Davis Bayou Campground — Attraction in Ocean Springs

We lived at Davis Bayou Campground in a Motorhome for 6 nights in April of 2022.

•Pros: Beautiful small park surrounded by magnolia trees. The actual campsite is inside the Gulf Islands National Seashore Park, so there are lots of grounds to explore. We had more space than most on our site (#1) since it was next to the entrance. The bathrooms and showers were some of the best we've seen and were right next to the dump station. •Cons: We didn't get a warm welcome from any park rangers except ranger Patty. In the past, we've gotten small parcels delivered to at least ten other COE campgrounds, so I assumed sending a package to the "3500 Park Rd" address would be fine. IT WAS NOT. After learning it was delivered to the Visitor Center, they were contacted and made aware I would stop by to retrieve it later that day. I was again told at least three more times that I should not and could not get personal mail delivered there once I arrived. Both my fiance and I actually work IN shipping and logistics full time from our RV and have had a 100% success rate on parcels we shipped to campsites, until Davis Bayou. Ranger Patty remedied the situation after I passed along what I was told at the Visitor Center -- that it "probably got sent back" since it shouldn't have been delivered there in the first place. She ended up hand delivering our package to our site after she took the situation into her own hands. I was also told by another ranger that he was not the "maintenance man" when I asked about how they recycle. Granted, he knew quite a bit about their pick-up process, but still, some of the egos here.... Rarely do our cons outweigh our pros, but we're staying at four stars since the park itself was welcoming, and our experience was.. memorable at the very least. ;) Kindness & natural beauty will always win. •Highlights: We loved seeing how active not only the campground was but the park and neighborhood itself. Friendly people, beautiful walking and biking areas, with sweet furbabies all around. We also found a couple of turtles •Furbabies Review: Cookies (our dog) loved the wide-open areas under the shade of the trees within the park. Our RV dash was directly in the afternoon sun from spot #1, and Cream (our cat) loved basking in the sun and watching the hustle and bustle outside our busy spot. •Our recommendations to the park: We did find recycling at the Visitor Center but were unable to find the recycling bins that were once located in the park itself. Please bring back recycling to your facility, it would greatly reduce the amount of garbage in the dumpster immediately to the left of the entrance, and the Earth will surely thank you. Also, please bring visibility to your shipping policies, which differ from the majority. •Tips for Other Campers: Be aware of site lengths, as they vary by area. Go sit under the magnolia trees and take in their sweet perfume!

Thank y'all for having us! We're off Livin' the Dream with...

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...

Beautiful. Overall 5 stars. It has become one of our regular stops on cross-country jaunts. We normally stay several nights. It is well maintained, clean, well managed. I will ding it a bit on site spacing and site length. We've stayed in sites 35, 36, 23, & 18. This is a very quiet campground. Sites are short. Many sites barely have room for a 22' trailer plus tow vehicle. Pay close attention to site length when reserving. Most sites were not crammed too close together, but Site 35 was very close to 36 on the front-door side. Little privacy. 3-bars Verizon 4G. Did not do a speed test, but Internet was good. Bathrooms are very clean. The showers work well and are very clean. Bathrooms and showers are cleaned daily. Water pressure at the sites is good, power connections are good and many have been recently upgraded. Dump station is fine, but oddly placed at the CG entrance rather than at the exit so you have to drive through the whole loop to get into or out of the dump station. If you use Starlink, the best sites for Starlink would be 35, 38, 27, 29, 14, 17, and maybe 12 or 17. Most of the sites in the middle of the main loop would be good for Starlink, but aren't as private as the sites on the outside of the loop. There is good walking in the area, both along the roads, on some trails, and in an adjacent residential area. Kayaking around the...