Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Eastland, TX

South Padre Island Beach has approximately 60 miles of primitive beach camping. This area can be accessed from Beach Access #5 and Beach Access #6 and you can camp anywhere north. During the on season access by vehicle is $12 to enter, regardless of the length of stay, though camping cannot exceed 14 days. Offseason is free (from autumn until spring break). During the off season north of access 6 is recommended 4x4 only. Fires, pets, and fishing are allowed, but keep in mind several miles of beach have a road on the other wide of the dunes so keep an eye on pets and children. There are also no amenities and it is recommended to be aware of tides and weather conditions as it can get quite windy on the beach.

I would rate this park 3.5 out of 5 stars. The park has a variety of facilities which earns it a 4 star rating. But the quality of the facilities only earns it a 3 star rating. So it averages out to 3.5 in my opinion.

Lake Brownwood State Park is pretty much located in the center of Texas. However, it is a bit of a drive from many of the major cities like Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. It is fairly convenient to reach from Abilene and San Angelo. If you need to pick up camping supplies there are grocery stores and sporting good stores in the nearby town of Brownwood.

The main attraction of the park is that it is situated on the shores of Lake Brownwood. There are ample opportunities to take advantage of lakeside activities like swimming, boating and fishing. There are a variety of camping options with tent sites, cabana sites and RV sites. At most of the sites there are nice oak trees that provide shade and can support a hammock. Note that Texas State Parks require 2 inch suspension straps when hanging a hammock. There are boat ramps, fishing piers and a loop hiking trail. The hiking trail is a loop trail, fairly level, but I would say moderately interesting. The real attraction of this park is the lake.

Some of the facilities such as the restrooms and the cabanas are a bit dated and could benefit from an update. The staff was very friendly when I visited. And the other campers were respectful.

I would like to say that I visited the park during a weekday when the park had few visitors. However, I've heard that on the weekend the park fills up quickly and can be quite busy.

This camp ground was atrocious and we left several days early. Site#2 had a profound odor of sewage coming from the restroom. The restrooms were dirty and several faucets were broken and leaking. Flies were swarming everywhere from trashcans and trach bins that did not have properly fitting lids. People outside the park have dogs that bark ALL NIGHT LONG, and that is no exaggeration. If you are in a tent you will get NO SLEEP. We had a next-door-neighbor in site#3 who showed up and immediately began to start a fire even though there was a burn ban in effect. We called the front desk to inquire if perhaps the burn ban had been lifted and were told no, and that the camp staff would come to take care of this. The camp staff did come by, only to actually laugh and joke with the people in site 3, who stopped their fire, but then continued to have the open pit fire after she left. These same people also allowed their dog to run loose with no leash. The next day these people left their dog in their camper while all of them drove off and exited the park around 11:30 a.m. They left the windows of the camper down and the dog barked for 2.5 hours. We called the camp staff again after the first 30 minutes of solid barking, and the woman who answered actually stated,"I don't know what I can do about that, as we have never had anyone complain about a loud dog before." During this time we heard repeated gun shots close by the park perimeter, and then we heard one round actually whiz over our head. So that was enough for us, and we left at 2:30 p.m., two nights early. NEVER AGAIN. We will NEVER stay at at COE campsite again. They are filthy, dirty, UNSAFE and the staff absolutely do not care about your enjoyment or safety, nor do they follow county ordinances. We will be informing the Corps of Engineers office about this visit, so perhaps the staff can be properly reprimanded. This review will be posted EVERYWHERE that Sowell Creek Park has an internet presence.