Mustang Island Beach Dispersed Camping

When we got to the end of the beach access road to the left read a sign that said permit parking. To the right said free parking. We saw some areas were hard packed sand and others were softer. Parked parallel to the shore left us leaning a wee bit but not too much. Hardly anyone else camping here. It must be a secret gem. There’s a few fishermen that come and go. No biggie. The only sound is the waves and the birds. There are mosquitoes at night. Beware! Cell service was great without the booster. We spotted a dead puffer fish sand crabs running around by the dunes.

This site is next to Mustang island state park and well maintained. There is free no permit needed for parking/camping to the right when you get to end of access road. That goes down about a mile until it turns into the state park. To the left at end of access road is permit required area. Here is a link to city of Corpus Christi Beach access pass https://www.cctexas.com/services/general-government/beach-parking-permits
The permit is $12 a year and gives access to large portions of the beach. We did not bother because this spot is free, on the beach, and only two other campers today. If staying longer we would have. Permit can be bought at local stores like HEB, Walmart, Dicks and other stores. Great spot with better cell service than North or South beach of Padre Island.

Wow what a gorgeous spot! We stayed for 3 days as the free parking sign stated that was the max. Hard packed sand closest to the dunes. The beach was deserted the first night then the second night one other rv.

Pass by the entrance for the State Park and turn right on the next beach access road. Once you hit the beach the free parking is to the right and the permitted parking is to the left.

During the day there were a few fisherman and families coming and going but still pretty deserted.

The beach was very clean, they even had portopots that looked like they were cleaned regularly, a box that had free trash bags and trash cans every 5ft or so.

We will definetly come back to this area, so peaceful!

High tide this time of year made for a flooded coastline. We were not able to camp here:( so bummed. I recommend checking if their is a National weather service coastline advisory before making the trek here!

We spent two nights here while visiting the USS Lexington in nearby Corpus Christi. The access was easy, and we didn’t even need 4wd. There were several sedans and other non-4wd cars driving on the beach as well during the day, and there were a couple of scoolies caravan camping on the beach while we were there. There are trash cans every 100 ft or so, but no toilets. The Mustang Island State Park is just south of here though, and you could probably get a shower there for the $5/person day use fee.

Be sure to park at least one car’s width away from the dunes to allow cars to pass at high tide. We didn’t have any tide issues, but it might be a problem during super high tides. The water an come up pretty high, but it’s very shallow and we never got stuck.

I got to the beach to camp on Oct 26, 2020 and because I was concerned about where the high tide line might be on such a narrow strip between the surf and dunes, I called the number on the sign to ask about it. I was told that this area is currently closed because the area was so damaged during hurricane Hanna. I guess while I was dealing with wildfires in Colorado, I missed the fact that this area was hit by a hurricane in Late July 2020. Anyway, there are plenty of people parked here for day use, but there is no one set up camping on the beach. There are no signs about it being closed, so I’m not sure how you’re supposed to know it’s closed.

Definitely call the number (which I believe is to Corpus Christi Park and Rec) before driving for three days, like I did. Here is the number from the sign that is right as you enter the beach from Access Road 2 (which is where the gps coordinates take you to enter, and are correct).

(361) 826-3469
Corpus Christi

As it is, I believe the high tide line would be too high to camp here right now, as the beach is a narrow strip and it is low tide while I’m here writing this. And I don’t want to get kicked out at dark for it being closed, and have no back up plan. Can’t wait to come back when they get it cleaned up and open again. They probably need to widen the beach first, or maybe this is just a high tide time of year. I’m not familiar enough with the area to say...

Full LTE Verizon signal!

The fact that you can still do this is amazing.
The sand wasn’t too soft for my class c to feel comfortable driving on.
Check the tides before because there’s no high ground.
There’s trash cans every 100 yards and lights near all the access roads
Cause it gets dark here.

There’s a lot to do in either direction
It’s February and 63° at 9:00 pm.
Costs 0 dollars.
The only down side I could possibly see is the lack of palm trees😂

I stayed 2 nights on the beach...ocean front...for FREE.

Signs are informative, people are nice.

Big fishing area.

Coyotes were on the prowl night 2.

This wasn't free. It was $10 a night for no services and $10 per person per night park fee. So, $20 a night and still, would do it again. I just am not sure how the other camper make it here free..

We drove down 2 miles further to the state park so we could buy the beach pass, but the guard said beach camping is closed due to high tides. All spots at the park were full so we’re going down further to Padre.