Best RV Parks & Resorts near Lake O' The Pines

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.

Did an extended stay here, 3 months while working in the area. The staff is great and very helpful and friendly. The dog park is nice if you have them. Park is well maintained. There are only 2 reasons I couldn’t give them more than 3 stars, 1) on monthly rate they charge for electric which I get but it continued to go up even though outside temps continued to drop so no need for my A/C units. 2) During the last 4 nights of my stay there were multiple times I heard multiple gun fire in the area.

Lots of in and out traffic. I would recommend if your passing through the area and need to stop for a night or two but not long term.

I stayed for 4 nights from a Thursday through Monday. The owner is very nice and helped me with choosing a drive thru site. It is well maintained. Mix of long term and short stay resident s. It is near a busy arterial highway so it's not especially quiet. The hookups worked great. I was two spots from the very front of the park. I used Passport America pass for my first 3 nights. I felt safe. It is very pet friendly. Keep dogs on leash and clean up after them. I have 3 black labs. No fenced dog park yet, so I drove them to the city park with tennis courts every morning to run free. I will most likely stay here again. I mostly boondock in the forests, but when I need a place to resupply and take care of business needs, this place is very nice.

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.

This COE campground is part of Lake O' The Pines right outside the historic town of Jefferson, TX. Our site had 180 degree views of the beautiful lake and sat amongst tall pines. The sites are a nice distance from the others and fairly level. Electric and water hookups were on site and a dump station was nearby within the park.  Many had their fishing boats and a nice swimming area was just a few yards away. We enjoyed the Jefferson Museum and train ride while we were nearby.  The only deduction was due to an abundance of ants that invaded our RV and were difficult to resolve. Though insects are an obvious hazard of camping, we'd never had that issue before. Overall, it's a gorgeous place to spend time!