Best Cabin Camping near Palo Pinto, TX

Nice camping spot for families. I chose to camp in the north primitive hike-in sites across the river. It was pretty hot but I still had a good time exploring the hiking trails. If you go hiking, take a map and of course extra water. My map came in handy a couple of times as I was hiking as the actual trails led me off track a few times.

I stayed in the primitive camping area. You hike between 1-2.5 miles across the river to sites. If the river is too high these sites may be closed. Water is only available at the trailhead. These sites are primitive so they do not have showers, restrooms, picnic tables or water.

Other sites available:

• Campsites with electricity (Picnic tables, water hookup, electric, fire ring)
• Walk-in campsites (Fire ring, lantern post)
• Group camp (fire ring, water nearby, three picnic tables)

My husband and I stayed at Dinosaur Valley RV Park (DVRVP) on two separate occasions in last four weeks. We stayed 1 night during our first time at DVRVP and 2 nights during our second stay.

Here are our pros: 1.) DVRVP shares a property line with DVSP. Guests are able to purchase a day pass online through the DVSP website and access DVSP without ever having to drive through the front entrance. It was a simple 1 minute walk to access the park through DVRVP.

2.) You do not have to enter DVSP to enjoy the Paluxy River. Guests of DVRVP can access the river by following a small trail at one corner of the park by the entrance of DVSP. Our family spent a whole day in the river a minute walk from our camper.

3.) Dinosaur World is across the street.

4.) DVRVP is a family owned and operated business. The service was friendly! We wanted to add a. Additional day. We called and left a message. Moments later we received a return phone call. We were placed on a wait list. A few hours later we received another phone call let us know they were able to add an additional day to our visit.

5.) The sites are pull in and leveled for the most part. Both sites we stayed at were clean, free of trash and pet waste. The fire pits had been cleaned out. Connections are conveniently placed on driver side and we’re cleaned.

6.) DVRVP staff hosts several family friendly activities for guests throughout the day, everyday.

7.) DVRVP has a playground, swimming pool, hot tub, fire pit and plenty of green space for kids to roam and explore.

8.) Pet Friendly!

9.) No RV age restrictions! We saw old to new class A’s to C’s and towable’s.

Here are our cons:

1.) 2 pet limit per site. We would love to bring all three of our dogs. One is tiny and is an incident dog.

This is a fun little state park was just perfect for a little Saturday night away. It is just a little less than 2 hours from Fort Worth. I would say that the park is good for short stays of 1 to 3 nights. There is not a lot to do in the area or the park that would keep attention more than that. The park has a stocked fishing lake and equipment for loan. There is all the fort buildings to explore with rangers giving talks and various activities. There is the trail system between the park and Lost Creek Reservoir for hiking and horseback riding about a 10 mile trails. The park also has a full sized sand volleyball court and playground for the kids.

The campsites are very good sized with two different camping areas. One the sites are pretty spread out with easy pull ins and flat. The other has a the cabins and sites are more close together. The parks only bathhouse is on this side also. It's not far but a bit too far for convenience if you are needing a shower. Restrooms are also in the fort area which is just down from the other campground. We were only there one night so the kids washed up in the creek LOL. The sites all have picnic tables and fire rings/pits.

We put up our large tent and dog trolley line with still plenty of space. The creek running behind the (with a big fan blowing) kept us nice & cool.

The local sheriff and police make drive throughs, No safety or security issues.

No issues with noise either.

I remember going to this place when I was younger. It seemed so large and always had a lot going on that was interesting. We hosted a summer camp here, went to company picnics and came out with friends. It was the resort type feel without the huge resort style price.

Now that I am older I wanted to check it out to see if it lived up to the hype I recalled from childhood when the pool and the boats on the beach seemed to give me life on hot summers. Now I look at things from the eye of a camper which notices amenities differently, blogs about budget travel and explores the outdoor spaces.

When I pulled in I spoke to person at the entry who gave me a basic rundown of the facility which included a small restaurant, atv area, sports area including mini golf and a pool and of course the camping experience options themselves which have grown since I last was here. There are cabins available and RV spaces however they do allow a tent in these spaces as well, of course you are paying for a full hook up site so your price is a bit more than primitive camping, which is located in a space close to the bank of the water.

This is a pretty large property!! Over 200 sites available and several cabin options so anyone trying any kind of adventure can find something they will be interested in. The price of your site covers a lot of activity space and also has some very nice shower and bathroom facilities to make your trip comfortable.

Some of the downside is maintenance! You can tell this is an older facility in way of the broken roads and potholes. Also some of the facility amenities and furnishings are in need of an update. Some of the picnic tables were in need of replacement and looked like they had been used pretty heavily over the years. Not all the facility looks like this but in he areas like the primitive camping it seemed a bit more obvious, sometimes I feel like just because you aren't wanting all the amenities they think of you as a second class citizen at campgrounds.

It is pretty busy during early summer, when I had checked it out and more so during the holidays such as July 4th, Memorial Day and Labor Day. I decided to go during the week so there was no issue in getting a canoe from the rentals but on the more busy weekends I was told it is first come first serve.

TIPS:

• If renting a cabin do so well in advance between summer camp, family outings and normal traffic these book up quickly.

• Bring Cash for the restaurant when I was there their machine was down for cards.

• Shower Shoes!! if you don't wear them in the showers already start here!!