The beach side of Galveston Island State Park reopened on Monday with new campsites and amenities — a renovation that was years in the making after Hurricane Ike damaged structures there in 2008.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife said the beach side of the park reopened on Monday and it is now open to reservations for day use and overnight camping.
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The additions include 95 campsites, 20 shade shelters for day use, an equestrian area and a park headquarters building, as well as new restrooms, roads and changing areas.
There are also five miles of hiking trails, observation towers, boardwalks, kayak launches and a remodeled nature center.
“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is very excited to be able to reopen such a popular park on the Texas coast,” Rodney Franklin, the director of Texas State Parks, said in a news release.
After Ike’s storm surge severely damaged the park, the park temporarily reopened “while this larger scale project was planned,” Kody Waters, the interim superintendent of Galveston Island State Park, said in the release.
The redevelopment project officially started in the summer of 2019.
The release stated that the renovations were made possible thanks to $10.6 million from Deepwater Horizon Natural Resources Damage Assessment funds.
“It has been a long time coming, and I could not be more excited for public to once again experience the park at its fullest,” Waters said in the release.
Reservations can be made by clicking here or calling the Texas State Park Reservation Center at 512-389-8900.
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