Gulf State Park Campground

When I pulled in, the employee announced “all sites are $60”. So I went back to my 3rd night of stealth camping for $0.
The campground is not on the beach, though photos on the website might cause you to think it is.

The rest of the state park is very very nice. There are 28 miles of trails through various ecosystems. I saw alligators, a tortoise, a couple armadillos, an eagle, and lizards.
Bicycles are available at no cost, and there are benches, restrooms, drinking water, and signs providing environmental information.
While I prefer trails that are not blacktop, I understand that the hard surface provides ready access to all.
Leashed dogs are welcome on the trails but not on the beach.

We spent 5 nights in Gulf State Park in March and really enjoyed our stay. The trail system is amazing as we did a lot of bike riding throughout the park. The sites, for the most part, were spacious and varied. The campground was quiet. We only wished we had a fire pit. Coming from the Midwest, it is hard not having a fire pit in a campground. Other then that though we really enjoyed our stay and spending time in the whole region. Will definitely consider coming back.

Overall a very nice, if pricey, state park. It is huge with about 500 spots. It’s almost impossible to get a reservation but due to the coronavirus we were able to snag a site. Because of the pandemic, the staff came to your RV to check you in. Our site was a little tight for a big rig and toad but doable. It was challenging getting into the site with narrow roads and overhanging trees which could use a trimming. The picnic table at our site was in dire need of replacement. On the bright side, the interior roads and sites are paved. All the sites we saw were pretty darn level. There is nice privacy with bushes and trees between sites. Satellite coverage varies but we were able to connect in our site. The WII FI works surprisingly well – although there was a hot spot directly behind the MH. The park itself great with lots of trails for biking, hiking or walking. Plenty of fishing opportunities as well. We saw lots of wildlife including nesting turtles, a Mama Eagle and her baby, a Mama Owl and her baby, and a Mama Alligator and her 5 babies. We were there during cardinal mating season so the windows on the car and MH were under attack several times a day. Bring bug spray! We would definitely return especially if we could get one of the waterfront/view sites.

A very nice campground, but contrary to the photos, there’s no beach.
We planned on staying for 2 weeks, but when we got here, we found out there was no beach and the heated pool was shut down. Site 11 is a very nice site but you’re looking at mud, grass and a oversized pond. Park in the middle of the site to get your rig level.
We did spend 1 night to regroup and got a full refund. Thanks Chris!
I believe we’d stay again if we weren’t looking for a beach stay.

It is probably one of the largest campground we've stayed in. The sites are very open and from what I can see, there are no shaded sites at all. But it was fine with us, as the weather was nice and cool when we were there. I can imagine in the summer, the air conditioning will be working overtime.

There are v very nice paved and unpaved trails and lots of boardwalk over the wetlands. We did a nice big walk each day and on the second day, we took on a much bigger walk than we expected and ran past our checkout time....sorry...

Stayed here 12/1/19 to 12/4/19. My nightly rate of $56 includes all taxes and fees for booking online. This was by far the most I've paid to stay at a state park, and I think it might actually be the most I've paid anywhere, but I knew I wanted to check it out after seeing pictures. I honestly wish I had just sucked it up and stayed a whole week. This place was awesome. It was massive and busy, but for good reason.

My site was a really nice paved pull-through with full hookups and it was perfectly level. I was on the canal so there were signs about alligators all over the place, but unfortunately I never saw one. I'm thinking it was too cold while I was there. As I said before, this park is huge. If you have a bike definitely bring it because trying to get around by walking takes forever. The park has pretty much everything you could want. A pool, tennis courts, boat ramp, laundry, and tons of hiking trails. You can actually take a boardwalk that goes over the highway and to the beach. When you camp here they give you a pass that gets you free access to the beach, which is absolutely beautiful. I really want to come back in the summer time because it would be amazing to spend a few days on that beach. The location here is also great and it only takes a few minutes to get to tons of restaurants and shops around Gulf Shores.

To be honest, I don't really have anything negative to say about this place except that it was expensive. This is definitely a case where I would say the value of the park is worth the price though. I can't wait to come back in the summer!

This was our first time camping here, although we’ve been coming to the Gulf Shores area for years. We can’t see ourselves staying anywhere else now after camping at Gulf State Park. There is so much to do. Great walking and bike paths. We didn’t use the pool or splash pad but they looked nice. Laundry facility was nice and big. Access to the pier was included, so that was fun looking out over the rays, jellyfish and occasional shark. Bath houses were large, showers were hot. The sites were nice and roomy. All the staff and fellow campers were nice. We plan to come back here every year!

This is our 3rd year going to Gulf State Park in the fall and our family has already requested a return next fall.

The campground is huge. Most of the sites are quite large, also, but vary greatly in shade, privacy, and distance to the beach. The sites are asphalt pads with FHU. While we were there, contractors were going through to put in WiFi at the campsites.

The beautiful uncrowded beach is the big draw and is accessed either by taking an overpass over the road or crossing at the campground entrance and is easy to get to by bicycle.

There are many different walking/biking trails of varying length that are accessible from the campground. Many have a great deal of shade and vary from paved to boardwalks to grass/sand. We saw 2 bobcats while on the trails and several alligators. The trails have interesting stops from a parkour course, to a "rock" climbing area, to lake overlooks, etc.

The park has a small nature center with owls, alligators, snakes, turtles, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches that you are allowed to hold if you are so inclined. There is a pool and splash pad, a small store with bike rentals, and a large dog park with lake access for dogs to swim.

There is free access to the pier with a campground stay and also to parking by the pavilion, etc.

This is the second year that we have had to trim branches to get into our site to avoid scratching the side of our RV, but worth it to have some shade.