I’m SUPER EXCITED to be doing this review this week for you and will most likely do a sister post next weekend for things to do in Gulf Shores, Alabama!!! Gulf Shores, Alabama has to be one of my MOST FAVORITE places to visit (ESPECIALLY since we have a camper now and since we found Gulf State Park!).

Since I did another post on things to do in Gulf Shores, I’ll keep our family’s history there brief, but I WILL tell you that we have vacationed there for over a decade, maybe even two. We found Gulf State Park several years ago when I went for a joy ride around Gulf Shores (probably while Glynn was fishing on the pier with the kids). I drove around the city and remember thinking how expansive the park was. It BLEW MY MIND that it had cottages, cabins, primitive camping, and RV spaces.

Of course, all of that was WELL BEFORE we had an RV. Several years ago, we were kind of pinched for cash but wanted to take our youngest daughter on a fun spring break trip for her senior year. We decided on tent camping at Gulf State Park. That was our first experience staying in the park, but we ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!

So, WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS?

GULF STATE PARK PARK REVIEW

Check out our YouTube review video…the beginning is funny!

CAMPGROUND/CLEANLINESS 10/10

This place is IMMACULATE!!! It’s so clean and neat at Gulf State Park, I honestly don’t know how they do it! There’s always someone driving by in a golf cart or lawn mower working on something.

The campsites are HUGE!!! I mean, you could plant a garden in your front yard (if you had the time)! You could even do gymnastics and stuff!!! LOL!

As far as specifics, Gulf State Park has 496 full-hookup sites and 11 primitive sites. Tents are allowed on all sites. Each site is large enough for all RVs and slideouts and has a picnic table and a grill. They also have a storage facility for $50 per month and rentals are available from what I understand.

The park has a whopping 11 bathhouses and ALL KINDS of extras we’ll talk about in the amenities section! Honestly, you really don’t have to leave the park to have a FANTASTIC vacation! Here’s their map of the campground.

BATHHOUSE 9/10

Moving right along, let’s talk about the bathhouses! Now, I need to be honest here and tell you I didn’t even go in the bathhouse. However, Glynn did. He really prefers to shower at the RV park bathhouses wherever we go because he’s 6’2″ tall. Our little RV shower is just REALLY short for him.

He didn’t have any problems with Gulf State Park bathhouses, and in fact, said they were awesome! The AC was cold (lots of state parks don’t even have AC in their bathhouses if you’re new to RVing and don’t know) and the water pressure was decent. There are 11 of these bathrooms in all of the various “neighborhoods” within Gulf State Park.

My friends did go to the women’s side and said it was pretty nice as far as state parks go.

AMENITIES 10/10

Now listen, this is where I get a little excited…so forgive me if I ramble, but Gulf State Park has TONS of stuff to do!!! Maybe making a list will be the easiest way to do this, so here we go!

• Walking/hiking/biking trails (7 if I counted right)
• Swimming pool with a splash pad for little guys
• Boat ramp and dock for fishing
• Pavilion for multi-use (with a much larger pavilion on the beach available for use and rental)
• Laundry facility
• Tennis courts
• Bike Rentals
• Nature Center
• Amphitheatre
• Horseshoe Pit
• Volleyball court
• Gulf State Park Camp Store
• Free pass to the Gulf State Park Pier when staying in the park
• Gulf State Park Golf Course
• Cabin and Cottage Rentals available
• Pull-through and back-in sites available

WOW! That’s a lot, AMIRIGHT OR WHAT? I wanna go back right now just writing about it! Ha…let’s be real here, I really didn’t want to leave!!!

This is all just stuff that is inside of the RV park and inside of the larger Gulf State Park property. If you bring your own bike or kayak I don’t know why you’d have to leave the park except to eat and go sightseeing…oh wait, there’s THE BEACH less than 2 miles away!

CELL SIGNAL 7.5/10

If you’ve been with me long, you know cell signal and internet are OBSESSIVELY important to me! Even still, I tried to chill during our stay at Gulf Shores State Park since it was our official vacation.

That being said, our cell signal was spotty. Again in a spirit of honesty, we just switched over to T-Mobile and I’d have to say that could be our problem in a nutshell. Our cell signal has been leaving a little to be desired. Our friends on Verizon and AT&T didn’t seem to have any problem at all.

On T-Mobile though, there were a couple of times I had to tell the kids I’d call them back later because they couldn’t hear me or I couldn’t hear them. There were also times my phone worked perfectly well, so there is that.

All that to say, I was neither impressed nor terribly upset about our cell service. It was ok, but not the best ever.

INTERNET/WIFI 7/10

Internet, on the other hand, left me aggravated all week! I couldn’t connect to the park’s wifi…EVER. At least they are honest about it though…this is a quote from their website:

Because of its size, Gulf State Park has limited Wifi Service and is only guaranteed in our Activities Building and Refuge Golf Course Grill. Enhanced service is being installed and should be active soon.

Let’s give them a thumbs up or a gold star for honesty there and also for knowing how much that sucks in modern society!!! They get an “A” for effort in my book for trying to make it better!

NEARBY ACTIVITIES 10/10

I keep wanting to say in each section that this is where it REALLY gets good…but THIS REALLY IS where it gets good! Gulf Shores is one of my favs ANY time of the year! I have one BFF who loves Destin and thinks that’s the cat’s meow. I have another BFF who thinks Dauphin Island is the bomb and even though I can’t really argue with either (even though I tease and call Dauphin Island…wait for it…Alcatraz!), Gulf Shores/Orange Beach is my fav!!!

During the summer, there’s the obvious…THE BEACH! Sugary-white sand, bright blue water…ahh!!! You can also snorkel, paddle board, kayak, jet ski, parasail, etc. at the beach.

Ladies, can I get an “amen” for SHOPPING in the Foley outlets? For the kiddos, there’s Waterville USA park. Adventure seekers can do the ziplines…I REALLY want to do this!

This last time, my girlfriends and I did a little dolphin cruise with Sunny Lady and LOVED our captain and his helper!

Our menfolk went on a charter boat for some deep sea fishing. I have no idea who they toured with, but I know it was from Zeke’s Landing.

Check out The Wharf for movies, shopping, concerts, and dining (even though this is technically Orange Beach).

Oh, and history buffs can check out Fort Morgan or ferry across to Alcatraz Dauphin Island and see the more informative Fort Gaines if you have the time and money.

There are TONS of restaurants that range from Italian to surf & turf…live music, karaoke, etc.  More on this in my things to do the post next week! 🙂

Let’s just say if you get bored in the Gulf Shores area, I don’t know what to say to you! You should never be bored there!

STAFF 10/10

We had a SUPER chatty lady check us in at Gulf State Park…she was really sweet and VERY KIND! She was great and UBER informative about the park and surrounding area.

You will encounter a staff member every time you enter the park, which reminds me to tell you that the park is REALLY secure. You’re expected to stop at the front gate any time of day when you arrive. That’s great in theory, but not everyone does…ahem!

As mentioned earlier, you will see the staff everywhere all over the park. We never ran across anyone that acted inappropriately…in fact, everyone was really nice to us.

PRICE 10/10

If you don’t understand this much yet, you should know that I am REALLY, REALLY cheap frugal. I say that so that you will understand that I absolutely CANNOT STAND paying much more than $20 for a campsite. However, I realize that when you are traveling to a destination, you can expect to pay more than Arkansas State Park prices.

All that to say, the prices are doable at Gulf State Park (check out pricing and reservations here). I think we paid from $38-41 per night but got one free for booking a week. We stayed 7 nights and paid about $350 after taxes and all. They have discounted rates for extended stays as well.

Overall, I think you can tell that we love Gulf State Park! It’s a great, family-friendly place to camp and it’s right in the middle of everything you’d want to do. You’re literally 10-15 minutes away from just about everything in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

Have you been to Gulf Shores? Do you have another beach that’s your fav? Be sure to tell me all about it in the comments!

9.2

Campgrounds/Cleanliness

10.0/10

Bathhouse

9.0/10

Amenities

10.0/10

Cell Signal

7.5/10

Internet/WiFi

7.0/10

Nearby Activities

10.0/10

Staff

10.0/10

Price

10.0/10

Pros

• Close to EVERYTHING in town!
• Free admissions to pier with campsite
• Lots to do INSIDE the park
• Friendly staff
• Clean, orderly campgrounds
• Great bathhouses
• HUGE campsites
• RV AND tent sites, cabins, and cottages available
• Pet friendly
• Full hookups at every site

Cons

• Lots of biting ants...EVERYWHERE
• Lots of tree frogs (not really a negative to us)
• Lots of traffic on the main road
• Some sites are in direct sun all day