| Padre Island National Seashore Travel Planner | |
Camping:
Padre Island National Seashore includes a semi-primitive campground and several primitive campgrounds that are all open on a year-round basis. The Malaquite Beach Campground includes 47 sites that are suitable for campers with tents or recreational vehicles. The campground is operated on a first-come, first-served basis. Facilities include picnic tables, restrooms, cold showers, and a sanitary dump station. No electrical, water, or sewage hookups are available. Evening campfire programs are offered during the summer months.
The Bird Island Basin is located on the Laguna Madre approximately four miles from the visitors center. The site includes a primitive campground (with chemical toilets only) that is suitable for both RV and tent camping. No reservations are taken for camping, but space is usually available. In addition to camping, Bird Island Basin has a windsurfing area (ranked by Windsurfing Magazine as the best flat water sailing site in the continental USA) and a boat-launching ramp.
North Beach offers primitive RV and tent camping for which a camping permit is required and available from the Malaquite Visitor Center. No reservations are taken for camping, but none are needed as space is always available. There are no facilities and no designated sites. Camping is permitted from the dunes to the water's edge and from the park's northern boundary to the northern barricade of Closed beach (about a 1 mile distance).
Yarborough Pass campground is located 15.5 miles south of the visitor's center. The primitive campground offers no facilities. A camping permit is required and is available from the Malaquite Visitor Center. Reservations are neither accepted nor needed because space is always available. Access to this campground is possible only through the four-wheel drive area of South Beach.
South Beach offers primitive camping only with no designated sites. A camping permit is required and is available from the information desk at the Malaquite Visitor Center. No reservations are accepted; space is always available. The camping area extends from the dunes to the water and from the end of Park Road 22 down 60 miles to the southern boundary of the park at the Mansfield Channel. There are no roads; all driving is on the beach. The first five miles after the end of the park road are open to two-wheel-drive vehicles. The lower 55 miles are open only to four-wheel-drive vehicles.
For additional information on camping at Padre Island National Seashore,
call (361) 949-8068.
