Bayside Drive-in Campground

This was a very nice place to camp close to the beach. We camped in both loop B (generators allowed) and loop C (no generators) during our stay. It is a great place to bike ride as well. We loved seeing the horses pretty much everywhere we went. We didn’t see many the first day but did for the next several days. It is sporadic where you will see them. My only complaint is there are a lot of stickers and horse poop everywhere. I realize it is natural but I just wanted to mention it.

First of all may i say, that generators are ruining the wildlife experience. You go to the shore, partly to hear the birds, and all I hear is the roar of generators from 6 AM to 10 PM at night - why do these people go camping? Pit toilets, showers that are a little frightening to look at, but they function and are cleaned daily . I should specify this is at the Bayside campsites. Today I looked at the Oceanside, and they have very nice toilets and shower brand new it looks like. Lots of space between the sites that doesn’t help the generator noise. Some of the sites look out over the bay others do not. Some of them are quite large. In general, I wish the national park service would do away with this generous allotment of time for people to run those machines. Thank you for listening to me vent! I enjoy the ponies. I have to leave my campsite to hear the birds. There’s plenty of space to walk your dog and you can take your dog on the beach on a leash. There are certain areas for this.

Stayed in bayside, loop A. Sites were very large and level with plenty of room in between each one, which gave lots of privacy. I could only see one other camper from my site. Amazing place to bird watch as it is a major passover for migratory species in the fall. Also tons of migrating monarch butterflies in October! Can be hard to get in as the sites book up as soon as they are available. I much prefer late fall off season (less kids and noise, less bugs, cooler temps). Highly recommend if you are into camping for the nature. Also a quick drive to OC boardwalk and restaurants if you want to go out for a nice meal.

We have camped here few times. Absolutely beautiful place for camping. Beaches are quite and not many people around. Booking needs to be done way in advance if you want bach campsite. Showers are clean but toilets are vault toilets but still clean. Mosquitos are in abundance so have to be prepared for that. Also, wild horses roam freely sometimes coming to campsite.

The campsite we had was alright, the grass was high in places, the bugs were terrible and the bath house was terrible. The horses were cool, they didn’t give us any problems but the raccoons did. We still enjoyed our trip and made the best of it, but probably won’t stay in that area again without an RV or camper.

There are two parks side by side, one is national and other one is state. We booked the national one not being aware that there are two parks. Bathrooms are mobile toilets style and they were horrible. We couldnt spend a minute in them and luckily we found a spot in the state park. The bathrooms in the state park were amazing and we moved to that. So be aware of that. Also the entrance to the national park was 30$ for camp ground and 25$ per each car whereas it was just 35$ in state park and no additional charge for car.

Fantastic campground. The site really felt like it was private even in loop C where generators are allowed. We had horses walking through camp the whole stay and they were fantastic to watch. There was a bit of trash left by the previous site tenants but we were able to pick it up pretty quick. A great place with easy access to the bay and the ocean.

I was *this* close to giving this place 4/5 stars for the sole reason that it was disappointing they charge $20 on top of the rates you pay when you stay/camp at the park- it adds up. I understand the need to charge visitors but it's costly when you're already paying the park each night. Anyway, the stay was marvelous and made up for it. We were there in November and not very many people were around and it was perfect. We feel like we'll never get the opportunity of having the Atlantic all to ourselves again. The horses walk right up on the second loop campground around noon where we were staying. They stay in that general area all day. We stayed in site 26 where we could see the dunes and ocean from the back of our camper. Overall, a great time and a beautiful place.