Blakely State Park across the bay from Mobile and has awesome wide-open field group camping at Chastang Field with several fire pits and pavilions nearby. The park is about 20 mins from USS Alabama. The walking trail is close-by. A bathhouse is not too far away.
Blakely State Park
34745 State Hwy. 225
P.O. Box 7279
Spanish Fort, Al. 36577
(251) 626-0798
BlakeleyPark@aol.com
Group Camping
Chastang Field
Chastang Field is the largest group rental area in the park. It is named in honor of colonial-era settler Joseph Chastang, who owned the property prior to the founding of the town of Blakeley. Perfect for large group activities and camping, it is located near the site of the historic town and waterfront and has easy access to several trail systems. It may be reserved for day use and camping.
Rate:
Day use: $150 per day plus regular admission
Camping: $10 per night for adults/$5 for kids ages 6-12; minimum $150 per night (2-night maximum)
Reservations require a non-refundable deposit of $50. Portable restrooms in addition to those provided at each site may be rented at cost to park; presently $65 each
Tensaw Campground
Designed especially for youth groups, the Tensaw is a private campground with two individual sites. Each may be rented separately for groups of less than 50 or both may be rented together for large groups of up to 100. The sites include picnic tables, fire rings, and a restroom.
Rate:
$10 per night for adults/ $5 per night for kids ages 6-12; minimum $150 per night
Reservations require a non-refundable deposit of $50. Portable restrooms in addition to those provided at each site may be rented at cost to park; presently $65 each
We spent 2 – 2 1/2 hours on a self-guided tour at USS AL. Once onboard, the group can enter gun turrets, view crews quarters, sickbay, an engine room and much more. There are 12 decks open for touring. The main deck of the Battleship is handicapped accessible. The group will also enjoy watching a 15-minute film in the Uptake Theater featuring former WWII USS Alabama crewmen. After touring the Alabama, head down to the 36,000 sq. ft. Aircraft Pavilion, dedicated to the 29 Medal of Honor recipients from the State of Alabama. Here, the group can view aircraft such as the A-12 Blackbird Spy Plane and a P51-D Mustang Redtail, the type of plane flown by the valiant Tuskegee Airmen. Then inspect other aircraft, a Vietnam PBR boat, and wonderful exhibits. Don’t forget to take a ride on the Flight Simulator. Submarine USS DRUM is within the same park, also designated a National Historic Landmark. She can be viewed from every vantage point, inside and out. Be sure to visit the inspiring Vietnam and Korean War Memorials also located in the park.
We set the cost of this trip at $40.00 per adult and $23.00 per child ( which includes lunch on board the ship and camping at Blakely State Park). Parking is part of the package. You do not have to pay $2.00 per vehicle.
Submitted by: Amber Palmier
Photo courtesy of Faungg’s photos via Flickr flic.kr/p/61zCwJ
Shared under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Troop 97 in Homewood used this as our base camp for a schools out trip in June 2016 and it was a great campout. We visited the beach one day and our older scouts went on a deep sea fishing trip. On our last day we visited the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish Fort to pay our respects. It is very close to the entrance of the park.
If you go camping during bug season, stay out of the woods. The kids who set up hammocks along the tree line were absolutely eaten up with chiggers and other bug bites.
Shawn Wright
Troop 97 ASM