Best Glamping near Athens, TX

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.

We brought our Springdale Mini by Keystone to The Boulders for our first ever camping trip and could not have had a better experience. The grounds were clean and well maintained. Concrete sites made setup and leveling super easy. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful - when we mentioned it was our first trip, they guided us into our site and gave us tips on setup. The waterfront views were beautiful and the amenities were wonderful. They had a variety of rentals available - golf carts, kayaks, and pontoon boats. They offer boat ramp and docks and a fishing barge. The bait shop has a variety of supplies and snacks. The bathrooms were very clean. They also have a nice playground. The picnic tables at the sites looked new and all sites had a fire pit with a grill top. Overall, a great trip!

Other info: 30&50 amp hookups Water hookup Dump site only ($15 for honey wagon) Pet allowed Firewood available for purchase Cabins available for your camperless friends

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

Reserved on-line 153 days prior to arrival. 

Pros 

Area 2 campground night sky friendly with good dark sky viewing

Site 211 has fantastic views of the lake

Mid afternoon Sunday check in at entrance station very busy but processed quickly Utility hookups in good condition 

Sites with grass neatly maintained 

Campground mostly quiet except for Interstate 20 traffic noise 

Showers were individual entry on opposite side of the building from the toilets 

Campsite and entrance fee discount with Texas State Park Pass 

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

EXXON station directly outside of State Park sold oak firewood 25 pieces for $20 

Cons 

Raccoons very aggressive and tried to take food that we were eating from our hands!!! Area 2 Lakeview sites require leveling side-to-side 

Area 2 campsite parking pads are narrow with trees and large boulders close to parking pad. 

ery narrow roadway in Area 2 with limited space to maneuver into backin sites. 

One pull-thru site was so tight to the roadway, their trailer was partially on the road! Area 2 campground sites have no privacy from any other camp sites 

Site 211 table, fire pit with cooking grate and lantern pole are located opposite side of the trailer door 

Area 2 restroom/shower building serves 58 campsites and it shows it! Restroom facility badly needing some TLC, cleaning and maintenance Women’s restroom had 3 toilets and 2 sinks; men’s had 2 toilets and 1 urinal 

Firewood for sale in Area 2 was only pine wood

We spent an entire month, as we typically do, in Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park in Terrell, Texas. There is a lot to really like about this campground. We would definitely stay here again.

Pros:

• The park was clearly being maintained

• The basketball /tennis courts had just been resurfaced

• Anytime someone left, or a spot was empty, new gravel was being dumped and leveled

• Even though closed for Covid, the pool was cleaned daily.

• There's a small dog park area.

• Doggie bags were provided in multiple places, and ample trash cans in which to drop them.

• Sufficient WiFi repeaters throughout the CG

• The grass is kept mowed down, good to avoid those Texas stickers getting in your shoelaces.

• All but one staff member was really friendly.

• Package receiving was well handled and painless.

• Each visitor, even short term like us, gets a mailbox. You can go in 24/7 and check it.

• There's a "swap area" where people leave magazines, etc. (Near the mailboxes.)

• There's a nice little pond you can fish in, catch-and-release only, no license required.

• LOTS of room to walk the dog!

• There's ample overflow parking and trailer storage space so you don't have to crowd your campsite.

• Laundry facility on site, we didn't utilize it since we have a W/D in the rig.

• Bulletin board for posting things, we bought our W/D from another person at the campsite!

• Park was pretty quiet while we were there. No ruckus or loud people. Folks walked around, talked a bit.

• They have Good Sam and Passport American discounts available.

Cons:

• You're really close to I-20, you will hear the road noise. Only trucks are loud. (We did hear a blowout, scared me to death!)
• The WiFi, while available, is really slow. When you connect, they track usage by hardware MAC address. Use too much, you get blocked and have to ask to be allowed back on.* There are some boggy areas you have to watch for near the pond. (Don't step on the thousands of crawfish towers!)
• The road is in fairly bad shape, leading into the park. They could really use a road company out there to fix it.
• There are some rigs that appear more"permanent" with stairs, patio furniture, that sort of thing. But none were run-down looking.
• When it rains, some of the driveways do get muddy.  The gravel replacement helps.

Other:

• There are a LOT of Tiny Houses that have been put on the property. They all looks really new, well maintained.
• The staff appears to reserve some spots near the front for folks coming in for a day or two to a week.  It was NOT all permanents by any means.

I visited the Shortleaf camping area in the Tyler State Park for the weekend to participate in a 50k trail race. Each campsite in this area has a sheltered cabin, picnic table, fire pit and 2 parking spots. Tent camping is also permitted on the site but I used my iKamper Roof Top Tent as my primary place to sleep. The sheltered cabin has screens on the windows to keep the bugs out and electricity. I used this area primarily for storage of the food & gear that I used during the weekend. My campsite was located at the bottom of a hill and had a path to the restrooms and showers. These facilities were very clean and had 2 shower stalls and 3 toilet stalls along with 2 sinks. This location had access to the lake via a short hike. This type of camp site is the best of both worlds, you can camp via tent/car and still have a cabin like experience via the sheltered cabin. 

In September it is still pretty warm in Tyler, humidity was 100% when I visited without rain. I'll visit again in October when the cooler temps arrive and undoubtable have an even better experience.