Best Tent Camping near National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, TX

Nice swimming area seperate tent sites close to town

These are full hook up sites only no tent sites

Tere is a natural fed spring that is clear and beautiful. There's BBQ pit area and picnic tables. Cell Signal is almost non-existent. Sandy but still a lot of fun for the family.

There's RV camping and I believe tent camping also. We normally make a day trip as Its only a couple hours from home

We absolutely love this park!  RV and tent sites right on the water, beach area for swimming, boat docks and ramp, etc.  We extended our stay and plan to for awhile!  The staff is so welcoming!  Oh and there are 13 gorgeous cabins for rent!  I highly recommend this park!

We camped in Loop A during the week of Thanksgiving 2020 by making reservations 134 days prior to arriving. Very friendly volunteer gate attendants, but not sure when they work the gate as we tried to find them twice in one day and no one around and no info on how to contact/find someone, even tho there are four different campsites marked“attendant”. Overall, very quiet campground the week of Thanksgiving except for the highway noise from Highway 255, which was loud! Nine site FHU loop where sites are crammed together, weirdly and poorly laid out and spaced. No vegetation between sites so no privacy here what-so-ever! We could hear everyone’s conversations, even some that were inside their RV! Back-in site 12 was a tricky challenge to get into due to the terrain. First a dip before a narrow entrance over drainage ditch pipe, then a steep grade which almost had us scrapping the asphalt as we saw evidence of many that had previously. The narrow asphalt parking pad is deteriorating on the utility hook up side leaving a 6-8 inch drop off, so not very forgiving! Most asphalt site pads in this loop are in poor condition. Site 12 was not level side-to-side. Site 12 also has two wooden enclosures(wooden fence) that house utility panel boxes. At first, we thought we had our own outhouse! There is a slight view of the lake from Site 12. Recreation.gov states this site is"full shade", which we disagree. Our concrete picnic table on a concrete pad was fairly close to the parking pad. Our site also included a rotting shelter over the table, a rotting wooden bar-height prep table(aka fish cleaning table), a wooden lantern pole and a metal fire pit with a grilling grate that was one big tripping hazard due to the concrete slab the pit was placed on was broken up and huge hunks of concrete displaced around the metal fire pit. What a mess. Toilet/shower facility just for this campground loop fairly clean, but not serviced every day(during the week). Tent sites are along the lake in Loop A. There is a significant drop-off down to the water’s edge. Evidence of tent campsites that had been washed out/destroyed in recent flooding. Not a good stargazing location due to other close by campers with numerous outdoor lights burning all night! Super friendly squirrels that ate from our hands. No other wildlife sighting during our 4 night stay the week of Thanksgiving. Sam Rayburn Lake is beautiful. Park has a boat ramp and a large ramp parking area. No firewood for sale in this park. A bait shop, Valero fuel station, liquor store and a couple restaurants within a 5-minute drive of the Park entrance. Jasper has a Tractor Supply and a small Walmart. Lufkin has most chain restaurants, Lowes, Super Walmart, etc. Two bars AT&T signal

Went to Powell not knowing what to expect.  The lake is beautiful, the camp grounds are spotless and the Staff is awesome.  Great facilities whether tent camping, RV camping or staying in a cabin.  Cabins are small and rustic as you would expect but very clean.  What you’d want since you will be outside enjoying the great outdoors!  Boat rentals, pontoons for larger groups, fishing, water sports, they have it all.  Did I mention how awesome the staff is??? So accommodating and friendly.  We will be back!

Come for the hiking trails and access to local communities like Palestine, TX and 4C Trail.

You will get to know your neighbors at this state park if you choose to camp here.

Our party was spread out between the main campground and the Day Use area sites. We enjoyed the site we had, but our friends were camping in the main camping loop which was very crowded and cramped mid-week. Personally our site was B near the playground and the ADA trailheads. Site B is kinda magical and if you like people watching than you are in luck, there is no shortage of foot traffic near your campsite. For us it was nice and hikers, passersby were very respectful. 

Amenities used:

Bundled FIrewood (donations accepted, however it is free to use)

WIFI at the visitors center is sub-dial-up speed

Bathhouse is stall type so it is not a fully private room.

Staff if friendly and helpful

Sites are all on hillside, if you have an RV/camper I would rec the pull through sites. The back in sites really only work for tent camping. For Tents, the pad sizes vary so be sure to check your tent dimensions. We saw a few sites our 4 person tent wouldn't have fit onto. (Saw the same at Lake Ratcliff) 

Personally I would recommend the campgrounds at Lake Ratcliff if you are looking for spacious camping loops. Also Lake Ratcliff's bathhouse was much nicer and more ADA friendly. Mission Tejas's high quality trails are only a 20min drive from Lake Ratcliff.

Would've given this park a 4 star if campground hadn't been so cramped. Maybe my expectations need curbing. I will return for some winter camping later this year, possible even early spring as well. It is a great park, but if it is full, it feels crowded.

I had a great time at this park. Sites A and B are next to the day usage areas of the park, and are separated from the RV accessible areas. I found the site delightfully secluded - with a nice set of steps from the picnic table and fire pit right up to the tent pad. Water spigots are everywhere - although the one immediately adjacent to A&B was a little muddy, so I walked across to the playground to get water there. There's a trash can right next to the sites, and a set of clean, nice bathrooms not far off. This spot is also conveniently located next to several trailheads.

Only major problem with this site - there happened to be two fire ant nests on or directly adjacent to the tent pad. Luckily, I was able to angle my 2 person tent perfectly to avoid trouble, but for a larger tent it may have been a huge problem.

Very primitive and off the beaten path, our 02 Mustang was able to handle it. No site numbers just pop the tent wherever. Very quiet and beautiful.

If you want to escape the hot summer in Texas, I would recommend coming to Brookeland Campground because there is a beautiful lake nearby. My cousins and I took a trip to this campground to enjoy the lake, hiking and of course the outdoors. We brought a 6 person tent, and this fit comfortably in our campsite. There is also a fire ring and table within your site as well. There is only 1 bathroom within the campground, or at least what we could find. It was a porta-potty style, and smelt so bad. Not sure how often they clean it, but it was pretty bad (especially with the heat....made it worse!). Thankfully we came prepared and brought our own toilet paper, because by the 2nd night we were there, there was no toilet paper in the bathroom. We heard a few people complain about this. Although the bathroom was gross, the rest of the campground was pretty clean. There are dumpsters as you leave, so please make sure to clean up after yourselves. We enjoyed hiking in the morning, and then playing in the lake mid morning-afternoon. There were tons of people swimming, boating, tubing, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. It was a blast, and perfect for the hot weather. Definitely bring bug spray because there were so many mosquitos near the campground. I left with a few pretty big welts. I would definitely come back to this campground! Recommend.

We always have a good time. We had a shelter site, but also set up a tent. Reservations online were quick and easy, and when we arrived our site was ready for us. The Host soon came around and gave us our passes. It was cool and a little rainy. But we had fun fishing. Thanks for everything.

Came here with a big group of family. They were in an RV, I stayed in a tent. Roads are paved, kids can roam, lots of trails and some playgrounds. The showers arent bad either. The lake was fun to kayak on. It was raining so not many people were there. Spiders galore here, fair warning.

Would be 5 stars except it's close enough to the road that you get traffic noise. I camped early January and was the only tent camper, quite enjoyable. Very pretty lake view and sunsets and sunrise are delightful. Showers are warm, not the hottest, but welcome nontheless.

The park has a couple small campsites available for both tent and trailer, with price variation to reflect that. The ranger I met at the gate was friendly, engaging and welcoming. The park boats three historic locations, miles of trails and a small but beautifuly curated interpretive center that all ages interested in history will find entertainment and education in. It also boasts a library which is an unexpected but pleasant feature to find.

The only way to book is thru Angelina county Texas parks it's worth it

There'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.

Well spaced out, but not huge sites (both RV hookup electric and Non "tent only") which allow you to not really spread out, but at least people aren't on top of you. Like most campgrounds you have your standard table and fire ring, but you also have access to flush toilets and showers.

The recreation area also rents out canoes and has pretty good fishing or you can make sure of thee swimming area and the tons of trails for some short nice hikes or a long trek through the region.

The 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!