Davis Bayou Campground — Gulf Islands National Seashore

A beautiful campground right in the bayou. Small but newly paved throughout, including the site pads. Utilities well placed (no sewer), but our site (#10) was a bit awkward to back into because it was on the passenger side. Rangers and camp hosts were friendly and helpful, and patrolled frequently. Bathrooms/showers clean and centrally located. As a birder, it was active, even in December; a pair of calling Clapper Rails was in the marsh behind us, and a Great Horned Owl spent a day roosting in a tree about 50 feet behind our trailer! The visitor center was informative and the ranger was friendly. We watched an adult Bald Eagle chase an Osprey to make it give up its fish, at the boat ramp. Hope to return, as a week wasn't long enough. Very close to lots of shopping, gas, restaurants, etc.

We stayed four nights in October, 2023. This was our third time at Davis Bayou and will not be the last. We've stayed in sites 23, 35, and 36, all on the outside of the loop on the south side of the campground. The campground and facilities are quiet and well maintained. Everything there is kept clean. The grounds, roads, dump station, bathrooms, and showers are well maintained. The utilities at the site are well placed. Water pressure at the campsites is excellent and the power connection boxes are modern. The showers have good water pressure and plenty of hot water. The NPS staff that takes care of the campground does good work and are all good folks to deal with. We didn't get a chance to interact with the camp hosts.

The sites in the middle of the loop are very open without much privacy. The sites outside the loop all back up to heavy woods and are more private, but still close together.

The boat launch is close to the campground and is similarly well maintained. There is ample parking there and it never seems to be too congested. The area is good for walking. The campground is connected by walking path to a quiet residential area that actually has sidewalks!

Verizon cell and data service was minimal with about 2-3 bars of 4G. Data service worked reasonably well with a booster but would not support streaming.

There are a few minor negatives. One, the sites are tightly spaced and don't offer a lot of buffer between sites. Two, the site driveways are short. Of the three we stayed in, #36 was the only one that was really big enough to accommodate our 22' trailer and tow vehicle. That seems to be the norm in the campground. The folks with bigger rigs really had to get creative with parking. The dump station is oddly located inside the campground on the inbound loop near the entrance. That results in quite a traffic jam when a lot of people are checking out at the same time. It also means making an extra trip around the campground to get to and exit the dump station.