Best Tent Camping near Gardendale, TX

Great place to stop. I would feel safe here as a woman traveling by myself. The showers and bathrooms were clean and really convenient. We camped in a tent here for a couple nights and really enjoyed the place.

It gets very cold in the winter, which was terrible when tent camping but the sand dunes were a unique experience and we would’ve stayed longer if we could have. There’s a drop box for late arrivals and it isn’t busy in winter at least. The sand is very hand to stake into, you will need extra long stakes and a good technique.

If you have a problem with everything you own being covered in sand, this may not be the best place. Lots of birds and wildlife. Very hard to set up tents unless you get those paddles they use in snow camping. During the summer you will need the spf 50. If the wind is blowing it will get dusty. Lots of photography opportunities. You can hear the traffic on I20 at night in a tent. Expect to be visited by skunks and raccoons.

Stayed here for just the night last night, and had a great experience! We drove in around 9:30 pm with no issues, took hot showers in the nice clean bathrooms, then camped in our tent, and woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the dunes. 5 stars!

A must stop at this unique place in west Texas. Beautiful sunsets and well kept campground.

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!

We loved staying here for a night on our drive through West Texas, the perfect midway stopping point. This state park is a nice natural respite from the noise and lights of oil country and towns. 

Easy pull-through sites and well-maintained bathrooms. Sunsets and sunrises here are stunning. Feels like you're in a foreign desert.

I stayed here five nights in site number three, which is a pull through and a great view of the windmill and the day use parking lot.. In January, it gets pretty cold at night around freezing, but warmed up nicely every day. One day was so windy. It was rocking my fifth wheel like it's never rocked before. Yes, I live alone. It was very quiet with little noise from I 20. I did hear a train whistle, but then you can hear a train whistle just about everywhere in the entire state of Texas in the morning. I did see very small prints in the freshly blown sand. Watch out for rodents getting into your RV.

Not bad for just an overnight stay, however the lots are small. Had a back-in site. Staff escorted me to the site and helped me back in (which was very nice), however was right by the road. The main part of the park looked very nice, but this was like the overflows area.

We came here as it was late I’m the day and we had nowhere to stay for the night. This KOA had plenty of spots and some laundry machines and shower which was awesome.

It’s like a typical RV park, very close quarters. The facilities are clean, and it has a dog park too.

The site is right off of the highway and has plenty of traffic, so be prepared for lots of noise around. $40/night is what we paid.

This is a decent RV park there a lot of full timers here because of the oil industry but it is clean.

$50 a night with full hookup, but a little pricey in my opinion for what you get. No shaded area. Does have a pool and laundry area. Roses BBQ within 6 minutes away was good. Site was pull through. There are long term campers.

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.

Stayed 1 night on our way through. Went sledding down the sand dunes. All spots are blacktop. Park staff were very friendly at check in! Easy to make a reservation online.

Stayed one night at this campground located just off I20. In a nutshell, It is like camping at the beach without the ocean. Strong winds and sand dunes everywhere! Fun for kids to slide down the dunes. No shade. Was an interesting stopover.

This park is very cool. It’s not as interesting as White Sands or Great Sand Dunes, but what it does have that those National Parks don’t is the ability to camp right on the dunes. Spectacular sunsets and night skies.

The air is so dry and it's so far from light pollution that the milky way reaches down and embraces you at night time. I have never seen the stars so bright, and so purple a swath of contrasting colors in the midnight sky.

This was a very spontaneous stop for us, but it was quite breathtaking! Very rare site to see this much sand in that area. Amazing for Kids, families and adults of all ages! Great for taking photos at sunset. Nice camp site. 5 stars!

Some of my best photos of our road trip happened here at this state park. But it was one of my least favorite places to camp. Just because of the sand. But that is what you get when you camp at a place called Sandhills.

The sites are pretty close together and there is nothing to break up the view between you and the other sites. Covered picnic tables but if it's windy, the sand is everywhere. Also when it's hot out the sand just adds to the temps.

Now on the plus side, the sunsets and sunrises are amazing. Because of the sand you get clear views of the horizon.

There was a lack of wildlife, matter of fact we saw zero critters.