Camping…ON The Beach

Since Betty & I enjoy being near water in many forms – by lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans, we often seek out campsites with easy access to such bodies. That has certainly been the case on this adventure, as we followed the mighty Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

Our last post tells of the “beachside campground” we enjoyed at Galveston Island State Park. 

On our way now to Mustang Island State Park, near Corpus Christi, Texas, we were aware of opportunities for free camping ON the beach. The website “Freecampsites.net” helped identify spots on the side of the Gulf where we could stay overnight. But by using Google Maps, some of the access points seemed too sketchy for a class A motorhome. While many people posted that they had no problem getting on and off the beach in a 4 x 4, or even a small truck or rv, shifting sand conditions made it too much of a risk for full-timers in their 70’s to drive their home onto an isolated spot where AAA might refuse to send a tow truck. Then what!!!   Even if we could get on the beach, would there be enough room to turn our motorhome and toad around without getting stuck before the tide came in?

We had often heard about Magnolia Beach, and had zoomed in on Google Maps to confirm that class A’s like ours could camp without being buried up to our axles in sand. But we had never stayed here before.

When Betty & I arrived, we found that there is a large, flat, shell-covered beach very suitable for camping. In fact, a few RVs down from us is a large tag-axle diesel pusher – from Manitoba of all places! Maybe surprisingly (or not) many of those camping on the beach are Canadians, with a large Quebec contingency.  And it’s free!!

We topped up our fresh water before leaving Galveston; lithium batteries and solar panels are meeting our energy needs; and we are a little more cautious about adding to our black and grey tanks. So we are self-sufficient enough to hopefully make it dry camping for a week before we head to Mustang Island.

This unique stop on our overlandish odyssey is a great discovery. (And you can’t beat the price. Lol) Here’s hoping you are also able to discover new, memorable (and affordable) places on your journey through life.

Cheers!