Best Tent Camping near Bagwell, TX

I found this campground through a US army core website, and the details at that website did not turn out to be very accurate. Both loops at Pat Mayse East Campground showed to have bathrooms, which I assumed meant flush toilets and sinks, since the map also had an icon for vault toilets and this was not used. Both loops actually do have vault toilets and no running water. The campground seems set up pretty well for RVs; there were a lot of rv hookups for water and electric. There are also basic tent sites, picnic tables and metal fire rings. Water spigots are placed throughout so access is not difficult. You have your choice of sunny areas or more forested. Some spots are tightly packed in, but others are on the outside of the loop and seem like they'd be pretty quite. I wasn't overly impressed on the whole.

This place is terrific! Awesome view, abundant wildlife (we had a bald eagle perched across the cove from us for two days, when he wasn’t flying up and down the channel) and very peaceful. Fish from your tent pad if you wish because most are within 15 feet from the water.

We are seasoned tent campers so my review is based off of the Bluejay Tent Camping Loop at Stevens Gap. Each site is directly on the lake and has a level tent pad, a fire ring, a picnic table on a concrete slab, a barbecue grill and a lantern hanger. We were there the day after Memorial Day and the weather stayed in the mid 60’s to mid 70’s. Perfect hammock weather! Plenty of pines and even some oaks for shade. The marina is about a half mile to the East but all of the big boats go East from there so there was hardly any boat traffic except for a few kayaks and canoes. The only downside was the vault toilets, which I normally don’t mind, were terrible. Maybe because of the holiday weekend previous, but nonetheless, they were foul. The ones about a mile up the loop were fine so I don’t know why. I would have given four stars if not for that.
Town is just 10 minutes away with food and entertainment so it was very conveniently located. We hope to return there soon!

The South Sulphur campground is about half an hour north of Interstate 30. It’s under a 2 hour drive from the DFW area so, I find it’s a nice weekend getaway. I camped here on a Sunday to Monday and it was very quiet. I was one of only 5 campers in the Deer Haven section (aside from the 3 camp hosts). I’m giving the park 5 stars but this is based on my experience of having camped here when there were few campers around. I image this place could be loud and busy on a weekend.

There are many shaded lakeside sites in the Deer Haven section. I stayed at site 68. The site was on a cul de sac so there was no campground to the one side. However, the site located on the other side was close. This would be a great spot for 2 camping families to share. The concrete pad at site 68 was level and shaded by a beautiful, mature oak tree. I could walk from the pad to the lake. It would be a great site to put out a kayak, but unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate on my stay. So I didn’t get to kayak. I did see deer who ventured in from the wooded area next to the campsite.  Deer Haven lived up to its name!

Electric and water hookups were good as were the restroom/shower facilities, which seemed climate controlled because it felt cooler and less humid inside than outside. This usually isn’t the case in these buildings.

A big storm blew in around dinner time. The wind was fierce and blowing out of the north across the almost 20,000 acre lake! I actually called the ranger to find out if I needed to evacuate. The ranger was very responsive and reassuring. Luckily, there were no tornados warnings, so I weathered out the storm and woke to a beautiful crisp morning.

This park is huge and there is much to do. Cabins, shelters, primitive walk in sites, equine sites, a beach, several boat ramps, hiking trails, playgrounds and a fishing pier. I didn’t get to see a fraction of it, but I’ll be returning. 

I stopped in the town of Sulphur Springs on my way back to DFW. The town has a nice historic town square and makes for an interesting side stop.

Beavers Bend State Park is a incredible beautiful state park hidden in the southeastern corner of the state. We planned our trip and reservation process on the TravelOK.com website which I highly recommend reserving in advance because this place fills up fast. We ended up reserving a premium RV site 5 in Acorn and our 5th wheel fit perfect. This site is a back in site with the river directly behind the site. Site consists of 1 fire pit, 1 picnic table and barbecue pit. The hookups consist of water and 30/50 amp electric. The road is on a one way loop with shower, bathroom and trash containers within walking distance. Trails are also within close proximity and vary in elevation be prepared and bring water and pick up a map from the ranger station. With that said the place is green for a reason and very humid during the warmer months but if you want to cool off check out the swimming area or rent a Kayak or paddle boat. We were told that the most popular time to visit is during the fall due to the color change just remember reserve ahead time and happy camping!

PROS 

Senior discount saved $20 

Each site has unobstructed lake view 

Site 67 level concrete pad surrounded by sandy soil with afternoon only shade 

Climate controlled toilet/shower facility 

Clean toilet/shower facility which are cleaned every weekday morning 

2 sand lot volleyball courts 

Small pier shared by every two campsites 

Metal picnic table, pedestal BBQ grill and concrete fire ring with no cooking grate. 

Fairly quiet during daytime weekdays except for neighboring campers 3 sites away who had their INSIDE television blaring that we could hear every word. This went on for 7 hours daily. 

Local police did regular daylight drive thrus 

Hundreds of squirrels 

Could hear whippoorwills after sunset 

Had a float plane land and then take off right in front of our campsite (see video)

Park had WIFI but didn’t use due to having 4 bars TMOBILE 

CONS 

Minimal pay/stay 3 nights

$5 fee to make on line reservations 

Had to email copy of Texas Drivers License to Water District in advance of making reservation in order to get Senior discount 

No security gate closed overnight 

No camp host 

Campers let their dogs run thru campsites and poop everywhere 

Big problem with day users and boaters walking thru campsites, even after dark, picnicking and partying late into evening in campsites where there were no campers/tenters, then leaving at all hours of the night 

LOTS of middle of the night boat noise 

Street lights throughout campground which hinders dark sky viewing 

No privacy from any other campsite 

Site picnic table anchored so not moveable

This is a beautiful park and every campsite is lakefront. 30/50amp, water and tent sites. They do have a dump station. They also have a large pavilion that can be rented that have picnic tables. There is a boat ramp in the park. The lake is great for skiing, ect. The only negative thing is that there are two buildings that have bathrooms on opposite sides of the park. Each have 2 bathrooms and a shower. The shower is motion controlled but the water is warm/hot quickly. If you don’t have a bathroom in your setup then make sure you’re close to the bathrooms. Otherwise, you’ll have quite a walk.

All the sites have a picnic table, fire ring,plenty of shade and its own pier. I will be back!