for some country fun! A brand new toilet/shower facility opened in early November 2020 in this FHU campground that includes 2 family restrooms. Toilet stalls are very narrow with residential toilets which are water-saving that required 4-5 flushes to empty the bowl. Dyson hand dryer. In the FHU loop, there were 3 camp hosts and one campsite marked for the 4th camp host. Another site has a firewood wagon and an ice machine. Then another site is coned off. So 6 sites gone from the inventory! There is a camp host site also in the tent loop. Wow- 5 camp hosts?? That has to be a record for this size park! We did see Park Police drive thru the FHU loop very frequently. A new toilet/shower facility is under construction in the tent loop. Construction just began so probably another 6-9 months to finish. In the meantime, there are 4 job johnnies and campers from the tent loop utilizing the new toilet/shower facility, with 3 toilets for women and 2 for men. AT&T 1 bar signal.

Katy Texas is a 20 minute drive where you will find all types of stores and services.

Campground Review

It's incredible that I was born and raised in Houston and have lived here the past four years but haven't made it out to Brazos Bend State Park until now! A quick, 45 minute drive southwest will get you out of the concrete jungle that is the sprawling Space City metropolis and into one of the lushest, greenest parts of Texas. Brazos Bend is a "Nature Lover's Paradise" - there is abundant wildlife. There is great fishing, ample bird watching, and lots and lots of alligators (!). Lots of trails for walking, running, biking, and horseback riding. The George Observatory is a pretty amazing feature of this park (but only open Saturdays).

We arrived at Brazos Bend on a Friday afternoon and were able to walk-in no problem. Walk-in rate is $12/day + the daily park entrance fee ($5 for adults, free for kids). I have a Texas State Parks Pass so we didn't have to pay the entrance fees (saved us $40 for two nights of camping!). Additionally there were several other great options including: Full-Site RV hook-up ($25/night), Standard Camping ($20/night, incl. water & electricity), and 14 Cabins ($80-200/night but have everything you could ever need or want).

We did a lot of nature walks, game playing, and swimming during our two days at Brazos Bend State Park. Summer is probably not the best time to visit any park in Texas - its hot and muggy and the mosquitos are out in full force. Bring your DEET. Seriously. Despite that though, we were very pleasantly surprised by the amenities (swimming pool, screened in picnic tables, fire pits, and tent pads!)

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - this past weekend at Brazos Bend I tested out the Kameng Mid eVent Waterproof Hiking Boot by Mishmi Takin.

These boots have got it all.

First, these boots are hella comfortable! I was blown away how comfortable they were right out of the box. Over the years, I've owned many pairs of hiking boots and they all required a significant break-in period. Not these!

Second, they're waterproof AND breathable. Not water resistant, like actually water proof.

Third, the look great. All 3 color schemes are fantastic I had a tough time choosing between green, grey and orange.

Fourth, so lightweight. These only weigh 1.5lbs so even though they are boots, they won't weigh you down.

5/5 Would Recommend.

OK, this was my second visit to a Texas State Park. Simply said, I was blown away with this park. Driving in, deer scattered the landscape. Like my trip to Huntsville State Park, I opted for a screened shelter. The protection from the elements were well worth the $122.50 I paid for four nights. With electric/water, I was very comfortable and was able to use my electric heater in my tent. The shelter came with a locking door, although I don't think anyone would bother you anyway. There are some nice trails, including one that will take you to the Brazos River. The park was nice and quiet and the weather was cold, I absolutely loved it. The Park entrance has a little Store and the town of Sealy is just a few miles away should you need supplies. The staff was remarkably helpful and courteous. I really enjoyed the peace of this park, the Solitude and good energy force you to take in it's grandeur. Since it was freezing cold, (which I loved) the extremely clean bathrooms, with showers would be a welcome site. I was surprised how clean the facility was, it was even heated. I definitely plan on returning to the park, maybe gonna try out the cabin.

Beach side sites for RV or tents. High winds. All close to bath houses and beach walkovers. Bay side has two overnight loops. Tent loop has bath house, no electric, all open loop, next to great marsh view. RV loop has large public pavilion.
Quiet park Great hiking, kayaking, private beach, ranger programs, birding, fishing.

If alligators are what you want to see, you will find them here. We stayed in the primative campground in a tent and had no problems with alligators coming in the campsite. They are in the lake and swamp area and may be sunning on the hiking trails. They won't bother you if you walk around them. The picnic sites and pavilions are nice.

We tented here late spring so it was hot and quiet. The sites are very open and not super shaded, but they are fairly big. There is. Nice trail system to walk or bike and lots of wildlife. Kept hearing a loud shriek at night and figured it out to be an owl! (Sound in video)

The beachside campsites offer electric hookups and shaded picnic tables that are great for tent and RV camping! Keep in mind, the beach is not visible from any electric campsite- but it is a close walk to the beach and conveniently located next to a comfortable restroom with accessible private showers. The beach itself is clean/not littered and is perfect for skim boarding!

The park was great. Very big and shaded with lots a trees. Only downside was there was absolutely no wind, it was excruciatingly humid and there were LOADS of huge spiders. We went close to the end of summer and it was still 80+ with 90% humidity. It would have been great if we could have been more prepared, but when you’re focused on getting there, you forget some things. Aside from that, it offered us a fire pit, water spout, picnic area and plenty space for our tent and supplies.

We camped here over New Years. The RV circle doesn’t have a bathroom, so we had to drive over to the tent circle each time, but those bathrooms and showers are really nice. The view on the far side of the circle as you enter is spectacular, looking over the water on the bay side. The sites are fairly close to each other, but for some reason, every third site was blocked off, which gave us more space. We had a great time and can’t wait to come back!

Pros of this campground: tents are allowed! (Unlike San Luis Pass RV campground down the road). Great fish to catch if you go for a boat ride. Proximity to the beach and water sports is also nice.

Cons: because it's a beach, the campground is flat and lacking trees, meaning the you mostly feel "out in the open", even if you have enough distance between camping sites. Also, there is a bit of a wait for shower facilities when the park is full, because all the campsites in the park share the one shower area.

Our campground had trails right nearby which was convenient & fun. It was relatively flat which made the tent easy to set up, & it also had sufficient trees for hammocks. The picnic table was a little rickety but nothing I wouldn’t expect for an outdoor wooden table. The bathrooms were nice & clean! The park offers some pretty fun trails, but a lot of them were closed because of storm damage when we camped. There is a convenient place to launch kayaks & canoes just outside of the park which a nice ranger informed us about. All in all it was a great experience!

I think this must be one of the smaller state parks of Texas, but there are plenty of trails to enjoy nature, learn about wildlife and plants, and have some good camping memories. Plenty of trees to perch a hammock, plenty of room to throw a frisbee, and some of the better bathrooms/showers I have seen among state parks.