Best Tent Camping near Pat Mayse Lake, TX

Located on the south shore of Pat Mayse Lake is the beautiful Corps Of Engineer campground Sanders Cove Recreation Area. This three loop campground is nestled among stunning trees and is a wonderful place to RV camp.

With two boat ramps you will have no issues putting your boat in the water. The swim area was kinda dull but better than nothing.

There is a serious fishing tournement held every year, Uncle Jesse Big Bass Classic Fishing Tournament, started by Denver Pyle who played Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard fame, Denvers wife continues to hose this tournement in Denvers name today.

Check out my FPV tour of SAnders Cove ecreation area on my YouTube channel here...

https://youtu.be/Ob7JwH7zHrQ

Our family had such an amazing time tent camping on the water!

Clean bathrooms, good playground and beach area. Cabins, RV, equestrian and tent sites.

We camped at McGee Creek State Park over Memorial Day weekend. We camped at tent hill #3. The thing we really liked about this particular site was that there are only 4 tent sites here, so it’s secluded and nice and quiet. There is very little traffic driving by as well. What we didn’t like is that there is only a pit toilet and no water faucets. There is a real bathroom with a shower about a 10-15 minute walk away. The bathroom was pretty typical of a state park. There is an area that has some lake huts for rent as well. They don’t have bathrooms but the are heated/cooled.

There is another area about 1.5 miles away called Buster Height campground. This is where the swim beach and another boat dock is. There is also an RV area and a bunch of tent sites. Most of these tent sites are pretty small and crowded together. If you have a big tent or don’t like being near others, you might want to consider tent hill if it’s available.

On the other side of the lake (about a 25-30 minute drive) is the natural scenic recreation area. There are a ton of hiking trails that lead to backpacking campsites, equestrian camps and there are boat in sites as well.

Overall a pretty decent park but definitely not one of our favorites.

I’m an avid camper and hiker but when camping here alone at night (no one else was in the tent camping area), my camp site was accosted by a family of raccoons. They were not friendly and not scared of people at all. Be careful if you have young children. Aside from this, the lake was beautiful, peaceful and serene. Camp sites are unique and right on the water.

We tent camped here in April. We got here in the dark and it was hard to find a a spot but when we woke up the next morning we had a great view of the lake. The bathroom near the office was newer and had showers that you need quarters to use. Also had an old school playground but the kids had fun. We took a hike around part of the lake but the trail was pretty much unmarked.

McGee Creek is a great park if you enjoy camping and fishing with plenty of opportunity to do so both from the shore line and a boat. On the small side for a state park, it still has plenty of tent sites and RV sites for everyone to enjoy. The park boasts updated bathrooms, fire rings and tables. We didn't find the hiking trails when we were here but will be back to explore soon.

I found this campground through a US army core website, and the details at that website did not turn out to be very accurate. Both loops at Pat Mayse East Campground showed to have bathrooms, which I assumed meant flush toilets and sinks, since the map also had an icon for vault toilets and this was not used. Both loops actually do have vault toilets and no running water. The campground seems set up pretty well for RVs; there were a lot of rv hookups for water and electric. There are also basic tent sites, picnic tables and metal fire rings. Water spigots are placed throughout so access is not difficult. You have your choice of sunny areas or more forested. Some spots are tightly packed in, but others are on the outside of the loop and seem like they'd be pretty quite. I wasn't overly impressed on the whole.

This is definitely my all time favorite. I stayed at “tent t hill” primitive area. Spot number 3 and it was PERFECT! Wooded area, quiet, peaceful. Trail literally right across from the section.

My only complaint was it was hard to find. The signs are not very helpful.

Tented 2 nights. Spot A5. Spot was good. Right on the water. Could boat up if you wanted. Nice and shady, even good shade in the direct western sun. Beautiful sunsets! Hike right from camp.

Reason for only 4 stars: toilet pits and bathhouse needs a little TLC. It’s time to clean up the shorelines. And the site ground could use some grass. Tax dollars don’t really help so don’t forget to DONATE!

HUGE place. Cabins, a lodge, restaurant, RV campgrounds, tent only campgroundsii, fly fishing, kayaks, hiking. When it isn’t COVID they have wagon rides, horse riding, pedal boats, paddle board and kayak rentals and miniature golf. There’s a lot to see and do here and we barely scratched the surface. We definitely need to visit again and explore j

We met the camp host who assisted us in finding our spot. We had a site far from anyone else and had a lakeside camp spot. This made our site feel huge. My favorite moment was when I was able to strip bare in the moonlight and dance on the shore. It feels very private & peaceful

The sites themselves were awesome. We opted for a site with electricity and our site had a newly built & paved platform/deck with the picnic table, grill, and light hook. The camp host suggested we pop our tent on the pavement but we found a suitable spot so we could stake our tent in.

The bathroom were clean and easily accessible though depending on where your site is you may end up wanting to drive to the bathroom. Lol

I almost for got to tell you that there are cabins here. Very basic simple structures with bunk beds, a table inside, a fireplace, & screened in porch. On our way out of the campgrounds we drove by to take a peak & saw a ranger there who allowed us to pop in to see. She recommended a visit to McGee Creek during winter. Less visited & they get snow. How peaceful!

For our first RV camping trip of 2018 we took a short drive north to Bonham State Park right outside of Bonham, Texas. This great little Texas State Park was constructed by the CCC back in the 30's. There are plenty of things for a family to do while camping at Bonham State Park! Hiking, fishing, boat rental and best of all Smors cooked over a roaring camp fire! At every Texas Stae Park you can check out fishing equipment from the front office and you do not have to have a fishing license! Bonham State Park takes the fishing to a whole new level by providing boats so you can get out to where the fish are hiding! Bonham State Park is a great place to take the family for a long weekend of camping fun as it is just a short 45 min drive north of the DFW metroplex!

Check out my YouTube video here...

https://youtu.be/cxcORiV_zmA

Have stayed in the Buster Hight campground for a weekend in early May for the last two years with friends. This last year the water level was high so putting a tent on a site near the water was a bit more difficult. The sunrises are great and had fog roll across the lake both years. Looking forward to bringing my family down this year as well.

This campground also has a play ground, pavilion, swim beach, and fishing docks.

This is a fairly dated park that has several features to appeal to both tent campers as well as RVers. First there are several areas to camp but my favorite spots are down by the lake. The primitive spots are VERY primitive with a few fire rings and even some that have a cover over the tables however these areas don't have a bath house close by. The spots by the lake have bathrooms, fire runs, unbroken tables and a nice lantern post that over look the small lake. Hiking is light to non existent hear but it would make a great kayak or jet ski weekend trip.

We arrived here because all the campgrounds in a 50 mile radius were booked up. The campground is spare without much to do. On this day, the wind off the lake was howling, so I had to park the van and put up a tarp to block it enough to set up the tent. The bathrooms were a mess and we just didn't have that much to do. The one bright spot was a camp volunteer named Joe who helped us out and even sang us some tunes.

Due to rain and cloudy weather spent 3 nights for electrical hook up, I have solar system so with long periods of no sun just as easy to plug in and pay versus running generator,I have 2 freezers full of meat's for the winter in South Texas at RV park.