Goose Island State Park

Goose Island State Park is located near Rockport, Texas. Rockport is in Aransas County Texas which is along the coastal bend east of Corpus Christi. The Texas State Parks web site has a map of the park. Also included in the park (sort of) is "THE BIG TREE." THE BIG TREE is the largest Live Oak in the nation. If nothing else, you should visit THE BIG TREE to see if you are inspired by the poetry.

This is a wonderful park. There is lots to do and see in the area. Folks are nice. January is a great month for bird watching. I saw a number of birds I've never seen before. We watched Brown Pelicans skimming over the water in search of fish all afternoon from our campsite.

There are other big attactions in the Rockport-Fulton area that you should visit. The Texas Maritime Museum is located in Rockport. The Fulton Mansion State Historic Site is located in Fulton. The Copano Bay Causeway State Park is located on State Highway 35 next to the bridge over Copano Bay. They are all within a 15 minute drive from the park. Follow the links for more information. Both are definitely worth visiting when you are in the area.

Since the Rockport-Fulton area is primarily a tourist destination, there are a number of web sites catering to tourists. There is the Rockport Chamber of Commerce, fishRockport.com (oriented toward fishing and boat charters), birdRockport.com (oriented toward bird watching and birding tours), Rockport Net, and The Rockport Pilot Newspaper. State Highway 35 (and Business Route Highway 35 is the "Main Street" for both Rockport and Fulton. There must be a hundred RV parks on that highway. There are even more if you drive the road along the shoreline.


Above, our campsite at Goose Island State Park. We setup camp a bit differently. We nosed the trailer in. The upper right picture was taken from the sea wall. The road is on the other side of the concrete pavillian. We put up dog fences. On the map below is the location of our campsite (blue diamond with red dot center. Also note the location of the "THE BIG TREE."


The sun set behind the Highway 35 bridge. The sunsets are amazing. These pictures were taken from our campsite Saturday night.

The campground was full each night we were here. The picture at right is facing East along the sea wall from our campsite. We stayed on the western end of the shoreline campsites.

	The Goose Island State Park web site says there are no beaches at this park. Well, there is at least one beach - Stinky Beach.


There are lovely beach homes all around the park. Some of the developments have canals so residents can park their boats at home.
	When it isn't foggy, you can see large fishing boats (they might be charter boats) trolling the waters south of the park. We didn't see any large vessels in the ship canal. (See the maps above.)


The park's bait shop can get quite the gathering of gulls and pelicans when folks are cleaning their fish. This must be a regular afternoon ritual for the birds. They seem ready and eager when the boats come in. The park also has a recreation center. It looks like it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the thirties.

I'm including the obligatory ranger station photo. The folks inside were curteous and helpful. This is a well run park. Below is the fishing peir at dusk when the just turn on the lights. The fishing pier is at the eastern end of the waterfront camping area. Below to the right is a fellow working with his bait.

	The sun pokes through the clouds on an overcast afternoon.

Goose Island State Park
Friday, January 17 through Monday, January 20, 2003
HOME -> Camping	See all of the pictures taken in and around Goose Island here!

Goose Island State Park

Friday, January 17 through Monday, January 20, 2003

HOME -> Camping

See all of the pictures taken in and around Goose Island here!