Best Tent Camping near Dallas, TX

Since the primitive tent sites are down due to flooding, we set up our tent on a nice RV spot near the lake (site 9). If you drive around, you’ll find some good spots like this for tent camping. A little expensive at $30 per night, but it was still worth it. Pretty water. Gorgeous sunset. Good fire pit. Running water and electricity was nice.

Only complaint: our neighbors a couple sites down were blasting music until 1am. Not a peaceful experience for sleeping. I wish the park attendants would have stopped them sooner, as the official quiet time is 10pm. Otherwise, excellent spot!

Absolutely no tent camping. Read this.... NO TENT camping.

Excellent tent camping right next to Lake Lewisville.

Overnighted here returning home from a longer trip. It was okay for what I was doing, but I would never choose to camp here as a destination as a tent camper.

Activities: looking at the lake, bringing a boat to put in the lake, fishing. Seemingly nothing else to do.

Accommodations: clearly geared towards RVers. Each of those sites have water, electricity, and a sewer connection, with a covered cement pad with a grill, a table, and other relevant features. The few tent camp sites were shoved seemingly randomly between and around the RV sites. At my particular site, the concrete pad and picnic table were cracked and seriously damaged, and few grill was rusty enough to be almost unusable. The fire pit and ground of the rest of the site were littered in bits of trash ranging from things like food wrappers, pieces of plastic hangers, and my personal favorite - a construction nail.

The only bright light of this camp experience for me? The bathrooms. Each bathroom ( 2 per building) was a single occupant bathroom with a locking door. In the bathroom was a sink, a toilet, a hand dryer, and a shower with two nozzles at different heights (tall and short). The appliances were stainless steel, and the bathrooms were clearly excellently maintained. The bathrooms also had automatic lighting, an exhaust fan, and what appeared to be a tiny space heater for colder months. The showers had hot water, and the drains in the floor were sufficient at getting all the excess water out of there quickly.

In summary, if you have an RV and/or a boat and love to do things on the water, this is probably a fine campground. If you are taking a tent, I'd avoid this campground.

Lots of good tent sites both on the water or a short hike to it.

If you’re looking for somewhere off the grid that is truly primitive, then this is not the place for you. If you don’t mind other people nearby, then you may enjoy your time here. Great docks for fishing. Beautiful water views, if you camp next to the water. Tent camping sites with electrical hookups are piled next to each other pretty close, so if you’re getting a tent electrical site you had better not mind getting friendly with your neighbors. Also, when it rains some of the tent electrical camp sites fill with water. However, if this happens the front office is more than willing to work with you and give you a refund or switch your site. There is a lot of wildlife roaming around - lots of deer! The primitive camp sites by the docks that overlook the water are beautiful. There is a concrete slab, picnic table, and fire pit at each primitive site. If you want to throw up a hammock, some of the primitive sites have trees that are the perfect distance apart for that - but be aware some of these trees are covered in poison ivy! The primitive sites are all close by to other types of campers, so it is never quiet and you can hear people at all hours of the day/night for the most part. Where we stayed by the water, we were next to an RV site. The other primitive camping sites also seem to be near RV sites and electrical tent sites, according to the map. If you camp near the water, it is very windy, especially at night, so make sure to bring plenty of blankets! Are you ever really on your own here: no. Are there beautiful views: yes. Is it truly primitive: no. Will you be taken care of: yes. All sites are open, with no big trees or shrubs to give privacy. You can see your neighbors and they can see you, even at the primitive sites. It would be a good place to bring a family or children for sure. I will say, the customer service at the main office is outstanding. They have anything you could think of for sale there, which is a huge plus. It is highly likely that you won’t need to drive into town for anything. Workers drive around with trash bags every day to ensure everyone is disposing of trash properly, and will give you free trash bags if you don’t have any, which is nice. All in all it depends on what you’re looking for, whether you choose to come to this camping location or not. We enjoy going here just to get away from the house and enjoy the beauty of the lake/nature for a bit. Although, I do wish there was more privacy. Everything is too close together, in my opinion.

I tent camped here one night with my friend. Our site was perfect for us. It was close to the restrooms and privacy from others was great. Views of the lake were beautiful! I recommend if you just need to get out of your house for a bit!

Easy reservation process on recreation.gov. Stayed in the tent section for $10 a night. Each tent site has a picnic table and fire pit. Water was off when we were here. Trash cans are conveniently located (throw your trash away!) Relatively large park for being in the city. Good hiking trails and a boat launch. Shopping and restaurants so close, DoorDash delivers here!

RV sites have water and 50/30 amp electric and there are 12 tent sites. We had a nice view of Lake Lavon. Grills and tables vary by site, some are very old, but many have been replaced. There are trees- some large enough to provide some shade if desired, but most small enough to allow satellite reception. The sites are well spaced and are"mostly" paved with aging asphalt. The roads are in need of repair, with numerous potholes, some very large, but the attendant did say that the park was on the CoEs list for repairs. There is a dump station just outside the entrance. The entry gate is locked from 10PM to 6AM, so plan accordingly if leaving the park, lest you park outside and walk back to your site. Overall, this is a good value, and one of the few non-RV park options in the greater Dallas area.

We brought our small family of four out to tent camp for the first time this last weekend. I really enjoyed how well kept the grounds were and did love the open space between sites and the water, giving lots of space for the kids to play. Really pretty views. And despite the close together sites, I did still feel like it was peaceful and every one was respectful of one another.

Look, I found this campground by total accident following signs. There is so much construction around Lewisville Lake it is difficult to get where you want to go. There are better parks around Lewisville Lake like Pilot Knoll Park.

This is mostly for RV's and camper trailers. There are a few tent sites near the beach but you are surrounded by baseball fields and city parks. It has a shower house and a laundry facility, but the campsites are stacked on top of each other.

The campground staff was very helpful.

Camping amongst the llamas was a dream come true! It was everything we hoped for- and more! You can tell Judy does this for the love of llamas. We got a tour of the pasture, and met all of the llamas by name. We got to feed the llamas, and they hung around our camp for almost our entire visit. We. Had. A. Blast. 

Multiple fire pits and picnic tables per site. Big, shady trees to escape the beating Texas sun. And we felt safe enough to let our boys camp in their own tent for the first time. Not too far from the city, but definitely feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. Tent sites aren't secluded, but they aren't close-by either, and our neighbors were never bother. 10/10 we will definitely be back.

I tent camped here in December at the Hawthorn campground site 8. One thing I wasn’t expecting was that this was a walk in site. It was about 100 yards from the parking lot to site 8. Kind of a pain when setting up camp but it makes for a very quiet camping experience once you’re done. Water spigots are close by. The bathrooms were really clean and there are hiking and biking trails nearby. Unfortunately I didn’t get to explore the park much but it seems there is lots to do. There is a marina where you can rent boats and a swim beach nearby. I’ll definitely be going back for a longer stay.

Campsites are modern and very well shaded. They offer water access, electricity, are near facilities, have tables and fire pits. Many of the sites overlook the lake or have easy access to the lake. The area is unique because it is within minutes from Dallas but offers the quiet and solitude that an area farther away from a major city would provide. The trails in this area are fantastic, great for mountain biking, trail running, hiking with small children, etc… It does get relatively dry and hot during the summer, and despite the abundance of trees the trails remain relatively exposed to the sun. There are swimming areas available. If you forget something you have easy and relatively quick access to shopping.

This was our first camping trip as a family, we have learned a lot about camping since staying at this park a few years ago. We do regularly visit but don't camp here often.

I stayed at two different sites while I was here, in total about 14 days. P07 had a lot more privacy and P11 was quite exposed. The walk-in to P07 was quite lengthy, but P11 had parking spots right next to camp. They are strict about parking; I got woken up around 1:30am by local police because I parked in an area I wasn’t allowed to and also forgot to print a permit to put on my dash.

Super, super windy. Got hit by two really bad lightning and thunderstorms and had to sit in my car for a while during the worst of it (certain parts had tornados and hail).

I will say, there seems to be a few long-timers here despite a max 14 day stay. The park is technically closed at 10pm but there’s no gate and technically anyone can drive in any time.

I saw the police drive through often, but it still didn’t feel as secure as other campsites I’ve been to.

The park seems to be well-known amongst locals, so on the weekends it’s especially crowded. Lots of big groups coming, drinking beers, being slightly rowdy. Maybe it’s just because I’m an introvert and wanted peace and quiet, but I felt a little too close to everyone trying to have a good time.

My stay ended prematurely because there was a guy who kept trying to talk to me and made some weird comments. The park did seem to attract a certain clientele, so if safety is your primary concern (I’m a woman traveling solo), then this might not be your best bet.

Other than that, the staff were super nice and welcoming. I got to know the compliance officer by name while my stay there, and it’s clear he takes great pride in the park.

The bathrooms are clean, signal is great for Verizon and T-mobile. There are showers but I wasn’t brave enough to try them; there are a few Planet Fitness locations close-ish by that have great showers, so that’s what I did instead!

Fairly close by to Carrollton where there’s amazing Asian food and boba. Lake is gorgeous too but no swimming was allowed from what I could see. Cute coffee shops nearby too. Sip Stir, The Perc Coffeehouse, and George Coffee and Provisions are all great digital nomad spots and are some of the coolest coffee shops I’ve seen! Super unique, local gems with fast WiFi.

Overall: Great park. I personally wouldn’t stay here for more than a few days, especially if you’re camping in a tent full-time. RV’ers made up the majority here and I didn’t feel as safe in my tent. Still well-kept though and overall a positive experience!

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.

This park is just outside the DFW area which makes it a great alternative to staying in an expensive hotel. It’s only about 30 minutes to downtown Dallas but it still feels like you’re way out in nature. I stayed at site #77 in the Shady Ridge area. It was an RV site but there was plenty of room for a tent. Plus, you have water right at your site. There are hiking and biking trails, swimming and fishing. There was a little bit of road noise from the nearby highway but it wasn’t too bad.

Cedar Hill State Park, Cedar Hill, TX Site# 42

Cedar Hill State Park is only 10 miles southwest of Dallas, but its topography will remind you of the Texas Hill Country. The park is situated on the shores of Joe Pool Lake and it features 30 primitive hike-in camp sites, over 300 wooded modern sites, and more than 1,200 acres of mountain bike terrain. The park also offers multiple boat ramps, kayak rentals, and a swimming beach.