Best Tent Camping near Granbury, TX

Nice camping spot for families. I chose to camp in the north primitive hike-in sites across the river. It was pretty hot but I still had a good time exploring the hiking trails. If you go hiking, take a map and of course extra water. My map came in handy a couple of times as I was hiking as the actual trails led me off track a few times.

I stayed in the primitive camping area. You hike between 1-2.5 miles across the river to sites. If the river is too high these sites may be closed. Water is only available at the trailhead. These sites are primitive so they do not have showers, restrooms, picnic tables or water.

Other sites available:

• Campsites with electricity (Picnic tables, water hookup, electric, fire ring)
• Walk-in campsites (Fire ring, lantern post)
• Group camp (fire ring, water nearby, three picnic tables)

Generally I’ll stay at a KOA for a night when traveling through. They are like McDonald’s, nothing special but you know what to expect. This one was below par even for a KOA. We arrived just at 5:00 pm but the office was already closed. Didn’t see any staff before we left in the morning. Out checking information was available on the bulletin board. A sign said there were no more available sites, but there were clearly over 40 empty spaces. Many of the sites need new picnic tables, and the trees are full of dead branches. However the grass was mowed. Sites are very close together. Closer than most. There is a grassy dog park. There is also the a playground- a swing set! Also a pool which appears functional. Bathroom and showers were adequate. !

There is an RV repair facility next door.

We had limited weekends to take the grandkids camping. It has been raining non stop all over Texas. I began to look for places within 2 hours of Fort Worth. Texas State Parks are a great. I settled on Lake Whitney. They have these shelter sites that are awesome. For $30 per night ($10 per night more than normal e&w site) plus $5 per adult gate fee. That may not be economical for everyone, but $40 for an overnight camp was fine. The shelters are very clean and well kept. Inside is a picnic table and enough floor space for another plus some. So if your tent fails in you go. The top of walls are screened and bottom solid. I set up my camp kitchen and we ate meals inside due to weather. We set up our large tent behind the shelter to block wind from the lake. The site also had it's own parking, another table outside and fire ring. We had site 4 right across from the lake and swimming area. The bath house was very clean and only a short walk. You can fish license free from the shore. There are 5 or 6 moderate hiking trails. Also the park is home to plenty of woodland animals. The 4 yo and I took a 2 am bathroom break and saw a herd of dear about 30 head.

The park is very good for families and fishing.

There are also a boat ramp, small airstrip and day use areas.

The staff is awesome.

We stayed here on the last night of a two-week journey visiting national parks in the West. This just happened to be on our route back home to Louisiana and looked like a pleasant place for us to spend one night.

We arrived at the campground around 8:00 on a Friday night and had to wait in line to enter the park. The park ranger was very friendly and thorough (albeit slow giving directions for road-weary travelers such as us). We found site 123 in the H Loop easily (sites are clearly marked) and set up camp. We were impressed with the spacing and privacy of the sites. We had a slight peekaboo view of the lake and a beautiful sunset from the trailer. It took us a while to get our trailer leveled as the site was on a pretty big slant (four inches off left to right and eight inches front to back); however, the pad was concrete and quite wide.

A bathhouse and dumpster were nearby, which was a nice convenience. Hookups were in good condition as well. There was a small back yard with a covered picnic table, fire ring, and lantern post which we thought would be nice if we would have been here longer. This little area was very private from the road and a neighboring site. We would definitely stay here again when our travels take us this way in the future.

My wife, dog, and I headed here for an impromptu overnight. We did not know what to expect, though. We were tent camping, and the campground is pretty small and quite. We loved the place. We got one of the Shinnery Ridge West "primitive" sites which means no water faucet nearby, but it was right on the lake and had a nice picnic table and grill. We had plenty of room and the site could have held two tents.

We hiked two trails: the Shinnery Ridge trail made about a 2 mile loop from our campsite. The first quarter mile or so was paved like a sidewalk to be ADA accessible. It then went up a ridgeline and looped back down. There weren't any great views, but there were lots of rabbits.

The Bosque hiking trail looped the entire lake in about 2.5 miles. You get to see areas of the lake filled with lilly pads and walk across the dam. On the far side of the lake from our site was the swimming area & boat ramp, and we were able to get more water to drink as we went by.

The swimming area was pretty good. It isn't sandy, but the lake isn't very rocky and it gently slopes down to allow you to wade out and splash and play. You can rent kayaks and SUPs by the hour here. The lake seemed sheltered enough to make these great options, but we did not take advantage on this trip.

Lots of families enjoying the nice weather the weekend we were there. Cabins looked fine from the outside.

Holiday Park, Fort Worth, TX (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(71 yr olds in 17’ trailer.)

Overall Rating: 4 for very large sites and nice bathroom/shower facilities. Price 2023: $ 14 w interagency pass Security: Cannot drive in after 10 Usage during visit: Full over the weekend Site Privacy: No Site Spacing: Large sites Pad surface: blacktop Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Lots of children fun noise during our busy weekend. Outside Road Noise: No Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: At site Bathroom/Shower combo rooms. They are very clean and nice. Pull Throughs: Some Cell Service (AT&T): 2 to 3 bars. Setting: Along lake with trees sparsely spaced throughout the campground. Recent Weather: 70s to 30s Host: Several. Rig Size: The largest. Sites: Large sites is a big plus. Perimeter sites are much better than inner loop sites - our site is along a lakeshore more than lakeshore.