The nearest amenities from the park entrance station are about 12 miles away, so please come prepared! The park also does not have a post office or sell stamps and cannot mail items for visitors. No food, firewood, or fishing licenses are sold in the park, and the park does not have a gas station. The visitor center and bookstore are open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.
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Face masks are still required inside of park facilities and areas outside where social distancing is impossible. Padre Island National Seashore separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre, one of a few hypersaline lagoons in the world. There are no RV hook-ups anywhere in the park, but an RV dump station and a water filling station are available for all campers staying in the park.
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These rates are 50% off if you own a National Park Service Senior or Access Pass. Malaquite Campground is $14 per night, and Bird Island Basin is $8 per night. Primitive beach camping is free, and there are miles of beach to set up a site, but it requires driving your vehicle onto sand. Check out time for Malaquite Campground and Bird Island Basin is 12:00 noon. Campers, including beach campers, must have a camping permit which is available from the kiosks at the entrances of each campground or at the entrance to North Beach and South Beach. All campgrounds are open year-round, but no reservations are accepted. There are dumpsters located near the entrance to South Beach.Padre Island National Seashore - Spring break is upon us, and the park is getting busier! Here are a few helpful reminders before you throw on your flip flops and head down.
PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE CAMPING FREE
Free trash bags are available at the entrance station and the Malaquite Visitor Center. The total number of days spent camping in the park should not exceed 28 calendar days per year, in any combination of visits or consecutive nights. At the end of 14 days of camping anywhere within the park, campers must vacate their site and leave the park for a minimum of 14 days before returning to camp.
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Bonfires are not permitted anywhere in the park. Campfires are permitted in fully contained barbecue grills or in a pit dug in the ground, unless there is a fire ban in effect.The following are some of the rules for camping on the beach (taken directly from the National Park Service website for Padre Island National Seashore). Just dig a hole right out in the middle of the beach, do your business, and don’t worry about who sees you.Ĭamping on South Beach near Mansfield Channel, Padre Island National Seashore An ol’ timer who was fishing at Mansfield Channel told me that if you have to take a dump, DO NOT venture into the dunes. It was windy the night I camped at the Mansfield Channel at the end of South Beach, but in the morning the wind had died and the mosquitoes were perched on the outside of my tent just daring me to come out.Īlong with the bugs, there are rattle snakes, coyotes, and other animals in the dunes. Of course they’ll venture onto the beach for a meal. The words mosquitoes and beach should never be used in the same sentence, but there is fresh water on Padre Island and the sand dunes are covered with vegetation, which makes the island an ideal habitat for the pests. During the warmer months, if the wind isn’t blowing, mosquitoes are a big problem. There are a few things to keep in mind when camping on the beach. If so, just move the pay station back a half mile.
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Why the National Park Service didn’t put the entrance station before the North Beach road is beyond me, unless the road was added afterwards. Get your park entrance permit, then turn around and head back to the North Beach Access Road. Oddly enough, the road to North Beach comes before the entrance, but don’t think that you can sneak on the beach without paying. Fees are collected at the manned park entrance station. While beach camping is free, there is still a fee to enter Padre Island National Seashore.
PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE CAMPING REGISTRATION
Camper registration station and restroom at South Beach, Padre Island National Seashore