Galveston Island State Park in Texas is now open. It was damaged during Hurricane Ike, but has since reopened for business. The fees for the park entry are $5.00 per person for ages 13 to adultand children 12 and under are free of charge. The gates are open seven days a week from 7am till 10pm. The offices hours are from 8am until 5pm Sunday through Thursday and 8am until 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
The park offers many different coastal habitations to a vast diversity of wildlife and has seen many species of birds during the Fall and Spring seasons. With 1,998 acres for the 180 camping sites for the overnight campers and 60 of the day use sites, the park can accommodate many visitors or groups. Over 500,000 people visit the parks observation platform, photo blinds, and boardwalks each year.
The Galveston Island State Park is home to three groups of campsites which offer shelters, bathrooms and showers for the visitors. One of these is the Gulf Campsite with a hundred twenty sites which offers electricity, shelters for shade, a fire pit ring, a picnic table, and a hook for water. Campsites cost range from Twenty dollars per night to Twenty-five dollars for a premium site. There is also the $5 per person fee to get into the park to begin with. The Bayside camping area in Galveston Island State Park host 10 screened shelter which cost twenty dollars per night. Pet are not allowed in the Bayside camping area. This area has its own bathroom and showers. This area offers twenty other campsites with water and electric services. There are other campsites which have only water hook ups. These only cost $15.00 a night.
Not only does the Galveston Island State park offer camping, but it is well-known for bird watching. With is vast array of birds, every person interested in seeing these beautiful birds can find this park extremely inviting. The park offers marsh, Prairie and beaches for this migration of birds during the Spring and Fall seasons. The park offers many of these trails for bird watchers to travel to find an exciting discovery of some to the many birds which find their way here. The Galveston Island State Park offers many fresh water ways with also host many of the birds. One area even has a bird blind for its visitor bird watchers to use.
The Galveston Island State Park boasts of a 148 species of butterflies which have been seen in the grasslands of the park. Many of the campers or visitors to the park are here to catch a glimpse at some of these beautiful butterflies. It is not unusual to see photographers trying to catch a shot of the gorgeous creatures. There have been as many as 400 butterfly species reported being seen in Texas.
The beaches are another of the areas that see many visitors during the hot months of summer. This not only includes the human visitors, but also the birds of the shorelines. The Dunes are a majority of the imperative natural construction on the barrier island. They help with beach erosion and offer many creatures a safe haven. They protect the area behind them from high tides. They may appear smaller after a storm, but these dunes will rebuild themselves and start the process all over again.
The Island is about five thousand years old and holds an interesting story in its lifetime. There are tales of a famous shipwreck of Cabeza de Vaca in 1520. The history includes pirate tales comprising of Black Beard, Captain Morgan and Captain Kidd. There have been many hunting parties and war parties which found themselves on the beaches of Texas in what is now Galveston Island State Park. The storms which overwhelmed the island have all, but wiped out the trade in the late 1800s.
If you would like more information on the Galveston Island State Park you may contact them at:
www.tpwd.state.tx.us/galveston