Best Tent Camping near Pampa, TX

This was a good spot to stop on our road trip - easy to navigate to, easy to reserve, very level spots, hookups. But we probably won’t return. It was very windy, so I wouldn’t really want to tent camp here. The lake looked nice but it’s very flat so not as geologically interesting as our recent stops on Utah and New Mexico. Could smell the oil/gas industrial sites nearby at times, but overall I wouldn’t say it was a deal breaker.

This is the perfect place for quiet, secluded tent camping. The sites were spread apart a nice distance, each with a picnic table. Pit toilets centrally located. Grills And fire rings at some (but perhaps not all) of the sites.  The best part of this campground is the quiet. We were the only ones at the campground the weekend of our visit - we literally had the campground to ourselves. Just a short drive/hike further up the canyon on the dirt road for some beautiful views.

We visited Lake Meredith recently with plans to camp at Sanford-Yake. There were many FREE sites available during the week. Each site has a shaded picnic area, grill, and fire pit. We were able to find a spot away from other campers and fairly close to the bathhouse. We tried to find a trail to the water, but the most distinct path had washed away once we got closer to the lake. After a couple of hours of sweating and nearly being blown away at the same time, we decided that this was not a good fit for us and tent camping. Not even the gorgeous views and bathhouse could keep us there. All but one of the other campers had RVs.

The bathhouse was nice. I liked that the toilet and shower were together which would make shower time easy for families.

This campground, located on the bluff overlooking the dam and a large part of Lake Meredith, offers about 10 traditional RV sites with water and electric. There are also plenty of tent sites, each with a covered picnic pavillion. There is a sanitary dump, the bathrooms were very clean and are family-style (single use with toilet, sink, and shower). The water was hot with good pressure. The best part…this campground is FREE (unless you need hook-ups)!

The nearby boat launch is just down the hill, with a huge parking lot (our guess is that the lake gets busy in summer). The area offers some great fishing and water sport opportunities. There are a few hiking and mountain biking trails, though more seemed to be on the less developed, western shore of the lake.

The town of Fritch is less than 4 miles away with a few restaurants, a small grocery store, and gas stations. Be sure to check the Alibates Flint National Monument, just 10 miles south of town. It is worth a stop!

FCFS 

FREE 

The boat ramp is open and great for "small" boats. Beautiful sunsets, picnic table, shade shelters, grills, trash cans, fire ring. There is no water, no flush toilets. This campground is more suited for tents but there is an area by the boat ramp where folks could boondock. 

Thank you Texas, you are amazing. 

LNT 

AIS Clean, Drain, Dry 

Travel safe

Ended up boondocking at the park because of a terrible storm that blew in and wouldn't allow me to keep my tent down, but overall a great night even with sleeping in the car. Paved accessible roadways and free hot shower in the restrooms is a major perk!

There are three different camping units to the park. Dry camping on one side of the dry lake. Two sections for camping on the other side of the lake RV section for OHV traffic. And then a tent RV section on the other side. Only one full bathroom with showers the rest are pet toilets. The upper campground is quite charming you need to know the lake is dry though and has been for quite a while.

This was a great spot right next to the lake.  with that being said, be careful of the fire ants, mosquitoes at night, and the flies in the morning.😝 they however only took of a 1/2 point from my original rating. It was really a great spot. Bring a shade tent. It is out in the open no shade at the location we were at.

Cliffside sites with great views of the lake, opposing cliffs, and the dam. Grill, picnic table and shade shelter at each site. Most sites are first-come, first-served. Plenty of space between sites, but not much privacy by way of trees/etc. Bathrooms and showers were clean and functioned well. Can get very windy in the evenings/overnight which make it loud and chilly in a tent. Cell service was pretty decent with Verizon.

The campground was okay. The sites are pretty close together but it wasn’t busy when we were there. Toilets & showers were clean and it’s awesome that the whole thing is free. BUT (!!!) people had mentioned before that it gets windy there. And it sure does. We couldn’t get any sleep because our the wind shook our roof top tent all night long. It was incredibly loud. There are no trees or structures that block the wind.

Me and two friends stayed here for a night on our road trip out west. We had no idea what to expect and after driving for hours through flat farmland, we were shocked to see the beauty and the scale of the lake. The sites are right on the cliff sides, offering stunning views, especially at sunset. Sites are good distance from each other. One con was it was pretty windy all night, but that wasn’t a problem, just remember to bring stakes for your tent!

West Texas winds are no joke. Our site was great, lot of sandburs so stay on roads. No sewer hookup for us. Great views. No nearby beach / water access except boat ramp / check in area.

Tucked into a low valley on the eastern shore of Lake Meredith, this campground offers tons of space for tent and small RV campers, with just a few sites that can accommodate a larger RV. There are several vault toilets and trash receptacles, but no drinking water – so plan accordingly. Sites are FREE and first-come, first-served.

The nearby boat launch is just down the hill, with a huge parking lot (our guess is that the lake gets BUSY in summer), offering some great fishing and water sport opportunities. There were a few hiking and mountain biking trails, more seemed to be on the less developed, western shore of the lake. 

The town of Fritch is less than 3 miles away with a few restaurants and a small grocery store and gas stations. Be sure to check the Alibates National Monument, just 10 miles south of town. It is super cool!

We stayed at this campsite on our journey out west it’s right on Lake Mary is a very large man-made reserve the campsite has access to a boat ramp there are about 10+ primitive sites all with picnic tables no grills and there is currently a fire ban otherwise fires would be allowed but the firemen I believe is most of the state of Texas we stayed here on 107° day so be mindful there’s very little shelter even under the covered picnic tables highly would recommend not being outside during dusk as a plethora of insects will come and they can get quite aggressive but once the sun settle down so did the bugs and we had a lovely evening it does get very hot here as you are in the middle of Texas and there is no water available pit toilets were excellent very clean and also double as tornado shelters as this is in tornado alley so be careful there’s lots of interesting vegetation here and lots of different plant life you can get down to the lake from a long path like that starts at a large paved parking lot it’s not really a parking lot it’s just a large giant pain. On top of the rock I can easily accommodate Very long rigs it’s about 30 minutes to the nearest anything at least so be sure you bring everything you need

McDowell Campground is a pleasant little campground on the shore of Lake McClellan right in the middle of the Texas panhandle. Signs on the interstate direct you to the exit for the recreation area, but after that don't expect any other signage to help you find the campground, the only other sign you will get is the National Grasslands sign when you reach the area. Use your GPS or Google Maps to find you way and you will not have any trouble. After entering the Grassland do not take the first entrance you see on the left(dirt road leading to East Bluff#1 campground), but take the second paved entrance. Neither have a sign. The road is paved all the way to the campground. Once you turn off the main road their will be a road to the right which leads to the dump station. Just past this is a fork in the road with a sign for Lake McClellan. Take the road to the left for McDowell Campground, going to the right will take you to Lake McClellan Campground. Pay station will be on your right as you drive in.

This is a nice pleasant quiet campground next to the lake. A few campsites sit on the shore of Lake McClellan. Very nice wooded sites through out the campground. The campground has hook up sites with electric and water($15), and non-hookup sites($10). Two vault toilets serve the campground, located on each end. Each site has a picnic table and metal fire ring, some sites also include pedestal grills as well. All sites are nice and level. This is a very pleasant campground and located away from the ATV trails so should be quieter that the near by Lake McClellan Campground. If you want a hot shower then head over to Lake McClellan Campground. Only a few other campers were here mid week in October. In true Texas still a working oil well can be seen right at the edge of the campground.

Nothing wrong with this spot in any way shape or form. Lots and lots of bugs and critters. We were greeted in the morning by mowers and people picking up trash, but that’s a fantastic sign of a campsite well taken care of, so no complaints from me. In the night, we got to hear coyotes and we heard the scurrying feet of a raccoon or possum. Designated fire pits and a picnic table for each site. Check the site for ant mounds first!! The ants in Texas are bigger too I guess lol. There were also plenty of places for horses so that was awesome. Each site was large enough for an RV or camper.

East Bluff#1 Campground located on south side of Lake McClellan is a small five site campground. The campground is better suited for RVs than tents as the ground at all the sites slopes down towards the lake. Campsites at the ends are slightly more flat. All of the site sit on the lake shore. Two of the five sites have two picnic tables, every site has at least on picnic table and a metal fire ring. One double vault toilet can be found on the west end of the campground, a dumpster is located in the parking area. Sites are well spread out, plenty of room to spread out. A nice feature of this campground is the large field located across the parking area from the campsites. Their is no water at this campground, so come prepared or fill up at one of the other campgrounds on the other side of the lake. Signs on the interstate direct you to the exit for the recreation area, but after that don't expect any other signage to help you find the campground, the only other sign you will get is the National Grasslands sign when you reach the area. After passing the National Grasslands sign take the first dirt road on the right to reach the campground, pass by the next right turn, this leads to the boat launch area, continue down the toad to the campground. Cost is$10 per night.

There are various campgrounds around Lake Meredith. Blue West is on the opposite side from the city of Fritch side. Contrary to some pictures here, it does NOT have access to the water. No docks, no ramps, no water for filling, no electricity. Those are at other spots, not Blue West. It is up in a cliff over looking the lake. That said, it was very empty in July. And being so high up, I was afraid the winds were going to tear my popup canvas. It's a beautiful spot. Nothing wrong with it at all. Just those Texas winds! Shelters have two picnic tables in them. So, there is some shade. The pics are views of the lake from my campsite. So is the video

This place is free and has some sites with both water/hookups and some dry camping. The views are so sick and I had no idea Texas had spots to offer like this (Midwesterner here lol). Fun to watch the deer down by the shore. Cool lil trails and loved the sunrises here, I parked right on the edge. I was at a site with hookups for a few hours (self converted camper van but sometimes I just hook up to the 20a/put my batteries on trickle charger). Some lady w a fifth wheel came up and said I was in her spot tho I’m pretty sure she duped me bc it’s free/aren’t reservations lol. Didn’t put up a fight. No problem camping dry with a better view!! Will be back when traversing TX again.

Lake McClellan Campground is a nice campground in the middle of the Texas panhandle. Signs on the interstate direct you to the exit, but after that don't expect any other signage to help you find the campground, the only other sign you will get is the National Grasslands sign when you reach the area. Use your GPS or Google Maps to find you way and you will not have any trouble. After entering the Grassland do not take the first entrance you see on the left(dirt road leading to East Bluff#1 campground), but take the second paved entrance. Neither have a sign. The road is paved all the way to the campground. Once you turn off the main road their will be a road to the right which leads to the dump station. Just past this is a fork in the road with a sign for Lake McClellan. Take the road to the right for Lake McClellan Campground, going to the left will take you to McDowell Campground. Pay station will be on your left as you drive in, continue past the pay station to the camping area.

The campground has hook up sites with electric and water($15), and non-hookup sites($10). The first 8 sites are just a large parking area for RVs, the remainder of the sites sit on small loops in the trees. All sites are nice and level. A few sites are missing their site numbers which made it a little difficult to figure out which site we were in. Campground has flush toilets with hot showers, one of the two restroom/shower building was locked. Site could use a little upkeep but for$10 for a sight with flushing toilets and showers, this is a good deal. Only a few other campers mid week in October. This are has ATV trails, so I am guessing it might get busy on the weekends. All sites have picnic tables, metal fire rings and most have pedestal grills as well.