Boondocking Site Review – Sea Rim State Park, Sabine Pass, TX
2015 UPDATE -> Sea Rim State Park has been re-built and camping is (unfortunately) no longer free here. There is now a $10/night camping fee for primitive camping on the beach and a $20/night camping fee for the new water/electric sites on the pavement. There is also an additional $3/day entrance fee (which can be covered with a Texas State Park Pass). Please see the updated State Park website page for more info.
So, I’ve been trying to come up with a good method for reviewing and sharing our boondocking spots as we travel out West. Clearly things like facilities and amenities don’t apply to this kind of camping. For me, boondocking is all about getting “out there”, so I’m going to focus on it from that point of view and swap out the ratings to items which apply to that. This is a new category for me, so feel free to chime in and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see which is missing:
Location: Sea Rim State Park, Sabine Pass, TX
Coordinates: 29.674966,-94.044471. Link to map location HERE.
Cost: FREE (no permits required)
How We Found It: By accident. I was looking for camping along the North TX coast using Google Maps. Spotted the green area of McFaddin National Wildlife/Sea Rim and called up the rangers to ask about it.
Nearest Dump/Water: ?? Not sure. Spotted some private RV parks coming down SH 87 at Sabine Pass so that would probably be the place to ask.
- Access – 5/5
Very easy access and camping here, even for big-rigs. The road leading down to the coast (SH 87) is excellent and the State Park itself is clearly marked all the way from Port Arthur. The park has concrete roads and 2 large concrete parking areas which are open for boondocking. Camping is also allowed anywhere on the beach. Beach is fairly firm, but tides can be deceiving, so park well back from the water. - Nature – 5/5
Excellent nature here. Fully open beach views from everywhere in the park including both concrete lots. 5 miles of open coastline to hike and play. Small nature trail on East End of park. - Isolation – 3/5
The spot is nicely located at the Southern Tip of Sabine Pass. You’re ~10 miles from Sabine Pass and during the week very few people come out here. On the week-end however, you will get locals coming to walk, fish and hang out on the beach. The State Park Ranger also patrols on a regular basis. - Pet Friendliness – 5/5
Very pet friendly location. The beach and all surrounding areas are open for pooch. Direct access to beach-combing right from your RV.
Overall Rating = 4.5
BONUS ALERT = Camp with an open view of the ocean!
Summary: This is a great little spot ~10 miles West of Sabine Pass. It’s a super-easy “starter” location for RVers who want to try boondocking for the first time, but it may not be around for long! The State Park was completely destroyed during the last hurricane, so the rangers decided to allow free camping until they’re able to re-build the facilities (the info on the SP website is wrong -> the camping and access is completely free for now). It’s a wonderful spot on the TX coast with fully open beach views and over 5 miles of coastline to play on. You can boondock either on the concrete parking pads in the park or anywhere on the beach. The area doesn’t have shelter so you’ll feel the winds when they whip up (as they do often down here), but the untamed beauty is gorgeous. During the week it’s very quiet and very few RVers come here, but the locals do show up on the week-end. Nearest shopping is ~20 miles away in Port Arthur so come prepared. This was a superb spot and we would definitely come back. Get down here while you can!
Extra Info: Porta-potty on-site, but no water or other facilities. Verizon smartphone worked (only just…1X bar). Verizon aircard worked, but needed external antenna/amplifier.
Very nice. Would be great to have such a wide open space to yourself, or with very few other people around.
I’ve heard stories about rvs parked in the sand with large dunes starting to pile up around them. Thanks for sharing!
It’s certainly a special experience. We only saw one or two other RVers while we were there and had most of the place to ourselves most of the time. A gem of a spot! Nina
iRV2 forum (free) has a sub section for Boondocking information.
Hi Ronnie. Yup, I’m a “regular” on iRV2 so I know about the site. Great little forum that one! Nina
Thanks for this tip! I’m going to check it out.
Roxanne
How’s the solar setup working out? Do you have more than enough electricity with your setup even on cloudy days?
Jim. So far it’s rocking! We had a day and a half of cloud cover at Sea Rim and no issues at all. The batteries never got below 80% and we were not really trying that hard to save. Recharge is fast and if it’s sunny we’re topped off daily. So far so good. Nina
That’s good news about the solar. I’m looking forward to trying out our new setup … someday : ) Thanks for the update
Your new boondocking review format is excellent. I really appreciate you providing information about Verizon air card reception as well. You just confirmed that we need to add a booster and antenna to our new motorhome.
Glad you like it…and yes, I’d definitely recommend the antenna/amp. The Verizon coverage is pretty decent, but the boost makes it so much better. There are lots of spots we wouldn’t have been able to have a usable signal without it. Nina
Hey, just wanted to let you guys know my wife and I borrowed your camping spot at Sea Rim Park for the last 3 days. It is just as you described. Each night 2-3 RV’s just passing through staying one night and moving on. Even a man we dubbed “Van Man” has been fulltiming for 7 years. Wind blew strong all day and night so no mosquito’s. But first thing the the morning wind stopped and wow lots of mosquito’s for about 2 hours. So we just stayed in and sat drinking coffee in the front of our motorhome facing the gulf. Your right Verizon 1 bar, only sitting at edge of my dining table. haha. Thanks for heads up on this place, maybe someday it will be back in full swing.
Oh fabulous!! I’m so very glad you guys liked it! You know we saw a “glimse” of the mosquitos one morning (the morning we had no wind and fog) so I can just imagine what you mean. Gotta love that wind in retrospect!
Nina
haha just read my post. We only stayed inside drinking coffee for the 2 hours of mosquito’s. once wind picked up, it was fine.
Great! I imagine we’ll be headed that way within two months, and I’ll put this on my to-stay list.
Roxanne
It’s a fabulous location! Enjoy and let me know how it turns out! Nina
Good information! We will be the volunteer hosts at Sea Rim beginning in late Nov, and throughout Winter/Spring of 2012. It has been difficult getting information from the Ranger as to what to expect, so any little tidbits we can gather is helpful. Looking forward to our stay…we love the remote, relatively untouched corners of our country! Thanks for your contribution to our knowledge base.
Hi there!
So happy I was able to help out!
Since you guys are going as hosts does that mean the State Park officially opening back up again?
Will they still allow free camping, or will there be a fee now?
Enjoy your time on the coast. It is very remote, but very gorgeous!
Nina
Nina,
We really don’t know. We’ve tried to narrow down our responsibilities and what to expect, but have gotten very little information. At this point, we’re just winging it, and if the situation isn’t what we’re comfortable with, we’ll just move on. I THINK they plan on opening on a limited basis, but whether they’ll charge a fee or not, is unknown. All we could get out of them as far as our role was ‘we need help cleaning up from the hurricanes’, so I’m guessing it’ll be more of that, and less of hosting. We’re fulltimers, and this is on the way of our East Coast swing after several years in the West, so it’s not like it’s a long drive from Santa Fe for nothing. We haven’t done the Gulf Coast yet, so it will be fun and educational anyway you look at it. Not sure where they’ll park us, but they assure us there are full hookups. We have a 40ft Class-A, and from your pics, it looks like size won’t be an issue! Any other info you have from your visit would be muchly appreciated! Thanks.
Len
Hi Len,
Thanks for the info. The hookups are new so they’re definitely making progress.
When you get there I’d love to know more about the camping situation.
It REALLY is a beautiful and remote spot.
Nina
Hi – wondering if you have heard anything back from Laurie and Len. We are thinking of heading out there next week and wanted to know what the situation is now. The website says daily entrance fee is $3 & primitive camping in $10.
Haven’t heard from Laurie/Len, but it does look like they’re ramping up that park again. I had a feeling the free boondocking might not be around for long. I’d recommend giving a call to the rangers. They’re the ones who told me about the free camping last time, and will have the latest info.
Let me know if you find anything out!
Nina
Hi,
Laurie and I have been here for almost a month now. As far as camping, it is strictly primitive…either on the old parking lot areas (paved), or on the beach. No hookups at all, other than at the host site, which is about a half mile from the park, itself. Rebuilding this park seems to be going extremely slow, and the actual construction won’t even begin until next Spring. There is a $3 daily fee, and $10 camping fee.
We have been kept busy building sand fences, a barrier fence at the East end of the beach, and beach cleaning, The cleaning was neglected for so long due to lack of staffing, that there is a tremendous amount of trash on the less utilized parts of the 5 mile beach. We have the popular areas pretty well cleaned, so it looks beautiful now, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Debby & Bill…if you’re coming, be sure to bring plenty of mosquito repellent. We are having a bumper crop this winter, largely due to a lack of cold weather to kill them off. That, and a lot of standing water from frequent rains has made it a ‘skeeter paradise! Hope this helps. If you have further questions, feel free to contact me at lschattler44@aol.com.
Len,
THANK YOU so much for getting back to us w/ all the details!! I’ll update my boondocking review to add-in the new pricing. Sounds like you guys are working hard. Too bad about the mosquitoes, but the beach sure makes up for it. Thanks again for the update.
Nina
Yes, thank you from us too – really appreciate the update. Think we’ll pass this time around, hubby not up for fighting the skeeters!
I think I might go check this place out this weekend. It’s only about an hour and a half from us. Thanks for the map!
Let us know what it’s like now. It’s been a few years since I did the review and I know the park was planning allot of improvements when we were there. I’d be curios to hear how/if it’s changed.
Nina
Will do, and maybe some extra photos for you too if you want.
There is new info on this campground: http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/sea-rim