Jason, Kelly & Stormy

The drive in has numerous very tight curves on a very narrow road. Meeting other vehicles in these turns was quite unenjoyable. Once in the campground, the host came out and was very helpful, even offering us a site with a nicer view; however, that site had a greater than 90-degree entry and I wasn’t up for trying to back our trailer into that tight a spot, but it did have the nicest view.

We did a lap around the CG to get to our spot and noticed the roads, which were all one-way except the main, outer loop, did not have markings to show the correct way one should go. We also noticed many (most) spots would only be suitable for a truck camper or class B, even then, the power outlet may be on the wrong side.

The positives are that, if you can arrive safely and get a spot suitable for your rig, it is very pretty, full of trees (many pecan trees), has a little deer heard, and the facilities were very clean and looked to be brand new. We would come again if we had a smaller rig and could get one of the “good” sites. We stayed in site 23, which was right along the road with a steep drop off outside the passenger side of the camper. It was easy to get into and had the power on the correct side as well as a nice view of the lake through the trees. It would not be a great site for privacy on a busy day as it is right along the main road to the marina, so gets the most traffic.

The road in has soft shoulders and is a bit narrow, but completely passable. The sites had 30-amp power and good water with nice adobe shelters at several of the sites. We stayed in site 11 in the Pecos Loop, which was nice, but site 12 was the nicest.

The park itself was nice to walk around and explore, especially down by the lake and the sections on either side of the river. There was some trash left by campers in the primitive area, but the park staff came through numerous times during our stay and picked up what they found. The Ranger we spoke with, Jacob, was wonderful and gave us tons of great info about the park and surrounding areas.

The only downside, if you have pets or like to walk barefoot, is the abundance of goathead burrs. These caused our pooch considerable discomfort on virtually every walk. This is not just in this park, but many of the desert campgrounds we’ve stayed at. We met other campers with booties on their four-legged friends, and that seemed to be the best defense. Also, check your shoes when you get back in your camper. The burrs tended to get in the treads and on our rugs unless we plucked them all out at the door. I can attest they do hurt when they poke into your feet.

Despite this, and the large Texas Brown Tarantula we found basking on the casita, we would definitely stay here again. Next time with a fishing license.

The drive in was easy and a reasonable distance to Silver City, which has seen better days. City of Rocks was the unexpected high point of this leg of our adventure. The rock formations and petroglyphs are fun to explore and camping amidst them was super cool. If you’re a bit less adventurous, there’s the RV camping area at the entrance. Admittedly, the road around to the sites within the rocks was rough. There’s a fair bit of washout in areas and could cause a low-rider to scrape. If our 30’ Airstream was not lifted 3”, I’m guessing we would have scraped 3-4 times. Most rigs will be fine, just be careful if you’re low. Great spot to explore nearby areas and a very nice hike up to the top of Table Mountain that starts behind the visitors center.

It was an easy drive in and the roads/loops in the park are well marked. Our site was super long and paved with a very nice pebble picnic table/fire pit area. There are numerous hiking/biking trails that were dog friendly and plenty to do in/around the area. We’d recommend a short drive out to Tortilla Flats. The facilities were clean and the limited windows to have to listen to generators was refreshing and kept the noise pollution down to four hours each day. The views from the park and along the trails were incredible! We did have a negative experience with one volunteer, which did make our stay a bit less enjoyable, but people come and go, so hopefully that won’t impact others’ stays. We’d absolutely spend more time there the next time our travels bring us through the Phoenix area.

What an incredible spot to camp! The bison heard came through camp, but they didn’t pay us humans much attention. It was very easy to access and had RV parking outside the park office to make check in easy. We did not use the facilities, which were a bit dated and not the greatest. Our site had nice space between us and our neighbors and we were close to the beginning of the Rim Trail. There was a great little cafe in town, Bison Cafe, that had a good lunch menu and the hiking was incredible. When looking at the price of the sites, keep in mind they charge an additional $5/person/night access fee, so this added $30 to our 3 night stay for the two of us. Also, be prepared to be disconnected. We only had an occasional single bar of LTE with Verizon. Other than the “hidden” fees, we can not recommend this stop enough for travelers crossing through the Texas panhandle. Our biggest regret was not staying longer. We will be back.

We stayed for two nights at site 141 in Loop C. The grounds were very well kept and our fellow campers and hosts were very friendly. We had an issue with our 50-amp breaker tripping after a storm and the maintenance staff were there and fixed it within 30 minutes. The parking spots are a bit narrow, but correctly annotated in their descriptions and plenty of room between sites to enjoy the outside without being on top of your neighbor. It was easily accessed from the highway, but incredibly quiet. The spot was mostly level with a nice fire pit and picnic table off to the side. We had some rain while there and tried to enjoy the outdoors, but the hiking trails were a bit overgrown and muddy, resulting in a pup with muddy paws and burrs in hi hair. We would definitely recommend this park for the nice sites and quiet, minus the occasional moos from the nearby farm.

The approach takes you an 45-55 MPH roads that were pretty twisty and narrow in spots. Once you get inside the park, there’s still a few miles until Pin Oak Campground. It’s well marked and arrows pointing to the different groups of numbers was helpful in locating our site. There was no staffed gate, so just pull to your reserved site and give the hosts a yell if you’re in need.

The lakeside sites are very nice and offer the best views. All sites appear pretty easy to navigate, although they aren’t extra wide. The camping area widens up at the end. If you want to use your fire ring, hug the driver’s side of the site. There’s just enough room to keep it safe, but no extra. There was also a charcoal grill at each site.

The lake is very nice and we were told has good fishing. The showers and bathrooms looked clean and each laundry room had a single washer ($1.50) and dryer ($2.00). The grounds were well kept and there is a picnic area, swimming area, playground, and dock. This was a nice park for camping and would have been great for kayaking/paddle boarding, but not for hiking. The trails have a lot of fallen trees across and after a good rain stayed muddy for the next two days. It was mostly empty when we arrived on a Monday, but was filling up by Thursday. The locals told us it’s very popular for folks nearby. We would certainly go again if we were back in the area.

It was an easy stop off as we traveled east on US-380. There were several open spots, most not very level and about half on grass. There appeared to be a couple long-term residents, but nothing that would make us uncomfortable. We did not attach to power since this was a short overnight stop. It is just off of US-385, so a fair amount of road noise. It was fine for an overnight stop and the price is right.

The road in is steep and windy, so just go slow. Once in the park, the outer loop is very washed out and several trees/shrubs are overgrown into the road and sites, so take it very slow, especially if you’re towing anything. Our site (7) was in a great location with an unobstructed view of the canyon, but it had a deep washout in the middle of it and shrubs growing into the entry making it tight. My wife literally held back the thorny limbs so I could back in without scratching our trailer. It said pull-through, but not really doable with anything but a small rig. Once in the spot, it was far from level so used all our blocks (20) to get the passenger side up to level. Then almost fully extended the tongue Jack to bring the nose up. We did enjoy a walk down to and along the creek and the beautiful night sky, but cut our stay short due to incoming rain. Since the washout was right under our stabilizers and the rest of the loop was badly damaged due to rains, we chose not to risk it and moved on up the road for the other two nights we had reserved. If you have a small rig and the weather looks good, it’s a nice stop. If there was a little work done to the flora and roads/sites, it would be really nice. Just needs some TLC.

We stayed in our rooftop tent for one night at this park while our Airstream was being worked on at the factory service center. It was an unplanned stay and they had plenty of sites to choose from. We were told by locals it gets VERY busy on the weekends, but it was pretty quiet on the Tuesday night we stayed; although, there was a live band playing until 10:00pm, but it wasn’t overly loud, especially at our site in the back-9.

Access was extremely easy and would have still been so had we been towing our 30’ camper. The sites were pretty well laid out offering sufficient space between them to set up camp. There was no standing water during our stay and you could see new drainage had been recently installed. Some sites in the 200s have substantial dips, so could have standing water after a rain. Bathrooms and showers were pretty clean and spread out throughout the large campground. There’s a nice pool, “splash pad”, and playground with lots of things to do for the kiddos. Think KOA, but without being packed in like sardines or paying exorbitant rates.

Despite the previous reviews, we took a chance and are happy we did. It’s a nice campground that’s pretty well kept up. All sites appeared to have picnic tables and fire rings with cooking grates. There is some road noise, but not excessive and got very quiet at night. We would certainly stay here again if in the neighborhood.