Whether you're an RVer or tent camper, Kennard, TX is a great place to post up for the weekend—or longer. Kennard is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Find the best campgrounds near Kennard, TX. Read reviews from campers like you and find your perfect campsite.
$20 - $30 / night
"It's a Primitive camping area for Hunters during hunting season. There are no water or electrical hook-ups, but they do have two port-o-potties."
"Primitive hunting camp area we enjoyed the nice and quiet area"
$12 - $42 / night
"At least 14 sites with picnic tables on concrete slabs. Fire rings and Lantern poles. Very well kept and mowed. There is a loafing barn for horses. No bathrooms or water."
$10 - $85 / night
"We usually tent camp but this time we decided staying at a cabin. Nice, beautiful and modern cabins. Love the enclosed porch and open porch as well. The cabin was spacious enough for our family of 6."
"Wonderful bathrooms nearby. We hiked the trails and went and checked out the little lake.
The park staff where super friendly. We had a great stay."
LegendWe arrived 151 days after making our on-line reservations for the very busy Memorial Day weekend in Piney Shore Loop campground. This was our fourth camping adventure at Lake Livingston State Park in the Piney Shore Loop.
Pros EXTREMELY quiet during the Memorial Day weekend. Even tho not backed up to
lake, nice view of lake from Site#55. Double concrete pad as it is an accessible campsite. Very level concrete pad; no need to do any type of leveling. Nice early morning shade onto Site#55 Very good privacy from neighbor Site#54 and Site behind#48 Park ranger drive-thru about every four hours Restroom/showers good working condition, clean, ample hand soap and toilet paper. Recently paved park roads very nice upgrade Mosquitoes were drawn to those who strung lots of lights throughout their site, so many did not use those lights which resulted in good dark conditions for night sky viewing. 1-2 bars AT&T cell service. Lowes, Walmart and small HEB close by n the town of Livingston Cons. Campers requiring mobility assistance may find this campsite very challenging, even tho it does have a double wide concrete pad. Site#55 labeled as accessible but is very accessible unfriendly as it is not close to campground toilet shower facilities, fire ring is up a gravel hill on driver side of camper. Piney Shore Loop sewer hook up required 20 feet of stinky slinky. No privacy from Site#56. No privacy from the campground road. Picnic table in mud hole nearly the size of the table and very unleveled with one end higher than the other end. Unable to move picnic table as it is chained to concrete pylon. Picnic table not wheelchair accessible. No afternoon-to-evening shade what-so-ever. Site#56 campers permitted their dog to run without a leash. No park WIFI
GuideThere's not much to this campground, although it is very beautiful with enormous loblolly pines. This is a primitive campsite. There's no water, no electricity, not bathrooms, etc. Just an area you can use to set up tents or hammocks. We met a nice older fella who said he comes there every day and builds a fire at dusk, stays for a little bit, then leaves.
We bikes from the Ratcliff Recreational Area and we had to cache water.
GuideAt least 14 sites with picnic tables on concrete slabs. Fire rings and Lantern poles. Very well kept and mowed. There is a loafing barn for horses. No bathrooms or water. Would be a 5 with just water. You need a Texas parks Limited use permit. It costs as little as $12 a year. If you want to fish or hunt the price goes up a little. Can be used to stay at any National Forest or Wild Management area.
TravelerWe came to tent camp and wanted to be on a lake shoreline. We stayed at #11 on Lakeside Loop.
The positive:
The tent pad was nice and level and the site was very roomy (we had a tent & canopy) with tons more room to stretch out.
We were about 200 yards from the bathroom facilities and about 30 feet from potable water for washing up.
The traffic was minimal because it’s off the main road, and would have been peaceful if the group of campers at #9 had been courteous and acknowledged quiet hours.
We had incredible weather with a wonderful steady breeze.
Negatives:
We did have a lake view, but the shoreline is so incredibly overgrown making it difficult to fish. Lots of rotted wood and brush blocks a great deal of the view and access.
The burn circle had a grate welded at an angle to the top, so it couldn’t really be used for building up a big fire or cooking.
No one drove around/checked to make sure visitors are keeping to the quiet hours, which meant we were kept awake until about 12:30 am from yelling and loud music.
The restrooms, while near, had not been cleaned before we arrived—toilet paper on the floors and in the shower area with lots of dead june bugs and spiders on the floor the whole weekend.
LegendThis Park is on the edge of being a 5 STAR park...
PROS
Senior Discount
Check-in at the gate without leaving vehicle NO street lights in A3 campground, so good dark sky viewing(when neighbors don’t have a dozen campsite lights illuminating 3-4 campsites)
Very very quiet Sunday thru Wednesday
Site 62 backs up to Lake Livingston so excellent view of lake and easy accessibility from lakefront campsites
Site 62 12 ft wide concrete parking pad level
Moveable wooden and metal picnic table on concrete pad
Metal fire ring(no cooking grate)
Pedestal BBQ grill Campsite utility hook-ups in good condition with no problems encountered
Trash pickup at each campsite 3 times daily
Pristine grounds
Very clean toilet/shower facility; it took 3 men 2 hours in a Monday to clean one facility, but no cleaning Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday(didn’t even pick up the trash)!
Constable manning gate after normal gate hours
Roped off lake swimming area
Small playground near swimming area
CONS
Paid$3.50 reservation fee for completing 100% on-line reservation
On Day#2 of our stay, a neighbor camper came to us to inform us that the park manager just stopped by his site(we were at our site and saw him) to let him know there was a burn ban established for the next 7 days and that he need to spread the word to other campers. Two days later we saw a small burn ban sign posted at the toilet/shower facility. Communicating this crucial information needs improved. Perhaps posting signs throughout the park, especially at the entrance.
Trip hazard on the picnic table concrete where someone cut the chains that held the table in place
Numerous dogs roaming…no leash and no human
Absolutely no privacy from any other campsite as there is no vegetation between campsites
No evening trash pickup so have to store trash created by evening cooking
Gate was not closed overnight
Camp store and water craft rental closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
No wildlife sightings
No park WIFI
No camp hosts
3 bars TMOBILE in A3 campground with no problems live-streaming with TMOBILE hotspot device
ScoutThe campground is located in the Davy Crockett National Forest, with spots located around the edges of a small lake. Although we could occasionally hear noise from the highway, it was mostly peaceful and quiet. The campgrounds are spacious, with tent platforms, poles to hang trash, and large picnic tables. The bathrooms were amazingly clean and with camp hosts and park rangers on site, we always had help with anything we needed. We hiked and kayaked (with our own boats) and it was all just lovely. I would go back for sure!
GuideWe camped for 3 nights in March in our travel trailer. The site was large and had a nice concrete pad. We were at site 117 in Pin Oak Loop. Our site was very large and lots of trees but did have some low spots that held water. The bathrooms were decent. The trails were clean and accessed easy from our campsite. The kids loved riding bikes on trails as well as around our loop. Didn’t have much luck fishing due to winds. Small park but very clean with lots of nature.
LegendWe love this state park and it's one of our favorites! This was our third time camping here in the Piney Shores Loop. We arrived on Memorial Day for four nights with reservations made 54 days prior. We weren’t loving Piney Shores#52 back-in campsite much due to: Steep drop-off of the concert pad and the narrow roadway making backing in challenging, but not impossible for our 27ft trailer. Any larger rigs might not be able to swing it.
The dirt area around the picnic table, fire pit and lantern pole was a huge MUD hole! What a mess due to daily rains.
No concrete pad under the picnic table, so your feet were in the MUD hole! HINT– Park Maintenance needs to apply some medium size gravel around the table and fire pit.
Picnic table (chained to the ground) and fire pit were right next to each other. WHO DESIGNS THESES CAMPSITES??
Power interruptions, albeit short. Very glad we had our power surge protector.
We loved:
Very level concrete pad requiring no additional leveling efforts.
Huge campsite along the lakefront with access to launch kayak/canoe or even swim(which we didn’t).
Gorgeous sunsets over the lake. It was wonderful to sit at the fire facing the lake and watch the sunsets.
The squirrels that ate from our fingertips! It was also really amusing to find the squirrels VERY friendly. They just hoped up onto our laps and took peanuts in the shell from our fingertips!
Super quiet as only 6 full hook up campsites were occupied due to COVID operating restrictions.
TravelerFirst & foremost, This park is not well-maintained, and the camping sites are right off of the highway. The splash pad does not work, and the bath house was terribly dirty and freaked of sewage. The group sites are basically a big parking lot- zero grass space between site numbers, although there is shared grass areas along the rows. We moved site numbers within the group sites so that our kids would not be playing right beside the highway (there is a gate, however it’s still concerning), and to slightly distance ourselves from the traffic noise. Beware there is also a large wedding venue directly across the highway & our kids were woken to the sounds of fireworks at night on the weekend. There were large fire ant mounds all along the concrete, and we had to purchase fire ant killer ourselves, as well as deal with some broken glass & the trash can for our site that wasn’t emptied before our stay. I spoke with the staff member working in the office and all she could say was “i will let management know.”
As far as the good: we had 6 kids and 4 adults staying, so despite the concerns and annoyances, we still were able to relax enough and enjoy our break from the daily grind. The kids played outside all day- making walking sticks, fishing a lot, catching bugs (spotted some really neat moths, too), and making up games.
The best: the nearly-daily trains coming right through the campground for various reasons (loading new cars or taking passengers on a local trip). My son is an avid train-lover and this was the main reason we booked our stay here.
Tent camping near Kennard, Texas offers a blend of serene nature and outdoor adventure, perfect for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Kennard, TX is HFR Campsites & Retreats with a 0-star rating from 0 reviews.
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