Our Tyler State Park Campsite

There are so many positive things about Tyler State Park in Texas, that it’s hard to know where to start.

The check-in process is quick and the park personnel are very friendly and flexible with the available sites.  If you don’t have a Texas Park Pass (we do), you will need to pay a daily park fee.  I highly recommend purchasing the state park pass.   if you have plans to stay (or do day trips) at any of the Texas State Parks for more than a week in a given year as that alone will make up for the cost of the pass.  If you are over the age of 65, and don’t want to buy a pass, you can get a free State Park Passport which will give you 50% off admission fees.

The availability of sites are based on the size of your travel trailer; some are too short for our 34′ trailer but there were plenty to pick from.  The sites may or may not be level, but none of the sites looked like they would be hard to find a way to level the trailer with a leveling block or two.  There are some large rocks and/or cement posts that border the camp sites so you will want to make sure you have clearance not only getting into, but also pulling out of your site.  Almost all the sites have large shade trees and cement pads with picnic tables.  The campground is beautifully maintained.

One of the best things about the travel trailer camping areas is that there are full hook up sites.  Given that the sites are so inexpensive, this is really a nice benefit.  Each camping area appears to have a host family which is nice touch should any issues arise.  We found the camping area to be very quiet and the way it was designed on the outer loop, to give a much more private camping experience than you might experience on the inner loop.

Looking down the loop in Tyler State Park

There is a swimming area that is well kept, with a nice sandy bottom and a floating platform.  We spent about an hour in the water cooling off one afternoon.  I was really surprised at how warm the water was,  and for a small lake it is also very clean.  You will want to be careful entering and exiting the swim area as the cement steps are rather slippery from algae.

Tyler State Parks swimming area

Next to the swim area is a store that has quite a bit to offer, including eggs…but unfortunately no milk!  If you have a State Pass you will get a 10% discount on whatever you buy at the store.

Next to the store, there is another park building where you can rent paddle boats, canoes, or row boats.

Tyler State Park – Boat rental area

There are plenty of trails around the park, so you can get your daily walk in easily.  However,  if your stay is in the summer months you may want to walk in the morning.  Our stay in late July had heat warnings for a few of the days, but in the shade it was bearable.

Don’t be surprised if you see Racoons crossing a trail in front of you;  or passing through your campsite; they seem pretty abundant here.  One morning Hannah and I were walking on the trail near the camper and seven Racoons crossed just ahead of us.  Later that afternoon a couple Racoons crossed the road just down from our campsite.  So if you are out walking your dog you may want to make sure you have a tight grip on the leash.

I’m very happy to report that although the AC unit ran almost nonstop late in the afternoon; it was comfortable inside the Trailer.  The temperature outside was in the upper 90’s with the heat index in the triple digits.  This is about what you would expect for late July in Texas.

In addition, our first outing with the satellite dish was almost flawless;  but we realized fairly quickly that we were going to need a longer coax, as 25′ just isn’t long enough.  If I need to put the dish on the opposite side and to the rear of the trailer, that is just not doable.  Keep in mind that you need to have enough coax to get the satellite out from under any trees.  The 25 feet of coax will not make that possible.

There is one other thing you need to know if you are using the DirecTV set up; you cannot exceed a total of 50 feet of coax running from your dish power converter.  This means if you move the power converter inside the trailer, you cannot have 50 feet of coax outside.  Is this confusing?  It seems to be for the DirecTV people too.   The point is that if you have the power converter next to your tv, it next has to run through the coax inside the walls of the trailer to the outside hook up.  For the sake of argument lets say the coax in the wall is 18 feet long.  Once you add the fifty feet of coax at the hook up you have exceeded your 50 foot limit.  This is because 18+50 = 68.  More about that in another post.

In short, Tyler State Park is a must visit campground.  It is incredibly beautiful and there is plenty to do if you are traveling as a family or by yourself.

Kendra on the trail – no better dog in the world

The post Tyler State Park, A Great Texas Campground appeared first on .

Tammy and I have always been pretty fond of campgrounds that offer large pull through sites with full hook up, cable, and WI-FI.  Of course those requirements come with a cost.  Sometimes the cost is not only dollar value but it may also be a site that you wouldn’t have stayed at if you had seen it before you checked in (sites placed too close together, horrible Wi-Fi, etc…).

Today most folks feel they need a lot of the extras when they travel.   However if you can see yourself surviving for a week without WI-FI, and cable TV, and using a dump station;  then you have greatly expanded the camping choices available to you.

We’ve found that the benefits of county campgrounds can sometimes outweigh the losses.  Many county parks have very large sites that are almost private.   The fees are much less, almost half the price of what you would pay at your standard chain campground.  In addition “Air” TV pulls most of the major channels and some additional ones that we enjoy watching.  Our TV at home records the programs we are addicted to.  So we can always get caught when we return home.

As you can see from the picture below, I think we had the nicest site at this county campground.  Not only was it secluded, the space was so large that it also allowed our Girls (the dogs) to enjoy a great deal of time outside.  At the price that some of these county campgrounds charge, you have to ask yourself; ” is this even a break even proposition for them”.  Between the upkeep of the campground, shelters, bathrooms, and the electricity and water;  I really don’t know how they do it.

County Campgrounds can be a nice surprise

Hannah County Campground

Kendra County Campground

It’s easy to stay for extended periods if you are willing to purchase a portable dump tank.  They are not horribly expensive and give you the flexibility to roll to the campground dump station occasionally.  We own the “Tote N Store” model below but there are many to chose from that make extended stays without sewer hook-up bearable.  If you’re really creative you can probably make your black tank last as long as your stay. That way you can just use the dump station as you leave the park.  However, this probably means you are going to use the county park’s bathrooms and showers.  You can always just use your own bathroom for the 2:00 AM bathroom breaks.

Apart from the county parks there are many great state parks that have excellent camping as well.  Many county and state campgrounds have an on-line presence.  They allow campers to book on-line and view a campground map.  This allows you to get a feel for what the campground is like before you commit to a stay.

We love the State and County Campgrounds and think you will too.

The post County Parks can be a nice surprise appeared first on .