Disappointed in Fort Pickens-Memorial Day

lynzi2004

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 3, 2016
Hi all! We are constantly looking for new adventures and fun places to camp. We especially like exploring the National Parks and decided to give beach camping a try over Memorial Day. We booked 6 months in advance and I'm glad we did bc there weren't many shady sites at Fort Pickens. We actually had a nice, secluded site on the outside of a loop. We had never tent camped at the beach, but tried to go in with an open mind! Lets just say Fort Pickens is NOT Fort Wilderness! lol The beaches were gorgeous but we ended up driving from our site to a parking area and then walking the boardwalk to the beach. One of the boardwalks was quite a distance and wouldn't be fun lugging a days worth of beach toys each day. The sites were overgrown and nothing had been mowed ahead of the weekend. It looked like we were offseason camping instead of a main holiday weekend. The bathhouses were new, but not air-conditioned. Talking with a lady one day, she said the old ones used to have AC. Why you would decide to take AC out is beyond me in Florida! There were only 4 unisex showers total per loop. We managed to get lucky most times, but we also planned to come in from the beach earlier to beat the rush. Often times, by the time we were walking out of the showers there were anywhere from 8-12 people waiting for 4 showers! We were mostly in a tent loop, so it might have been better if you were in a loop with more campers, but this definitely should have been taken into consideration. Also the showers were basically one stream of water, not a spray at all. Very difficult to get sand out of my 5 year old DDs hair! Hot water was plentiful though!

On a positive note, the beaches were completely uncrowded for a holiday weekend. It was fabulous! We drove into Pensacola Beach for dinner one night and couldn't wait to get back out to the campground due to the crowds. Also, the actual old Fort is definitely worth a visit. It was a highlight of the trip. They have old cannons and you can climb up on the ruins and look in the old builidngs.

We are willing to try beach camping again, but I think we are going to look at the campground in Orange Beach instead!
 
Skip Orange Beach and drive down to Gulf Shores with us here at Gulf State Park. Bring your bikes for sure.

I've camped Fort Pickens a few times but in a camper and used my own facilities. Any place near beach on a holiday weekend is crazy. Which is why we don't leave GSP on the weekend.

The fort is really neat, as you said. If you come to Orange Beach or Gulf Shores it's worth the drive on over to Fort Morgan for that tour.

Thanks for your input and sorry it wasn't as good as you had hoped. I promise it's better on a non-holiday.
 


We bribe the campground staff with food (tiggerdad cracked the code) ....

lynzi, book now for next Memorial Day weekend here at Gulf State Park and join us as tiggerdad suggested. You can book online and I had instructions in the DISMeet thread but basically go to www.alapark.com, choose Gulf on "Find a Park", choose the "Camping" on the Gulf page, and "Book an Online Reservation" on the Camping page.

Tent campers have had a tough time here the past 3-4 days (rain) but if you come prepared you will enjoy it (our Comfort Stations are a/c'd BTW). We congregate on Live Oak around the site 4/site 18 intersection and some folks stay on Live Oak and some on Bobcat. Sumac is in-between with a CS at either end.

Gulf fills up for Memorial Day weekend which is why I advise booking early (you can always cancel). We have kids here and everyone does their own thing at times so you don't have to feel obliged to hang or eat with us.

We'd love to have you even if it was just for the weekend.

Bama Ed
 
Last edited:
Hey everyone, sorry I've been MIA after writing my first post. Summer has officially started and mom duty is full-time...is it time for the kids to go back to school yet?!?! lol

After posting my thread, I stumbled upon the DisMeet thread and DH and I have been checking the campground out! Hearing that the bathhouses have AC, definitely more willing to try it out and I know our kids would love the pool. They can be just a little small still for those bigger waves. Would love to meet up with some Disney people if we decide to come! Hope you all are having a great time. We got out of Ft. Pickens just before the rain of the last few days. It was starting to sprinkle as we were taking our tent down and rained on us for the first couple hours of our drive. I was super happy we had got out of there in time.
 



GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts


Top