Best Tent Camping near Bowie, TX

68 year-old solo camper getting ready to travel around the country, car/tent camping primarily. Haven't really camped since 1973, so I drove out to Lake Ray Roberts for a one-night trial for some new gear and knock off the rust. 

This was a terrific choice – Hawthorn Area #9, wooded area, 4th on the path from the Hawthorn parking lot to the other nine campsites on this loop (150 steps from campsite to car and restrooms, a little over 100 yards). As most (maybe all) of the campsites here, this was walk-in to the campsite from a common parking lot.

I walked around the rest of this loop and the adjoining one (16-40). Each campsite had a tent pad, picnic table, fire pit and lantern post. Mine was one of the more private in that I couldn't see another picnic table. However, with the trees and in some places tall grass, I would rate most of the sites as private. 

The next morning there were about half-dozen deer roaming around the area between my camp and the parking lot. There was only one other car in the parking lot overnight and they camped in one of the other areas. One of the lots (I think it was #13) actually had lake front. Others had views of the water. 

Depending on exact location you could see the dam and except for a few hours of the deepest night you could faintly hear the drone of road noise. But the near-full moon lit the area so well I walked to my car about 4:30 in the morning without a light and could see very well – it was really nice and bright. 

The Isle du Bois unit is at the far southeast corner of the lake, near the eastern end of the dam. The Hawthorn area is one of the first sites from the entrance, maybe a 5-minute drive.

A few times a year, the City of Jacksboro opens its arms to an influx of campers and schools from around the state eager to see one of the unique reinactments at the historic location of Fort Richardson.

While you can visit during other times of the year, these times make for some of the most popular and thus most busy camping experiences.

7 different types of campsites are available including group sites, equestrian sites, full hook up and primitive sites for RV and tent campers. Sites range from $10-$25 depending on the area and amenities.

For someone like myself who prefers primitive tent camping or less amenities I found $10 tent sites were about a 3/4 mile hike in and $20 limited amenity campsites were my best options. The benefits to the $20 North Loop site was pretty obvious in restrooms and typical state park fire rings and picnic tables. Primitive sites include only fire rings and because of their remote location in warmer months can be more of a questionable location as taller grass can Harbor more snakes, specifically in this area Rattlesnakes and Copperheads.

These fees were in addition to standard park admission which is $3 per day for adults. All of these fees are due upon entrance at the entry station where you will be greeted by a park ranger and given a map.

While there is a lake, hiking and areas for horseback riding my focus upon my visit was one of the reinactments events held near Christmas. “Ghosts of Christmas Past” is an event set to showcase the period of the fort days and tell the story of how soldiers spent the time, what it might have been like on those cold winter nights and create a vision of fort life. It was a great educational visit and a great way to see a bit more of the State Park.

With this being a short drive for me from my home, I find this campsite and full facilities to be very exciting to return for other events. Well maintained and with friendly staff it is well worth the trip.

The campground is nice and well maintained and sites are fairly well spaced with lots of grass, trees and open areas. The park staff were very friendly and helpful. We were in site 78 for 5 days. Only a few of the sites in the Deer Ridge campground loop looked level, fortunately ours was one of them, but we saw one 5th wheel with the wheels on one side off of the ground by several inches and one Class A whose front wheels were 8-10 inches off the ground. AT&T coverage was fairly good here, generally between 1-3 Bars of LTE service, with speeds up to 4.5 MB/s. There is no WiFi, cable or sewer hookup and the dump station can get a little busy around checkout time. Restrooms and showers were clean and the shower was nice and hot. 

If you don’t already have one, you do have to purchase a Texas State Parks Pass for$70, which did add considerably to the cost of our stay. 

There are quite a few trails in the area.

The campground is nice and well maintained and sites are well spaced with lots of grass, trees and/or open areas. The park staff were very friendly and helpful. This was our second stay in site 78, this time for 4 days in late March. There is no WiFi, cable or sewer hookup at the camp sites and the dump station can get a little busy around checkout time and is a goodly distance from the CG if you plan to use a portable waste cart. Restrooms and showers were clean and the shower was nice and hot. There is a nice paved 2.25 mile trail through the CG and the surrounding area.

AT&T coverage was not as good as the last time we stayed here a couple of yeas ago, with generally 1 Bar of 5G service and speeds up to 1 MB/s. We had an unobstructed view of the sky and so we were able to receive all 3 SW Dish satellites and good Starlink coverage with speeds between 2.5 and 4 MB/s. We didn’t try to load any OTA channels. 

You do have pay a daily$7/person entrance fee or purchase a Texas State Parks Pass for$70 if you don’t already have one, which did add considerably to the cost of our stay.

There are two areas at Black Creek Lake that you can camp: this side, the improved side with amenities, and the back side, which does not have any amenities.

Typically you will find those wanting to camp on this side and those wanting to fish off the shore on the other side which has a gated entrance which is not always open.

This campground has restrooms and a gravel drive to access the grounds. You will find a small playground and picnic tables at this site as well as a public boat launch. A lot of people, depending the on the lakes level will also use this side for swimming.

This site is tent only primitive camping with an honor system at the kiosk for payment. $2 per nIght includes a fIre rIng and pIcnIc table at 14 official sites.

When I have been to thIs locatIon I have noticed a lot of small john boats launchIng especially durIng sprIng. There are birds, squirrels, raccoons and opossums which roam the grounds so I woukd advise against leaving food within reach at night.

During summer rattlesnakes are around in taller grass so avoid unmaintained areas. Most areas are well kept however there are outlying areas and some primitive trails which I would avoid during these times.

As a part of the LBJ Grasslands you will occasionally see someone patrolling the area however it is not as often as a National Park.

A unique marker of LBJ Grasslands is the green gates you will see, if you are entering this area you will notice the green gates and many times cattle guards if you are thinking you are entering this area but do not see one of these you are more than likely in the wrong area and because cell signal can be a little iffy out here this is a great way to have a landmark without access to online directions.

TIPS:

• Bring your own firewood for fire rings. Though there is plenty of downed wood in the area, sometimes it is not easy to break down and can be a bit difficult to keep inside the rings when to large. Better safe than sorry when it comes to wildfires.
• Bug Spray is a must!! For some reason there are HUGE mosquitos so make sure to remember your spray otherwise you will itching all night.
• Pack A Tarp.- I usually don't endorse needing a tarp to lay below your tent, but during certain times of year small burrs can be out in this area and a tarp can keep these from poking into your tent base and make for a more comfortable stay.
• Bring cash because the kiosk does not accept cards it is a cash only system with no ATM within 10 miles.

Very well kept area. Two restrooms. Each little camp site has its own picnic table and grill. On a Monday night there was only one person using the lake for fishing and one person camping in the shaded part. There is a little slide. Not very private at most of the tent sites. Although, I did see a fire ring out alone in the grass on the other side of the parking lot but it was in direct sun with no trees or shade nearby. There were two men working on the site. Its also pretty close (12 minute drive) the trails over at the lbj grasslands spot which is where we were staying for the night. We just popped over to black creek lake to check out the day usage and restrooms.

We enjoyed our overnight stay near the trailhead. We weren't sure about the accessibility to the trailhead road with our 23 foot travel trailer so we opted to stay off road 904, where the horse trailers park, since there were some nice flat spots. Since we were just staying overnight as we were traveling back to the Midwest we didn't check out the other options. We did call the park Ranger and he said the trailhead is a great place to camp and easy to access with a trailer. Our hot spot on our cell phone was slow since we only had a couple bars, but we were able to get our work done. I would stay here again. We enjoyed a nice hike in the morning before we headed out.