Best Glamping near Gardendale, TX

The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. We played on the snd dunes all day and camped. The campsites were sand with a covered picnic table and grill. The picnic table was moved because storms were coming and we put tents under pavilion. It would have been perfect for stargazing if it had not been cloudy all night. Other campers were quiet and it was a very clean park with clean bath house. Be warned that this is oil country and the trains run constantly, day and night and they are a few miles away. Sand dunes are probably best enjoyed during cooler months and definitely best after rain! We picked the perfect time in April! Flowers blooming everywhere and new growth around walking trails. Dunes were a blast!

My friends and I made a short stay at Monahans Sandhills State Park on our way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We made a reservation online because we knew that we would be arriving late considering that we were leaving after work at 6pm and out drive would be at least 5 hours. It is possible to pick up supplies or eat in the town of Ozona or Fort Stockton.

Upon our arrival, it was fairly easy to find our assigned campsite because all of the campsites appear to be located along a loop road.

Each campsites has water and electric hookups. There are also a sun shade, picnic table and grill. The bathroom was located a short distance from our campsite and contained sinks, toilets and showers. 

The main attraction of this park is definitely the sandhills. One can explore the sandhills freely, but I think that it might be a good idea to not venture too far from the main campground unless you are familiar with desert navigation or are equipped with a GPS. One can walk up the sandhills, roll down the sandhills or just stand in awe within them. I was surprised to find a variety of flowers thriving amongst the sandhills. How does that happen?

There are not any marked or designated trails at this park. There are not many facilities or activities to do. The main attraction is the sand, the sandhills and the sunrises. Even though our stay was short, I really enjoyed staying at this park and watching the sunrise in the morning.

Nice stop over. Gravel, level, all services work as expected. Staff was very friendly, bathrooms, showers& laundry are VERY clean and updated. Tokens& quarters are available at the office. Site#66, Long Pull through, easy in/out. Surprisingly strong internet. HEB, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, lots of resupply options in the area. We would stay here again.

Only negative, which is no fault of the campground, is there is a LOT of construction in the area making entry a challenge with some scary U Turns in the city because our Garmin doesn’t register it. 

So for any traveling in the immediate future here’s some notes. Exit 134 is closed(2/11/22), take exit 135. Do NOT try any route that takes you on the entrance through town, that end of Midland Road is closed. Stay on the frontage road, go through the 4 way stop(the frontage road curves up& back), then continue on the frontage road(has some construction but is passable) to Midland road, take a right, the park will be on the left. The office is the 1st entrance and pretty clearly marked.

If you’re traveling in the next month or so, call ahead and they can give you the latest ‘best’ route... wish we had, newbie mistake.

General: Small (25-site) campground in one loop. Temporary park headquarters as the huge visitor center at the entrance was under construction when we were there. 

Site Quality: Sites have paved driveways, covered picnic shelters, bbq, electric hookup, and water a spigot. Some sites are back-in and some pull-through. We watched some larger rigs try and fit into the back-in sites, which are smaller than the pull-throughs. Our site (25) seemed to have two picnic tables and two BBQs (there were some on the other side for the site next to us so not sure why there were two in our site unless two campers would come together?) 

Bathhouse: There is one all-in-one and one regular restroom with two additional showers (and a connecting door between them. Hot water and soap dispensers but no paper towels. The showers were incredible – hot water, great water pressure, and clean. One of the best campground showers I have ever had! 

Activities: Explore the dunes! There are no designated paths; you are free to climb the dunes and explore. Saucers are available to rent for $6 and wax for $1. The sunsets are beautiful. The constantly shifting sand makes beautiful patterns and great photographs. If the moon is not full, night sky photography. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here exploring the dunes (and the incredible shower!).