Best Cabin Camping near Athens, TX

I should mention that my husband is from Canada. He was very unenthusiastic about camping in Texas. Well Tyler State Park made him change his mind! He LOVED the large trees, said it was the closest he'd felt to home in quite some time. We love the variety of types of sites they offer. Lake front, group, hike in, cabin, they have something for everyone! Only downfall is they book so quickly.

It being August in Texas, we rented a limited use cabin with air conditioning. It also has a mini frig and a microwave inside. It has a queen size bed for which campers need to bring their own pillows and bed linens. The frig was super cold, and the AC worked well. There was a wood table with four chairs. The table was really sticky, so I recommend bringing something you can use as a table cloth. There are only six of these cabins, and they have a four bathroom building at the end of the cul de sac. No tents or pets are allowed at the cabin sites. Each has fire pit and water outside cabin

The park has a very small lake with canoe, kayak, paddle board, row boat, and paddle boat rentals. Life vests are provided with rental. It was fun! There is a good sized swimming area too. There are a number of trails of varying difficulty, some for hiking only, some for home and bike. Ranger programs offered.

Ashley here from The Dyrt! We’re excited to have this new partner online. They are a working cattle ranch, event venue, and rustic cabin vacation rental property. Check them out and leave them some love!

This is my favorite state park in Texas! Lots of options for all kinds of campers. For camping, lots of different sites available for RVs/Campers, Tents, etc. some along the lake, some in the woods, and also cabins and shelters available! Hiking options vary from a nature stroll, to some more serious up-downs through the hills on the outskirts of the campground. Bring your friends, family, and pets, there is truly something for everyone here, even kayak and canoe rentals at the lake!

Super nice staff and full saturday breakfast (eggs/bacon/pancakes/coffee etc--extra fee, but very reasonable!)

Pool, jump pad, playground, trike rentals, Rock/gem mining slough, movies/events, etc.

Sites are level pull-through sites and most have a clear view of the playground, which gives the kids a sense of freedom.  They have cabins and cool teepees as well, but have only ever camped in RV here.

Have been camping here in the summers and both Easter & Halloween weekends and they do easter egg/candy hunts and have other events for the kids/kids at heart.

We love coming here and the staff are always very kind to us. (photos on this review are during the halloween event--we decorated our campsite lol)

We we’re staying in a cabin with a plumbing issue. We were able to move to another cabin and Kevin and Chris were really helpful.

The camp sites were small, with full hookup’s! We had a great time here with our family camping next to us and some friends rented a cabin, which was very nice! The kids liked the trampoline and the hay ride around the camp!

We have really enjoyed our time here at Texan RV Park while attending the RV Fundamentals Course at the NRVTA. The manager, Betty made herself available to assist with any problem 24/7. The park itself is immaculate. There are 2 ponds, cabins, a clubhouse laundry, beautiful showers. There are food trucks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Activities nearly everyday. Everyone that stays here is attending a class, so everyone visits with each other. I really really like it here.

This pretty park is beautifully treed with tall pines. The camp areas nearby the lake they are more open. Farther away, they have more trees. There are regular camp sites, shelters and cabins and great hiking trails of 1-5 miles or so, one built by the CCC. There is a small store where you can buy things you might have forgotten at home, plus they rent paddleboards, kayaks and peddle boats or you can bring your own. The swimming area is near the store, there are also a couple of docks to fish off of. The lake is small and no-wake.

Park location is ideal Lake is beautiful many big trees! But roads are terrible, spaces are unlevel, with no uniform length! As usual for Thousand Trails never enough 50amp hookups. There was suppose to be a laundry, no laundry.! There is a propane station, but no one is licensed to operate it! That turned out to be a huge problem. Biggest ice and snow storm in 70yrs temperatures down to -2degrees below freezing for several days several inches of snow. All park water lines froze, rolling blackouts by the state, no propane available anywhere!!! Good thing my unit has a generator or I would have had to stay in my truck! I like to use Thousand Trails but they are not keeping their parks up. Park employees were helpful as they could be with very little resources. They gave me a bottle of propane from one of the cabins which was nice, and I appreciated that. They gave some to other campers, but there werent enough to go around. The park employee felt bad for not being able to help everyone! I will come back again in the summer.

We visited here for a weekend get away with friends and their families. We all have young kids and had a blast, playing at the sandy beach on the lake and just enjoying some play time around the campsites

Great spot found a week out from trip. Just wanted to spend a night there to check it all out . Great trails and swimming area. The shop was closed while I was there and the boat rentals as well . Be careful for raccoons saw a lot of them while here !

Enjoyed the other TX camping areas but tall pines and "isolated" lakes are my go to! Several camping areas. The primitive area I was in had water spigots at each site. Nearby shower houses. Friendly staff and well maintained. Lakeside or in the woods, your choice. Biker Mecca, nice bike trail. Yaking anyone? Didn't bring yours, they have rentals:)

Water is clear and great for swimming, which is a rarity in Texas. Camp has kayaks to rent and a great playground. Lots of camp activities and great hiking. Clean bathrooms!

Well designed park, while the park has tons of sites they are placed in smaller loops, providing a more nature and less neighbor. Nice lake, the water is cleaner than most Texas lakes.

This park was one of the most beautiful places I have ever camped in East Texas. The hiking and biking trails are amazing. The lake is super clear and very pretty. I will definitely be going back here!

Great spot in the Piney woods of East Texas. Minutes from Tyler State park. Perfect spot for large families or groups. Amenities are not fully finished till summer, but there will be a great number of improvements such as water park, warming tub and restaurant.

I have been to Tyler State Park many times my last adventure there included a group of teardrop and vintage trailers. We kind of took over the whole park. Great little lake for kayaking and canoeing. Several docs for fishing which I didn't have much luck at the last trip. It's a nice Pinetree lined little parked in East Texas near Tyler.

PROS 

Texas State Park Pass discount saving $49 

Reserved 151 days prior to arriving 

Not charged a fee to make my own on-line reservation 

Big Pine site #308 very shady site 

Extra wide asphalt parking pad 

Concrete slab that locked down the wooden picnic table 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate which was cleared of ash upon our arrival 

2 hook lantern pole 

Dark sky friendly 

Trash dumpsters near the toilet/shower building 

Tyler Rose Garden features over 30,000 bushes and is open free to the public from sunrise to sunset…very beautiful and serene 

CONS 

Had to sweep for nearly an hour to clean debris from site 

No entrance gate locked overnight 

Never saw any rangers patrolling campground during our entire stay 

Dogs on leashes not enforced 

Unable to move picnic table 

Big Pine site #308 way out of being level but manageable 

Big Pine site #308 close to campground road 

Big Pine site #308 tight fit for 28 ft 

Only pine firewood for sale in Park 

No WiFi 

1 bar Verizon 5G

We had a good time here, nice campsite, pretty treeline right behind our campsite. The raccoons are a riot though. They all came out at once and kind of pushed us into the tent. They weren't aggressive or anything, but you know. We went out on a boat on the lake, that was fun. The lake isn't very big though, but it was still a fun time. Make sure to bring a watch, they didnt have any at the little shop ( I was scared to bring my phone)! I will say though that it was kind of pricey? This was a while ago and we stayed 2 nights, I remember it being like 60$. We had the water and electric campsite. Nothing special and only me and the boyfriend (with texas liscence plates). Should not have been that much imo, and I've told people and they think it's crazy too. Just make sure to check the website before you drive all the way out there and spend way too much money. It is pretty though and peacful.