We are currently on North Beach just south of the Pilings. North Beach is about a one mile stretch of beach between the pilings and the National Sea Shore (NSS). The actual NSS is always closed to vehicle travel. North Beach throughout our 2 week free stay has only had 3-4 rigs on the entire stretch. There is also South Beach where free camping is allowed, but there is no cell service that far south. Cell service on north beach is weak unless you have a booster. (We have T-Mobile, Verizon & ATT)

There is a small campground at the entrance of the beach (not on the beach) where it can fill up quickly, and then there is the beach itself where you can drive on the water packed sand. The beach goes on for miles. When we were there in 2019, boondocking for a week in March, there was lots of room. It is generally windy all day and sand management is a must; you must watch the weather for any surges which will push the waves up the beach to your rig (definitely to be avoided). A ranger will drive up and down the beach once or twice a day, but besides that you are pretty well on your own with nature and the birds (the pelicans are impressive). I imagine you could drop your trailer and leave for the day.

When we were there, we left the trailer and went into Corpus Christi several times with no problems. If they don't give you one, ask for a tide chart. We parked close to the dunes. The beach goes on for miles, but we found a place not to far in. I think a ranger told us to not go more than 2 miles unless we had 4 wheel drive.