Best Tent Camping near Canadian, TX

When driving through this section of Oklahoma I was pleasantly surprised to have found this FREE campsite.    The area looks pretty flat with only rolling hills then you take a turn and the land really opens up here with the lake and the views are quite impressive for this region.

I stopped in on a very windy day and the water was to choppy to have been any good for recreation despite having a fishing pier and boat ramp.    It was even a bit strong to enjoy exploring the trail that was on the far side of camp.    I checked out the upper area of the grounds near the day use area and tent camping area then made my way to the pull in sites located a bit before the main lake area, these were much more sheltered from the winds and pleasant.  

Each site had access to picnic tables, fire rings and lantern hooks in this area although the layout itself was still very reminiscent of a tent site with parking then open spaces for placement.  You couldn't pull in next to the tables.  Parking varied with some places appearing much more level than others. 

The red dirt of Oklahoma transfers everywhere I will say that, so if you are visiting when it is muddy, be prepared to be tracking it inside your rig or your tent.   It does stain so keep that in mind!  

For me this ended up being a great place to enjoy a night in the quiet, no noise and very few people in the day use or camp area.    It was well maintained, the restrooms were clean vault toilets and I noticed that there were a few centrally located trash cans available.

The map and recreation area/campground is actually Dead Water Lake. Is you turn to the left after entering, you'll get a lot with parking barriers so only tent camping. Go straight and you'll find plenty of spots to park for a pop-up or RV. It's very peaceful and beautiful. The crickets and an occasional bullfrog will sing you to sleep.

Very quiet, we were the only people in the campground the 3 nights we were there. They had water and 30 Amp service but no dump stations. The cost is 20.00 a night for an RV, but tent camping is free. The grounds were well kept and mowed, very clean. There is traffic as people drove through the site but no one stayed overnight. Nice place to get away.

At this campground it seems like the park itself was first in mind then the actual camping options. While the space is pretty vast there is little to no shade and the electrical connection boxes look pretty wonky. Some of the sites look like they pretty much are on top of one another and there isn't really a lot of room to spread out. Picnic tables and fire rings are absent from the individual sites and it seemed more of a place just to stop than a place to really enjoy.

The park itself was pretty nice, large pavilion, basketball courts, walking trail with a lake and playground. It was kind of sad to think that the campground just seemed disjointed from the attention to detail.

Then there was the proximity to the stadium which is just behind the campground. I couldn't imagine pulling into this site on a Friday and then having the noise of the stadium right there along with all the extra traffic and parking which finds its way into the lot you are calling a place to stay. There is no division from this.

This site is by far more designed for RV traffic even though it does have a sign saying tents can stay there as well. I wouldn't want to try to do so however because it doesn't seem like it would be anything near what I personally like or expect from a tent site.

TIPS:

• If you are in a larger rig. you will want to use one of the sites closer to the stadium that area a bit longer. Closer to the water the sites appear shorter and like van sites.
• Check the football schedule before dropping in on a Friday otherwise you might be quite disappointed.
• Get a discount for camping on a weekday when it is only $15 a night as opposed to $20.

Decided to head here for a solo camping trip, it did not disappoint I will say the think to be aware of currently is the Canadian goose population, they can be a hair aggressive when they have younglings.

We van life and stayed here for 5 days and it was magical! Quiet and peaceful the entire stay. Only one other camper besides myself and my boyfriend. Max stay is 14 days. Great, scenic picnic tables right by the lake, lots of space for tents, vault toilets (no showers) and totally free! Enjoy!

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More of a tent area. Nicely mowed entrance and the campsites looked great. The grasslands are well defined by the mowing. Looks great. Campsites are just short distance from the main road. There is a pit toilet (bring your own TP), water, trash, covered picnic table, fire ring. There is a nice small lake so be ready to put the yaks in the water. Beautiful mature trees with long, low branches just make for climbing but I thought I was a bit old for that. Verizon is pretty good.

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The grass along the entrance is mowed and looks great with the back drop of the Oklahoma grassland. The road in is paved and also in the campground. You will find a picnic table, fire ring, pedestal grill, trash, pit toilet. Nice mature trees that offer a lot of shade. Large parking area where you can park an RV or grassy area for a tent. I think this would fill up quick during the hunting season. Nice small lake or large pond however you look at it. Looks great for fishing. 

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We were the only ones to stay here for the night. A very beautiful place. Came in at night and just parked and set up tents where we could. You could see lots of stars at night and there was little sound of traffic. Very clean, and had bathrooms and trash cans as well. Colors of the land are very nice as well. In the Morning a park worker came in around 1030 to clean the bathrooms and change trash. I also explored a little more and found a lake over the hill. Easy park to access, roads are good to get to it. Good service with Verizon as well

Located on one of the last remaining stretched of Route 66 in Texas. This is a nice campground just outside of Shamrock TX, on the panhandle, about 10 miles from the Oklahoma line. They have Full Hookups, with 30 & 50 amps, Long Pull-Thru sites, Free Wi-Fi, a Dog Run, Laundry, Play Area. There is also a Souvenir Shop with Route 66 memorabilia. There was only one shower when we were there, so be sure to lock the door! It does look like they are adding more. There was not much shade, but in late May it was still pleasant, and there is a steady breeze, which felt good after 2 days of rain. The sites are also very close together. Our neighbors were practically sitting in our site when we arrived. One interesting item is the storm shelter. I guess in tornado county it could be helpful. They also gave a menagerie of farm animals: goats, sheep, chickens, cows and a donkey.

The shower was cold and lacked water pressure but besides that it’s a nice place, there was trash at my cite, run down older park but that’s just this area. Nice place to visit if ur passing through

Clean, well kept beautiful park. Has several campground with most spaces well spaced. Unique placement of RV spots. Boating, swimming, hiking, playgrounds, bathrooms, store, showers. Lots of wildlife. Even has a donkey welcoming committee. 😀

Off the highway a few miles but woeth the drive.

I stayed here in November originally and it "seemed" like a hunting camp (but isn't). You can stay for 14 days. Open all year. Bathrooms, drinking water, and trash. The area is stunning. I didn't have cell reception until I drove out onto the main road (sos only w/ unboosted att). Last time I was here I did get service in the park after resetting the network. There's a lake, boat launch, and walking trail (didn't use during hunting season). Soooo beautiful.

The parking lot is large, and the pit toilets here are actually really nice, as far as pit toilets go. It is February, so I can't comment on how they will be in the summer. We were the only ones here all night, again, being winter probably contributed to that. The lake is pretty, and we heard some coyotes or wolves howling at some point during the night. Other than that, very quiet and a great place to stay overnight!

We stayed at this campsite on our journey across North America it provided a perfect oasis in the middle of the Rollinghills of Oklahoma it’s about 30 minutes from elk city if you enjoy Route 66 history the campsite itself has two spots for RVs up to 35 feet no electrical hook ups there’s vault toilets that are very clean there’s an additional parking for 10 to 15 cars there’s a fishing pier there are picnic tables and campfires for everyone we came here because it was a review that also said it was good Verizon connectivity there is not we had zero far as Verizon T-Mobile had two bars using a booster we had threeAnd our movie Wi-Fi kicked butt on T-Mobile there’s food available for purchase at a few towns but they’re at least 30 minutes away so come prepared there is clean water potable water there’s a small lake and a small trail you can wipe up walk around we came here also looking for the prairie chicken a danger chicken that is native to the species the photos we saw made it look a lot more arid then it was it was a lush oasis in the middle of the rolling fields

We were able to overnight in the parking lot next to the lake which was nice. There were no “rules” so generators were running all night which was a bummer.

We stopped by on a weekday. Sights were off to the side from a communal parking lot. Trash & recycling collection. Some trash in the fire pits. It is a ways from gas so make sure you fill up before heading out

Listen, it's a day use area that you just so happen to be allowed to camp in. Its free. There's water and a pit toilet. The lake is pretty. Not going to do better for free and in this stretch of country.

Only stayed a night but arrived around 6pm on a Friday and only one other camper was there. Ended up being about 4 spots used by the end of the evening but was spacious enough to feel apart from everyone. Toilets were cleaned and pretty quiet stay. I have AT&T and had good reception. Not every spot has a fire ring but I’d say about half do. Some have little fire stoves instead of rings. Would definitely come back!

We went to the furthest site on the paved road that had two picnic tables available on site. This site was clean but the adjacent sites had lots of garbage left behind including burned bean cans. Still a great site and very close to the water. Listened to fish jump out of the water most of the night which was wonderful.

Plenty of deadfalls for firewood and the fire pits were fine to use. Very quite all night and hardly any traffic. The road leads right to each site with just a short few yards of a walk to the actual tables and fire pit.

Free public bathrooms available that seemed a bit unkept but smelled nice. All in all a great quiet night, wonderful wildlife sounds and plenty of dry wood for roasting hotdogs!

We stopped here to stay overnight while traveling through. It was a cute, out of the way spot. It was a very hot (99 degrees October 11th) and very windy late afternoon. There were tons of flies. The picnic table had animal droppings. As we car camp, we felt we would not be comfortable given the conditions. We decided to relocate.

We stayed here for one night in a cross country camping road trip. There seem to be two places to camp- one is on a small loop on the left after you enter the property and the other is if you continue straight instead of turning left there are spots by the lake. When we were there there were signs saying “for day use only” by the lake so we stayed in the first loop to the left. This loop had around 6 camping sites and one group site. (By the lake has around 6 sites dispersed.) This review is based off of staying in the first loop. Both had vault toilets and a dumpster. I did not see any water. There was no view of the lake from the first loop but there were stairs up to the top which was a nice view. Agree with a previous reviewer that they should change the name on the plaque. When we were there we were the only campers in either area.

Pros: isolated, free, there are trees surrounding the small loop that keep you protected.

Cons: you can hear trucks going by on the main road, the vault toilets were super ripe, almost all sites were on an incline, there were flies (although not an excessive amount), if it was busy there wouldn’t be much privacy between sites (the area is surrounded by trees and a hill but there were many trees between sites), there was a small amount of trash from previous campers.

Fine for staying one night.

On a Friday night, we were the only folks camping at Skipout Lake. It was beautiful weather. This shelterbelt definitely saved us from some high winds. If you can mind the fire ants and pick up a few pieces of trash, this place is a gem. Wonderful trail, first class dock to fish from, beautiful wildflowers, potable water, vault toilet, boat ramp.