Best Tent Camping near Hawkins, TX

Absolutely stunning Texas state park located along the Texas Forest Trail that showcases the rolling hills of pine trees that dubbed this region the name “Pineywoods” of East Texas. Clean lake with available kayaking and canoeing, and even paddle boats. RV hookups or tent campgrounds.

There’s 10 tent camping spots on the island. Our camp had trash on the beach when we got there. You can hear the power plant all the time. The hike was pretty and we got to see a deer with two fawn. Tons of buzzerds on the trail who defend their young. We camped the beginning of October and there was only one other tent around. Nice view from P1.

Hear me out :D The Park itself is very beautiful and the staff there are some of the nicest hosts you will encounter at a SP. Bathrooms were clean, and the showers were nice as well. Our issue was that Tent camping is primarily offered on the south side of the park. Which as the crow flies is about 1 mile from I20. So throughout the night the constant rumble of cars on the highway can keep you up most of the night. Then you have the local Emergency Services. Sirens down the park road and on i20. This is the perfect day use SP for the Trails and water sports. Also looks like it would be prefect for RV camping.

I visited the Shortleaf camping area in the Tyler State Park for the weekend to participate in a 50k trail race. Each campsite in this area has a sheltered cabin, picnic table, fire pit and 2 parking spots. Tent camping is also permitted on the site but I used my iKamper Roof Top Tent as my primary place to sleep. The sheltered cabin has screens on the windows to keep the bugs out and electricity. I used this area primarily for storage of the food & gear that I used during the weekend. My campsite was located at the bottom of a hill and had a path to the restrooms and showers. These facilities were very clean and had 2 shower stalls and 3 toilet stalls along with 2 sinks. This location had access to the lake via a short hike. This type of camp site is the best of both worlds, you can camp via tent/car and still have a cabin like experience via the sheltered cabin. 

In September it is still pretty warm in Tyler, humidity was 100% when I visited without rain. I'll visit again in October when the cooler temps arrive and undoubtable have an even better experience.

For folks that went camping in the 70s, 80s, 90s with your coleman lanterns, coleman fuel stoves, and actually camped in tents (as intended)... Daingerfield State Park is the place to be. It gives you the classic nostalgic feeling of camping. Its nestled in the thick pineywoods of northeast Texas - the towering pine trees, lakeside cabins and crystal clear lake all combined bring back memories of a person's childhood. Being in this park makes you feel like that picture perfect family on the packaging of camping products. It is a beautiful park with plentiful trails for mountain biking and hiking. There are multiple campgrounds allowing for large RVs/campers and tent camping. Bathrooms are always clean and the staff is polite and helpful. Fishing is good in this large spring-fed clear water lake - although motorized boats are not allowed, kayaks, canoes and paddle boats are permitted and available to rent as well. The park store is small but has most of your camping basics such as drinks, snacks and tshirts, etc.

All of the campsites have fire rings and the park sells firewood at a fair price and permits ground fires if the county is not under a burn ban. The park also hosts a healthy amount of events such as dances, Halloween in the park, and Christmas in the park.

The town of Daingerfield is a neat little town - only a 5-10 minutes from the park, it provides multiple fast food options, a Brookshires supermarket, gas stations and perhaps the most famous location in Daingetfield - the Morris Movie Theatre. (Cash only $1.50 tickets on the newest movie releases, two auditorium building, great snacks and best of all it is a family run operation. Nightly showings which makes it a perfect place to visit if you're camping at the park for a few days)

Stargazing is also great at DSP.. the park is far enough away from bigger cities which allows for darker skies.

This is defintely one of my favorite parks to go to and in the year I've lived in this area, we've probably gone to DSP at least two dozen times or more. Do make reservations ahead of time, as this park is largely popular and fills up quickly on summer days (day use) and weekend nights (camping).

I highly recommend this park and hope you and your family make long last memories.

There are many options to camp at this state park. There’s RV sites, tent sites (both primitive and “cushy”), cabins, cottages and screened shelters. my past experience with screened shelters were always dusty, dank, spider-filled shacks that I would only store my cooler and belongings in (tightly sealed) but these at Martin Creek were IMMACULATE to say the least! They seem cob-webby from the outside but once inside, the concrete floor is smoother up the edges of the walls about 2.5’, reducing entry of insects via cracks in the joints of floor and wall. The park employees vacuum these areas, as observed when I passed others that had recently vacated. The rafters in these shelters were spaced out far enough for me to hang my hammock. 4 people slept inside without air mattresses or camp pads and slept wonderfully (flat surfaces are good for our spines sometimes) not a big in sight. There is an electrical outlet inside as well as a light, and there is an outlet outside as well. Small lock on inside, watr spigot and doIble lantern hook nearby as well as a wooden/metal picnic table (good condition). I slept in Shelter #6 and it was a few yards away from the water’s edge. Great views of a small lilly-pad laced bay and we caught 7 catfish using normal nightcrawlers as bait. Fried them up for lunch the next day and they tasted like heaven! But, everything tastes better when you’re camping. We had also set up 4 tents around the area (not disturbing local flora/fauna) and we slept to the deafening croaks of frogs. Only 1 raccoon came upon our camp area to a spot where someone had thrown a corn cob, otherwise, we take all the necessary steps to avoid crossing paths with those relentless nighttime furry bandits. Shelters 7-9 are also located in great areas of the lake nearby, there is the power plants across the lake and for some reason, we like to believe that it was the reason we had ZERO mosquitoes! Many house flies and the non-biting ants were everywhere but not to the point of insanity... they list this ant as an issue on their website I do believe. I’d take this shelter over a hotel stay ANY TIME!

Typical clean and safe for a texas state park. No public drinking. Very little wildlife. We did have some squirrels get into out tent, my bad for leaving sweets out.

No feral pigs which are common these days. Nice sized spaces with tent areas and tables spread out.

Bonus in the loop bathroom they have individual rooms that have toilet and shower with a high lock. Really awesome if you are using shower with toddlers.

We saw signs about the ants bit we didn't see them. We were here over Christmas so that's probably why.

Arrived late, office closed. Confused by all of the red "reserved" signs throughout the campground- even thoug8h there were hardly any campers there. Too late to make an online reservation for the night. Sites 1 thru 4 are available for late arrivals; only one stays are allowed. Paid for site 4 at self pay station. Then changed to site 21 the next morning which is closer to the restroom, and paid in the office. $20 per per site, plus $5 per day per person for a day use fee (which annoyed me). Campground is clean & well maintained. Sites are not close together and have some shade. Concrete pad for parking an RV, plus a tent pad. Fire ring, table, light pole, water & electric included. Easy access to Lake Towakani, which is a typical north Texas man made lake. Nice hiking trails. Clean restroom/shower facilities. Lots of deer.

They have sites for all campers,tents etc. Full hook-ups to water only. Paddle boats to rent. Swimming hole, several lighted fishing docks. boat ramps. You and your family will love this park

Sites are spread out for tent and RV's best times to visit is fall or spring

camp site was flat had pads for tents and was well mantaind. had a shower and restroom that was clean and also had great hikng