Tyler State Park Campground

We stayed a full week in a large pull-through waterfront site with full hookups. There are two loops, the nicer of the two (Lakeview) has only a few sites that will accommodate larger rigs, but they are well worth it -- large, grassy, shaded, and with decent privacy.

The lake itself is small, but very nice for non-motorized boating (rentals available) and swimming. There is a small sand beach with large swimming platforms which draw a sizable, but family-friendly weekend crowd. We stayed in August and the lake was bathwater warm. I imagine it would be more pleasant earlier in the season. The State Park store is the best I've seen and the staff was incredibly friendly. The road through the park is a beautiful drive and a challenging bike ride. There are a lot of well-maintained hiking and mountain biking trails, as well as cabins and common buildings that were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

My family refers to this park as the "Raccoon park" due to the masses of raccoons that come out at dusk.

I occasionally work out in East Texas and was glad to have the opportunity to fit in a few days of camping. It was surprisingly difficult to secure a campsite and I learned on this trip that I need to reserve ahead of time for spring weekends in Texas! The good thing was that I ended up experiencing two different camping areas at Tyler, as well as 2 other state parks!! (how's that for turning that frown upside down?!).

Here at Tyler I stayed at site 85 in Black Jack, and site 13 in Area 1. Even though Black Jack is a group camping area, the bath house is under-utilized and was very quiet (mostly bigger rigs that are self contained park there). It would be perfect for a large group or family reunion as it is designed "circle the wagons" style with the bath house in the center, and even a life size checker/chess board!

Here are the pluses and minuses of my experience at Tyler:

PLUSES:
* The staff and volunteers are really really nice, the nicest I've met at Texas state parks so far. The front desk lady knew I needed 2 more nights and called other local parks to see if they had space. Then, the volunteer at the gift shop insisted on lending me her jacket to keep me warm on my kayak ride - wow.
* There are many camping areas and activities to choose from - multiple trails, canoe rental, kayak rental (that's what I did), bicycle trail.
* Black Jack is nice for an overflow area (but the other camp areas are nicer if you have a chance to reserve)
* The lake is not that big - I kayaked around the whole thing in about an hour. It was a nice little paddle.
* I hiked the EZ Black Jack trail and Black Jack Nature Trail - both are quite short but give you a good idea of the local vegetation.

MINUS:
* it can get very busy at Tyler state park. It's popular with locals, groups (there were several youth groups there the weekend I went), and is a destination park for many Texans.

If I go back I want to stay in Group 1 Area - lots of really nice wooded sites, number #13 is bigger and more private than the others. Lucky 13!

Looks like campground was recently repaved. Area 3 is all nice, level pull throughs that will almost all fit a big rig. It was 17 degrees our first night here so the full hookups were nice.
Park host was in next campsite, very nice. People at office were also great. Heavy park police presence for some reason I can’t understand. They must be handicapped though, they stay in their trucks and drive around.
Lots of nice, easy, short walking trails. Pretty and I’d stay here again, but I bet most weekends you need a reservation.
It was very quiet when I was here.

Wow, this is a really nice park! Located just north of Tyler and I-20, it feels worlds apart from the hustle and bustle. It is quite large, hilly, and scenic with beautiful pines and hardwood trees, creeks, and a gorgeous lake. It offers camping, picnicking, hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, playgrounds, and boating. For boating, you can launch your own, or rent one from the park store, which offers canoes, kayaks, pedal boats, and jon boats. The store also offers souvenirs as well as limited camping supplies and groceries. The park has scenic roads for vehicles and road bicycles, as well as 13 miles of trails for hikers and mountain bikers. It also has many structures that were built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. There are a wide range of accommodations ranging from tent sites with water only, all the way up to full hookup RV sites, screened shelters, and mini-cabins. Some sites are very level, while others have a slope. There are lots of ants in the campsites which invaded our RV after a few days. Also, a raccoon came through each camp looking for food each evening. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, you may hear a little traffic noise from the nearby highways. Water and electric supplies are good, however the power did go out for about 17 hours after a storm. On the technology side, we received about 30 over-the-air TV stations, 4G LTE cell phone service from Verizon, and Wi-Fi internet from the park, although it was slow at times. While all the sites are quite nice, our favorite area is the Lakeview tent and trailer camping area. It is right on the shores of the lake, has great views, and is right on the Lakeshore trail, which is a very scenic and easy 2-mile loop around the lake.

Tyler State Park is a great park a few minutes north of Tyler, TX and IH 20. The park itself offers a lot of opportunity to hike, from easy to challenging. Camping in the fall provides a colorful landscape as the leaves change. Bring your fishing gear or kayak and take advantage of the beautiful lake within the park.

We camped in site 5 in Cedar Point, on the inside of the loop, with electricity/water hookups. The site had a pull-thru with plenty of space for my kids to kick the soccer ball around. Some sites on the outside had less space because of a shallow gully. Site 5 also had a very short walk to the always clean restrooms/showers and trash bin.

Any criticism I have about the park is that the showers for Cedar Point were dated. The shower only provided warmish water when I used them. I noticed a newer and nicer restroom/shower area at the Blackjack campsite, but that site is really prime for large groups camping together. The other criticism, outside the Park's control, was the morning noise. Starting early in the quiet of the morning, I could hear the traffic noise coming from the road next to the park.

We camped in the Big Pine campground for three nights with advanced reservations made 151 days prior to arriving to a full campground (and it stayed full). Firewood for sale (honor system $5 for 8 pieces) near Big Pine restroom/shower house. Big Pine pull-thru campsites are very close to campground road. Quiet park - slight Interstate 20 road noise.
Heavily wooded park. Very nicely stocked Park store where canoes, paddle boats and kayaks can be rented (life jackets provided at no cost).
Site #304 requires extra side-to-side leveling.
Park raccoons were aggressively friendly.
Very nice CAMPING WORLD in Tyler.

Our third night after picking up our 21' E-pro and driving back home was in east Texas at Tyler State Park. We arrived at 4:55pm and were rolling out at 11am, so it was a quick stay. We enjoyed LV215 that was lakefront, but be aware the patch of grass to side means people are using that to get to the lake. We even had people walking between our trailer and picnic table, which was not normal camping etiquette I have experienced over the years even as a tent camper or RV renter. Restrooms / showers were not what we have seen elsewhere so would mark it down a notch on these - could use some TLC. While we have our own facilities, it is something we peeked at anyway because we all know when camping it is sometimes nice to go get a shower in a little larger space. We had a quick rain shower, and because of the slope to the lake the site was definitely wet. The pad was not level - two large concrete blocks were there and we quickly learned they were to help with our leveling blocks. COVID had some things shut down but if we were there longer then we would have enjoyed the paddle boats (or hiking if if had not rained). Grabbed some chopped beef from the nearby Bodacious, which was quite pricey at $24/lb (I grew up nearby and definitely did not remember pricing like that, but that was decades ago). We loved the trees, small lake, views, and ease of getting into sites. Would not hesitate to return :)

Nice asphalt RV sites. Typical Texas State Park- excellent.

Great place. We brought kayaks and fishing gear and had a blast. Beware the aggressive raccoons that appear around 6 or 7pm looking for trash bags to rip open. They busted into our large plastic container because I had some old deer corn in it that I had forgotten about. There are signs telling campers to NOT feed the wildlife but we witnessed people doing it.

My only complaint is with the bathhouse. Only 2 of the 4 showers available and the bathrooms are not as clean as other state parks we’ve visited.

Great park. Only stayed 1 nite but would stay again. Site was a pull thru and level. 50 amp service with water and sewer. Nice trails and boat's available to rent. We also saw the Raccoon that others mentioned so keep your food and garbage in tight containers.