Galveston Island State Park: Visitors Guide: May 2018

I hope that everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. To all who served, that you for your service and sacrifice.

It is Wednesday and you are probably expecting a China story, never fear, they will be back next week. Over the long weekend Keltin and I visited Galveston Island State Park. Hopefully this will be the first in a long line of Texas State Parks that I am able to visit and tell you all about.

Galveston State Park is a fairly small park but it is wonderfully unique. This park has a gulf side and a bay side. You enter through the beach side. Entry fees are $5 per person unless you have a Texas State Park Pass which covers everyone in the vehicle. To the left, after you enter, is the day parking area and to the right are the beach front camp sites. We did not camp at this state park so I can’t review the campsites unfortunately.

The beach was busy but not nearly as busy as the Seawall farther North would have been. The park is dog friendly as long as your canine companions are on a leash. The path from the parking lot to the beach has conveniently placed outdoor showers so that you can rinse off all that gritty sand and a little farther down to the right are a ton of picnic tables.

The beach is nice, like I said earlier, a little busy but not too bad. There was some driftwood on it, farther down where it was less busy there was some trash that had washed up on the beach. It was small things like bottle caps, please throw away and recycle all your trash.

Crossing over to the bay side of the park, it was a lot less busy. We explored a bit by car before getting out and taking a short stroll down the Jenkins Trail. One of the interesting points on this trail is a bench that was an Eagle Scout Project in 2013. It sits alone looking out over this giant flat area of sand and short grasses. Beautiful, lonely, and seemingly remote despite the fact that you can hear the cars on the main road if the wind is in the right direction. Also, one of the best things that I have bought for hiking and exploring Mother Nature is a camelback/hydration pack. They make carrying water and staying hydrated super easy. 

This trailhead is one of the three access points on the bay side to the various paddling trails. A big portion of the paddling trails goes around and through marsh restoration areas, please take care of this delicate ecosystem when visiting.

After the Jenkins Trail we headed over to one of the two observation towers in the park. The view is fantastic. The park as a whole is fairly flat and the observation towers grant a beautiful view of the land all round. The park also has a couple of bird blinds if you are interested in watching and photographing the local birds.

I hope this helps you in your travels. If you have visited this park I’d love to know what you thought of it and its beauty. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!