Best Tent Camping near Eldorado, TX

Tent Camping Reviews near Eldorado, TX

69 Reviews of 2 Eldorado Campgrounds

• 

  Ari A.

  Legend

  Mar. 12, 2021

  Red Arroyo — San Angelo State Park

  Nice open prairie campsites; bathrooms need updating

  We have enjoyed staying at San Angelo State Park because of the natural things it offers. We stayed in the Red Arroyo campground. The sites are large and well-spaced apart. You don't have much privacy due to the lack of trees since this is where the prairie and desert come together, but the distance between sites helps. Also, having a picnic table and covered shelter at each site is a nice touch. 

  One thing we noticed is that when the wind gets going here it really blows hard, so be prepared to take care of anything that might need to be held down. Several times it was bad enough that we had to close our roof vent. 

  The night sky is decent because it's so wide open, unfortunately, it's not as dark as we had hoped because of the lights from nearby San Angelo. You also tend to hear some road noise -- it's not bad, just louder than we expected considering how this place seems like it would be in the middle of nowhere from most of the pictures. Given the expansive horizon, though, you're in for some really cool sunrises and sunsets right from your campsite. 

  The hiking, biking, and equestrian trails here offer a lot of variety and with 50 miles of them, it's tough to get bored. Note that the North and South units have separate trail systems and there's no road within the park to reach the two units. You have to drive out on the main road and it's too far to bike or walk. 

  In addition to trails, make sure you check out the wildlife blind set up near the Red Arroyo loop, plus on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, the rangers do supplemental feeding of the bison and longhorn cattle herds, bringing them right up to the fence for visitors to see. It's a nice treat! As you hike, you're likely to see plenty of wildlife, too. We have seen deer, owls, birds, and javelinas so far. 

  Cell service was pretty good for Verizon and T-Mobile. (2-3 bars consistently) 

  The only real complaint (other than tiring of the wind after a while) was that the bathrooms are really old. They are kept clean and the showers were hot with good, modern showerheads. But in Red Arroyo, there is only one shower for women and one for men for the whole campground. And there also are very limited toilets in the main bathhouse and the secondary bathhouse has at least one defunct toilet in the men's room. The whole park could use a bathroom/shower house overhaul. It hasn't been very busy with campers here but we could see that a busy season could wreak havoc on bathroom availability. 

  Note that if you're coming for O.C. Fisher Lake, that is a reservoir that is emptying out and never likely to come back. A ranger told us the lake is at about 6-8% of its glory days. The place is filled with boat ramps to nowhere and when hiking you can find several abandoned campground loops. 

  All-in-all a good place to stay but go in with your eyes open.

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• 

  Katie M.

  Ranger

  Nov. 22, 2020

  Caverns of Sonora

  A Latenight God Send

  I was trying to put in as many hours of driving as I could, not realizing how sparse things like actual campgrounds are off of I-10 in the middle of Texas.

  Luckily I found this place here on the app. I arrived around 11 pm and located the tent camping loop, set up and crashed for the night. The loop was nice and grassy, with picnic tables for each site.

  In the morning, I walked to the gift shop to pay for my night. Tent camping is $15.

  I took a quick shower and, honestly, the shower area could definitely use a really good cleaning, but it had been quite a few days since I’d seen a shower, so I wasn’t too picky.

  The staff there was really nice and I stuck around long enough for a tour of the caverns ($20) before getting back on the road.

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• M

  Manny T.

  Traveler

  Jun. 30, 2018

  Middle Concho Park

  This is a wonderful place to camp. We come here every year.

  No showers or power. Does have public restrooms. Bring hammock, has plenty o trees.

• 

  Elizabeth N.

  Guide

  Apr. 29, 2019

  Red Arroyo — San Angelo State Park

  Bison and longhorns

  So many trails to do but so hot when I went. Loved the view by the lake. Restrooms were not very clean but the park host were very friendly. I did almost all the trail in the week that I was there, I even picked up the trash that I found along the trail, a whole trash bag worth. Be careful of ants, got bit by an ant why setting up the tent.

• 

  MickandKarla W.

  Legend

  Apr. 27, 2024

  Pecan Valley RV Park

  What an Incredible Find

  Our RV GPS wanted to take us farther east on I-10 to exit 455, but we followed the campground’s (CG) website’s westbound instructions that matched Waze and Google Maps. From Exit 451 to the CG was an easy drive. We were met as we entered the (CG) by the owner, Brenda. We had asked for a satellite-friendly site and she had us going to back-in site 9, but thought we might like a pull through site better. She led the way in her golf cart to look at each of the sites. We stuck with our original plan and took back-in site 9 with FHUs. When we were checking out sites, we were met by the farm’s goats, which was really cool. We had no issues with the utilities and the water pressure was good. Although Brenda had identified a water leak at our site, Robert quickly ensured it wouldn't affect our stay. We got 3 bars on Verizon, and though trees are scattered about in the CG, we had no issues putting out our Starlink. Campsites are nicely spaced apart with a picnic table and fire pit. The only discount they give is military due to their son currently serving. Later after we got set up, Robert and Brenda came by to deliver the farm fresh eggs that we ordered at check-in. At the CG’s quaint little store, you can start a tab for items such as eggs, jams/jellies, ice, and firewood. The store also has hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, soaps, and laundry items. They do not have a laundry but we found a nice one in Junction. They have a very clean shower house. The owners are super accommodating and sincerely care how your stay goes. At the end of your stay, they bill you for any remaining balance for your site and for any items you purchased from the store. There was plenty of space to walk our dogs around the property of this large pecan farm along the river. This was one of the best private CGs we’ve stayed.

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• 

  Darrin R.

  Traveler

  Mar. 3, 2021

  Bald Eagle Creek

  Quiet, comfortable and rarely crowded

  This is the north part of San Angelo State Park. I camped here the last weekend of January. Other than being quite windy during the day, the weather was gorgeous. Chilly at night with temperatures in the thirties but the days were sixties and seventies and sunny. I didn't get to do much exploring because I went to San Angelo to pick up something on Monday morning and thought I would use this trip to test out some gear. The parking sites are great for either a tent or small RV. This was ideal for my setup which is a rooftop tent on my SUV. There were some nice large trees over many of the campsites and there were clean concrete picnic tables with a sun or rain cover above that.

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• 

  Laura F.

  Ranger

  Nov. 29, 2020

  Bald Eagle Creek

  Spacious sites in San Angelo State Park

  We stayed over Thanksgiving and the campground was less than half full. The sites in the Bald Eagle loop are spacious, many have covered picnic tables, a few trees, and there is a playground. If you cross the dry creek bed into the horse campground you can access the extensive network of hiking, biking, and horse riding trails. The trails are well marked. The only downside is that to drive into the campground you have to get out and remove a pad lock and manually open the gate.

• 

  Michael C.

  Legend

  Jan. 16, 2021

  Caverns of Sonora

  Very nice campground

  The actual campground is more off the freeway than the map shows. Still it’s not THAT far. The campground has partial hookups (electrical and water). No WiFi or sewer (due to the cave). The gift shop is amazingly fun. The cave tour was definitely worth the $20/person. Our guide Lacey was a rockstar. Dress lightly for the cave. We came out soaked!

• J

  John H.

  Guide

  Apr. 11, 2021

  Red Arroyo — San Angelo State Park

  Great single track trails

  Excellent camp site. Very dispersed and most have picnic tables with shade awnings which are great for hammocks. Bathrooms were fine. Miles of off-road Bike trails were well marked and varied from easy to technical.