Gulf State Park

This is a state park that rivals the offerings of most private parks.

The sites are well spaced and provide plenty of room to setup for a few days or a few weeks. We had full hookups which in a state park is rare from what we've found in our travels. We didn't use the shower facilities because we had full hookups plus the one closest to us was closed for renovations. I did walk through one and it looked clean and well maintained.

Based on other user's pictures it looks like they've cleared out a lot of the trees along the main road. Our site backed up to the road and we had no privacy. We were definitely out in the open for all to see. Next time I'll definitely look for a site off the main road.

The beach was a little too far for our kids to walk so we drove to the beach parking area. Unfortunately there was an increased number of sharks in the water while we were there so we didn't do much swimming. We drove all the way to the beach and spent our swimming time in the pool.

We'll definitely be back and would recommend Gulf State Park, if you can get in.

We had been trying to get into Gulf State Park for months, but it stays full. Now I know why. This is a huge campground with 496 improved sites, however it doesn’t feel cramped with adequate spacing between sites. Most sites are in the Sun, but all seem to be mostly level and all are full hookup. There are some beautiful water sites as well. The bathrooms were exceptional. Ours was recently remodeled.

The amenities were great as well with a large pool and splash pad available at no additional charge. The had a camp store with the essentials. Laundry mat was large with approximately 20 washers and 20 dryers. The nature center was nice as well.

Over on the day use side, they have the bike share program where you can use a park bike for free and ride the 28 miles of paved trails.

The staff were very nice and professional. Free parking at the beach and fires access to state park pier. We have already booked our next trip. Can’t wait to return.

This park has it all! Large sites, full hookups, WIFI, pool, tennis courts, nature center, sugar white sand beaches, miles of bike trails, and more! This area has our absolute favorite beaches. We had a great stay. We ate at Lamberts and Oyster House, visited Fort Morgan, beach fun, pier (free with camping reservations), and lots of pool time.

A couple bummers for us: lack of playground unless you drive over to the lake, which we ended up not doing. No fire pits, but good standard camp grill. Actually, there are some "group" fire pits at the end of some of the streets, but we stayed on our own site. Also, we intended to try the bike rental system, which is even free, but it is for ages 16 and over only. We have 4 kids, so we couldn't try it. Next time, we will bring kids' bikes and rent the adults'.

Video Review: https://youtu.be/n0vrPjr2GUs

Traveling in F350swr pulling a 2021 Montana 5th wheel from Springfield, Mo. can be done in one day, but it's long, about 12 hours with minimal stops. I prefer to make it a two day drive stoping to overnight and dinner at a Cracker Barrel. We've made the trip twice now and have reservations again for this year.
Myself age 57 and wife 52 leave the day after Christmas and stay a week between Christmas and New-years. Both trip we've met up with friends from home and their two kids, camping together at the park. So about the park, it's more like an rv resort than a park. I'm sure you have heard all about the amenities.

This is a very well maintained FHU campground with paved road access and uniform concrete parking pads, reasonably spaced, all with paved picnic table pads adjoining, no fire rings that I saw. Bring bikes. From our site, it was less than 2 mile walk (or ride) on an improved path to the beach pavilion with restrooms and public beach (chair with umbrella rental $40 day or BYO). Some sites have a lake or canal view but very few offer shade. The sun is intense by 10am. Folks had separate canopies at their sites which is smart. Walmart and Rouses nearby. Papa Rocca’s for pizza or burgers. Rita’s for frozen custard. Glow Yoga nearby. Book 12 months ahead - we reserved for a week next year.

Check in was crowded but staff was friendly and handled it well. Overall smooth process. This place is huge. Can’t say much that hasn’t already been said.

I didn’t bring my e bike because rules say no e machines. Found out you can ride them on campground streets, parking areas etc. just not on the trails. I should have called and gotten clarification.

Five of the eleven bathhouses are closed for rebuilding. We don’t use them so no effect on us.

Went to a nature presentation on local owls and other birds at the nature center. That was lots of fun.

Internet was just ok. Good early but slower in the evening.

We stopped at Gulf Shores for a few nights during a trip between New Orleans and Tallahassee. Getting a week-long reservation in mid April was a bit difficult with a short lead time, so we cut the stay to 3 nights and found a spot. Once we arrived, check in was easy.

The check in station is open 24x7 and on our arrival at 2:30, there were a lot of rigs lining up to get in. We had to walk up a flight of stairs to the office and a notice on the door restricting room occupancy to four was strictly enforced.

The park is very large and our spot was about as far back as we could go. But the spaces are wide and there were full hookups. Each site that we saw had a large asphalt pad for the rig and picnic table and a charcoal grill was in the back corner. Our site was level so we didn’t have to make any adjustments left to right.

Bath houses with showers are all over the place and there were two within an easy walk from our site, one in each direction. What struck me about the bathhouses, however, is that they seemed like a natural place to collect trash. However, the only place to empty trash were at the large dumpsters near the very front of the park

The amenities were fantastic. I counted 28 washers and 22 driers in the laundry facility. A nature center, pool, tennis/pickleball(?) courts, amphitheater, camp store, and bike rental were all co-located in a complex near the middle of the park.

Close proximity to the beach and entertainment outside of the park made the trip to shopping and restaurants very fast. Parking was a bit of a challenge.

Internet connectivity was better with ATT than with Verizon. We use ATT cell phones, a Cradlepoint IBR-900 cellular embedded router with an unthrottled ATT sim from Bix Wireless and a GTEN cellular embedded router with an unthrottled Verizon plan, also from Bix Wireless. Both devices struggled a bit providing wireless services to our tablets and laptops, but both did fine when connecting our work devices directly to the router with Ethernet. Off of wi-fi, our phones did fine with cell service.

Price reflects taxes added. This is a huge busy park. You can get lost coming in here. Check in was more complicated, but I guess when you're that big it's needed. You have to come through a check in station each time in. Our site was level, clean and overlooking the lake. Our loop was quiet, but everyone is apparently afraid of the dark, so all had lights on all night! We had to pay to have my brother & SIL come visit for the afternoon. Full Verizon service. I would not stay here again, as it is out of our price range and a crazy busy and expensive area of AL.

Great Beach State Park... rate includes all fees and taxes. Stayed 2 nights on Florida trip. Will be back for an extended stay. A lot of sites to fit any rig. So convenient to Gulf Shores tourist stuff and beaches. The bike trails are awesome. As we were there in March, there were many snow birds that were on extended stays. There are monthly rentals from November to March. Definitely a destination park.