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Park Headquarters
The shape of the park
structures are supposed to represent sand dunes
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Galveston Island State Park is about 12
miles down island (southwest) from Galveston, Texas. The park covers
the entire width of this Gulf of Mexico barrier island. The width of
Galveston Island at this point is about 1.5 miles from the waters of
the Gulf of Mexico to West Bay on the inland side of the island. The
park has about 1.5 miles of beach front.
The park straddles FM
3005 (San Luis Pass Road). On the Gulf side of the park there are
three camp areas with about 50 water and electric sites each for a
total of about 150 sites. The Gulf side also includes a large day
use area. On the inland side there are 20 water and electric
campsites and 10 screened shelters. |
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I was in a Texas Parks
and Wildlife study group a few months ago with about 10 other RV
owners. Galveston Island State Park was one of the most popular
destinations. The one common complaint was “maintenance”. Because of
the proximity to the Gulf there is a high rate of corrosion on the
electrical equipment. This often kept a busy park with many sites
unavailable because of this problem.
Mosquitoes can be a
problem. Depending on the conditions and the time of year,
mosquitoes can be a problem all day or only an hour or so before
sundown and into the night. When they are only out at night, you can
set your watch by their arrival. |
Boy Scouts on their winter camp out
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The only thing between the
campsites on the Gulf side and the beach is a 3 to 5 foot sand
erosion barrier. There are wooden walkways built over the sand
barrier to provide access to the beach.
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If you
have a free standing satellite dish, make sure it is tied down. The
wind blows strongly from the south most of the time.
The beach is not the
greatest. The currents flow counter clockwise around the Gulf of
Mexico before heading north in the Gulf Stream to the North Sea.
That means that the West and upper coast of Florida get all this
wonderful white sand and the Texas gulf coast get whatever floated
down the Mississippi River.
I usually visit in the
winter. All the pictures for this review were taken in December. It
can be very crowded in the summer. There are lot of things to do in
Galveston, Texas other than go to the beach year around.
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