Franklin Mountains State Park Primitive Campground

This review only applies to the RV camping part of the park, not the tent sites or extensive hiking trails.
PROS: Beautiful desert scenery. RV Site #4 had just enough room for our 34ft motorhome. Flexible selection of one of the only five RV sites available. 10 minute drive to El Paso.
CONS: All RV sites except #4 were way off level, requiring boards. Expensive: Texas State Parks charge a daily entrance fee PER PERSON if you don’t buy the $70 Texas State Park Pass. Steep small roads for big rigs. Not recommended for motorhomes over 34ft. Poor reservation / phone system communication. Had to call four times until I got a person to get a reservation. Could not honor Texas State Park Pass for 50% off second night. Gate code causes confusion and delay. No english OTA TV reception. Two bars of AT&T reception. No water, no dump. Boondock only. We used our solar panels. Please don’t come here and run a generator because it will disturb the quiet serene desert life.

We enjoyed our night here. It was so quiet. There was a full moon and the sky was amazing. We spent the afternoon climbing at sneers cory and it was fun. Looks like there are nice hiking and biking trails here. There is no water.

Stayed here only 1 nite because we were en route to Tucson, we can’t wait to come back when we have time to linger.

Called ahead for an RV site since we’d be arriving after closing — no need really. Nobody was camping in the 5 RV sites- or in the campground, as far as we could tell. The park manager on the phone was very nice and explained clearly how to get there and what the late arrival procedure was. We had to unlock a gate with a code, but she didn’ tell us which lock to unlock, so we stood around looking stupid until a cyclist came by and helped us out. We’re old...

We finally got in and picked a site. RV sites weren’t particularly level but the scenery was mountains and desert. It was completely quiet. All you could hear was quail calling and a lone owl. No people except the cyclists we saw when we got there, but they were finishing up their rides and apparently weren’t staying in the park.

If you’re a cyclist , this place is probably perfect - beautiful scenery, mountain trails and more beautiful scenery. I’m sure the trails are very hikeable too if walking is your thing. There are no hook-ups at this campground and the only toilets we saw were vaults, but unless you just have to electricity and showers, this is not an issue.

Highly recommend a visit during cooler times of the year. Summer might be no fun since there’s no water.

This was a stop over between Phoenix and Big Bend. Lots of sites. I have a small Airstream and had no problem with leveling. Didn't even have to unhook. Lovely views and quiet. Watch out for the turn off for State Park Campground heading East on Hwy 375. Stay in the left lane. I missed the left turn and it's a long drive to turn around & return. The entire mountain is the state Park so be sure to put the campground into your GPS.

A beautiful, well maintained state park just outside of El Paso. No hookups but the Flying J gas station down the road has water and propane. Lots of hiking and climbing opportunities in the park. Also, the gate into the park is closed so no one can drive in after 5pm, which provides added safety. People staying at the park are provided a combination to the gate lock.

As others have noted, the RV sites are fairly unlevel. Our site has a 3º slope from back to front along with about 1.5º side to side. A motorhome might have difficulty getting level with limited stabilizer travel, but we were able to do it with our fifth wheel and some blocks. (See photos.)

The sites are also shorter than average and quite narrow; we were just able to squeeze our 42' (including bike rack on the back) trailer in. And the circle drive in the RV campground is tight for big rigs, but manageable.

But all that said, this is a beautiful spot for a night or two stopover. There is plenty of scenic hiking in the area, plus great views of the mountains out the windows. And it is quiet and peaceful, just what we look for in a state park.

As long as you're fairly skilled backing up a trailer, you should have no problem getting in here with one our size or smaller.

One other note: Loop 303 at Tom Mays Park Access Road is currently under construction, with a very tight right turn immediately followed by a tight U-turn, both lined with plastic barrels, from 303 to the park road. Again, doable but a bit of a challenge.

Both Verizon and AT&T worked, although we needed to use our cell booster for AT&T. 3.5 mbps download on Verizon.

Price of $20/night includes $10 camping fee plus $5 per adult per day park entrance fee.

Small quiet area in beautiful setting - as mentioned better for smaller equipment. Surrounded by hiking and views. Bathroom is a bit of a hike too. The drive up is hilly but not true mountain driving. Construction at entrance is a bit tricky - sharp turn. We arrived after 5 and code to lock worked fine. Service limited but we walked across the lot and picked up service if needed in a pinch.

We stayed here for one night only but really enjoyed it. Nice scenery with the Franklin Mountains surrounding you and hiking and biking trails nearby. We only had one other camper in the rv section (only has 5 spots) so it was nice and quite. Dry camping with decent Verizon service and 1 bar for at&t.

Enjoyed our stay. Close to El Paso. Be alerted the trans mountain highway is under construction. You have to negotiate orange barrels to get into the park. If coming from the west you have to go up to the top of the mountain snd make a u-turn Our problem was we dumped all our fresh water because of the weight affecting our trailer. So upon arrival we were going to fill up. That can’t be done. No I mean no water to be found in the park Dry camping at its best. Good we carry just in case 2 1/2 gal container. But the views and the different cactus made our lack of water so bearable.

The camping area for RVs was ok; 3 regular sites(RV01-RV03)and 2 in the middle of the parking lot(RV04 & RV05). The sites are all uneven. The night sky was great. Was very windy and hot every day I was there(5/13-5/21). A 20 minute drive to most of El Paso. There is a long steep hill coming in from the east that was under construction. The ranger station has air conditioned bathrooms but no potable water. The vault toilets were not close enough to the sites to be useable.