Best RV Parks & Resorts near Kilgore, TX

I stayed here for five nights in mid-March. The campground is a mix of tent/RV loops and has multiple boat ramps into Johnson Creek which feeds into Lake 'O the Pines. I was in site E210 (RV area 2). Place was packed over the weekend, cleared out quite a bit during the week. I check out all four RV loops, and it's one of the most crowded COE campgrounds I've seen (and I've seen a lot). Site spacing in pretty close, but slightly better than commercial parks. I lucked out on E210, it was a pull-through that perched overlooking the lake. It was among the more private sites. Fairly level sites in loops, some asphalt, some concrete. Water/Elec, picnic pad and table and fire rings at all sites. I would definitely recommend and go back but pick your sites carefully if you want privacy - think Google satellite view or Google Earth. Pretty decent cell signal for Verizon, so-so for ATT.

We are traveling in a 40 Motorhome towing a car and are coming up on the end of a 7 month tour of the USA gulf and east coast, now heading home to the Austin TX area, We were directed to an immaculate concrete pad site with full hookups. As it was during the week. and it is mid October the park was about 70% empty, expectations are that it will fill up for the weekend only until the winter months when I would expect the snowbirds arrive. I don't understand the negative reviews, and that is the reason I am writing this, my first review ever. The park has a large lounge with a grill/coffee bar/adult beverage bar, a game room, exercise room, and general store, all of which were brand new and beautiful. There is a small lake with lots of floating things for kids to climb on, a children's pool with lots of water features, a lazy river to float around using provided inner tubes, and an adults only pool with a swim up bar. Restroom/shower/laundry facilities were perfect. The staff was very nice. It is getting cooler here in October, so we were the only folks foolish enough to use the pools today. It is a cashless facility so you wear a bracelet and all purchases for food, drink, or whatever are charged to your credit card on file when you check out. We had great included WiFi and streamed most of out television using it, and our ATT phones were 4  to 5 bars. We are "spoiled" RV'ers used to staying at  pretty much top of the line, no kidding, real RV Resorts and this place certainly fits the bill. Its not cheap for sure, but it is wonderful. We will be returning this coming summer for a few week stay during our next journey. As it is a new facility, there are not a lot of trees for shade by the pads, but they will come as the resort matures I am sure. I recommend this park to anybody looking for a good experience. As a bonus, it is less than 15 miles from Kilgore, the antique capitol of TX.

The camping area is mostly occupied by long term RV campers. Many of the campers are employed in the nearby areas. Grounds offer water/electric/sewer hookups, there are also toilets available but no showers. The RV grounds are part of the city park which offers a splash pad (seasonal), large playground, pavilion, picnic areas, arboretum, and a short hiking trail (approximately one third of a mile). The RV sites are backed up by the sheriff's office/county jail the courthouse is down the road, and there is a police department across the street. This isn't to suggest that the area is dangerous, its a small town and everything is pretty much right there. Shopping and restaurants are within walking distance.

Lake Fork, a popular fishing lake is within a ten minute drive. Lake Quitman is less than ten minutes, generally this is where water sport activities occur. Pets are welcome.

The name drew us in, the convenience, friendly staff, large spaces and the usual amenities will bring us back.   

A very convenient location for a base if you are looking to go to Canton Trade Days, Edom's many art festivals, Moore's Store in Ben Wheeler to see a show, shopping in Tyler or any of your East Texas adventures.

Although near the highway and the Tyler Pounds Field Regional Airport, this rv park is surprisingly quiet and peaceful. An older park, well maintained with mature trees lining the property. A good portion of long term stay residents with smiles and waves and neat spaces.

Reserved on-line 152 days prior to arrival. 

Pros 

Pristine clean restroom/showerhouse. Seemed recently renovated 

BIG PINE camping area only big rig friendly(longer than 20 ft) out of 40 FHU sites. Big Pine, Dogwood and Mountain View Campgrounds FHU so 40 FHU sites with no park dump station. 

Aluminum picnic table and fire ring with cooking grate 

Very quiet campground except for highway and train noise 

4 camp hosts 

Good night sky viewing in BIG PINE 

Good view of lake in BIG PINE 

Privacy from side neighbors 

No leveling required from side-to-side 

Asphalt parking pad heaved various places due to tree roots creating numerous tripping hazard 

Campsite utility hook-ups in good condition with no problems encountered 

Security gate that closes overnight 

No street lights in BIG PINE 

Campsite and entrance fee discount with Texas State Park Pass 

Not charged a fee to make my own on-line reservation 

CONS 

Most FHU sites (other than BIG PINE) are extremely short in length. Barely room for single axle TT, so need to review site details carefully 

Site 8 had an extreme amount of above ground roots causing tripping hazard

Picnic table approx 50 feet from Site 8 parking pad

Highway and train noise

BIG PINE sites barely off campground road, so therefore no privacy from campers across the road

Restroom/shower facility not heated

No lantern pole

No wildlife sightings

No park Wifi

1 bar AT&T in BIG PINE

Made a reservation via telephone for two days a month in advance, but was not given a site number.When we pulled up to the office there was a note with a telephone number to call, but no answer. I saw a gentleman walking around and it appeared he saw us. After waiting about 10 minutes, I decide to driver further into the park. The gentleman I saw earlier was one of the owners/ managers, I would would have expected him to go to the office to meet the newly arriving guests. I will say that he was friendly enough and later, his wife stopped by to collect the fee and she too was friendly. The park itself has full hook ups and is on the banks of the bayou. The campground require you to sign a waiver because of the water moccasins from the bayou and because of the potential of falling tree limbs. The. Campground is pretty sandy so leveling may be problematic for big rigs. The do allow long term guests to store all kinds of equipment and gear, the site next to us look like a junk yard. Our fellow campers seemed friendly enough with the gentleman on the other side from the junk yard introducing himself.

We arrived about 3:30 PM and check in was quick and easy. We proceeded to back-in site E139 with water& 50/30 AMP. The signage to our area had a R in front of the site numbers but all the site numbers on the posts have an E in front of them, so be aware of this discrepancy if coming in late. Back-in was easy on to the narrow pad that was long enough for our 39’ 5th wheel and F-450 truck parked in front, but not by much. There was a very nice deck with the fire pit/bbq nicely placed right off the deck. Site 140 next to us with the other deck is actually a pull through double site. Longest sites in this area of the CG are 109- 113. Other sites had short pads so be sure to check the length when you reserve. All of the pads in the CG looked fairly level. We got 2 bars on Verizon and a handful of OTA channels. With the amount of trees in the CG satellite could be iffy. Water pressure was okay at around 35 psi. The CG also had a separate and very nice tent area near the playground. They were remodeling the main restroom/shower so it was closed during our stay, but there was another facility in each RV area(100 and 200) that had toilets and a shower but were older and in need of updating. We stayed over the weekend and the CG was very busy. We enjoyed the great water view from the deck on our site during our 4 night’s stay.