Looking for an adventure where you can explore San Angelo and then fall asleep in your tent? Finding a place to camp in Texas with your tent has never been easier. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
To fish, hike, camp, or picnic in this area, persons 17 years and older will need a Limited Public Use permit ($12/year).
Traveler
My dog and I enjoyed this spot so much. Wide open camping. First come first serve. Grounds are very clean and well maintained. I can’t wait to come back and bring the kayak. Only thing I wish they had fire rings.
ScoutUno Online also trains my ability to react quickly and make decisions in each game.
Traveler
Stayed here last summer on our way to Sedona, one night stop. Super friendly folks in the office, guided to spot following golf cart. It was super hot when we arrived and were pleased to find the crystal clear pool to cool off in. Doggies enjoyed the dog park. Camp store had a 50 to 30 amp converter we needed for later in the trip. Trail nearby and running up the hill gives you a great view of the surroundings. Would definitely stay there again if we happen to be passing through!
Guide
This is a very quiet and open campground. We saw lots of deer every night. This area of Texas is hot and dry and the landscape reflects that. We had electric and water (slow flow). There is a dump station at the front near the gas station and the store. Most people are here to catch giant fish in Lake OH Ivie.
Ranger
Decent spot for couple of nights while checking out the area. This park has maybe 10 sites. Most have tables and grills. Not really suitable for big rigs, as it is in the middle of Granbury. Ideal for tents, vans, or small campers. Lot of day use activity among the locals. Dumpsters and portable toilet are available. Lots of trees to protect from the summer heat! T-mobile was decent at this site. I was able to get some work done.
Guide
This is the 2nd Texas state park I've stayed at. Both have a weird design. Bathrooms are at 1 end of sites. I was driving distance. It was cold, 20 degrees . This place suffers from long term neglect. Peeling paint, broken trim , It's a beautiful place. Great views. Bison, long horn and tons of deer.
TravelerNot a bad site for primitive and tent camping. Needs to be cleaned up a little bit and have a few things added but overall was a great weekend
ScoutVery clear instructions on the voicemail for after hours check in. Signs directing you to the campsites were minimal (ex: instead of “red arroyo campsites 1-11”it said “trailer 1-11.” Otherwise it was a well maintained state park, clean bathrooms, flat sites, easy hook ups. Not much to do but some easy hikes and I believe fishing/boating.
Legend
Enyoy the beauty of the lake, sunsets amazing. Staff is kind and friendly. Full hookup sites, spot are very bigs, have grill and picnic table. Ameneties are very cleans; propano fills available on site, access is restricted al night. Nice place for waking and biking. For sure we will stay again and recommend.🌿
Traveler
Stayed only one night on my way to another site! Big camping spots with Fit Pit and Grill (separate). Picnic Table with coverage and great unobstructed views! Quiet even though you are relatively close to the housing and traffic intersections!
Lost power because of a huge rainstorm but it’s was totally worth the sights and sounds of a West Texas Thunderstorm!
GuideWe stayed at this campground 5 nights. Level Asphalt. One Shade Tree on our site that helped a bit with the summer heat. Husband was hoping to fish in the lake but it is pretty dried up. Plenty of roads and trails to run and bike. Drove into town and had dinner at Zero Ale House. Biggest Cons: Flies! And ALOT of Cockleburs! My dogs couldn't walk anywhere without getting them on them!
Traveler
Love this place. Definitely recommend. Will return.
GuideWell maintained full sefvice park with plenty of amenities. More than we are used to. The price was average for 30 amp hookups with wifi, cable tv, restrooms, shower and laundry. There is an onsite pool and game room, trash pickup, dog park, and the lake is a short drive away. Parking is level raked gravel but a little close together. There is a municipal airport close by but doesn’t seem to be alot of planes passing over.
GuideExcellent camp site. Very dispersed and most have picnic tables with shade awnings which are great for hammocks. Bathrooms were fine. Miles of off-road Bike trails were well marked and varied from easy to technical.
LegendWe have enjoyed staying at San Angelo State Park because of the natural things it offers. We stayed in the Red Arroyo campground. The sites are large and well-spaced apart. You don't have much privacy due to the lack of trees since this is where the prairie and desert come together, but the distance between sites helps. Also, having a picnic table and covered shelter at each site is a nice touch.
One thing we noticed is that when the wind gets going here it really blows hard, so be prepared to take care of anything that might need to be held down. Several times it was bad enough that we had to close our roof vent.
The night sky is decent because it's so wide open, unfortunately, it's not as dark as we had hoped because of the lights from nearby San Angelo. You also tend to hear some road noise -- it's not bad, just louder than we expected considering how this place seems like it would be in the middle of nowhere from most of the pictures. Given the expansive horizon, though, you're in for some really cool sunrises and sunsets right from your campsite.
The hiking, biking, and equestrian trails here offer a lot of variety and with 50 miles of them, it's tough to get bored. Note that the North and South units have separate trail systems and there's no road within the park to reach the two units. You have to drive out on the main road and it's too far to bike or walk.
In addition to trails, make sure you check out the wildlife blind set up near the Red Arroyo loop, plus on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, the rangers do supplemental feeding of the bison and longhorn cattle herds, bringing them right up to the fence for visitors to see. It's a nice treat! As you hike, you're likely to see plenty of wildlife, too. We have seen deer, owls, birds, and javelinas so far.
Cell service was pretty good for Verizon and T-Mobile. (2-3 bars consistently)
The only real complaint (other than tiring of the wind after a while) was that the bathrooms are really old. They are kept clean and the showers were hot with good, modern showerheads. But in Red Arroyo, there is only one shower for women and one for men for the whole campground. And there also are very limited toilets in the main bathhouse and the secondary bathhouse has at least one defunct toilet in the men's room. The whole park could use a bathroom/shower house overhaul. It hasn't been very busy with campers here but we could see that a busy season could wreak havoc on bathroom availability.
Note that if you're coming for O.C. Fisher Lake, that is a reservoir that is emptying out and never likely to come back. A ranger told us the lake is at about 6-8% of its glory days. The place is filled with boat ramps to nowhere and when hiking you can find several abandoned campground loops.
All-in-all a good place to stay but go in with your eyes open.
Traveler
This is the north part of San Angelo State Park. I camped here the last weekend of January. Other than being quite windy during the day, the weather was gorgeous. Chilly at night with temperatures in the thirties but the days were sixties and seventies and sunny. I didn't get to do much exploring because I went to San Angelo to pick up something on Monday morning and thought I would use this trip to test out some gear. The parking sites are great for either a tent or small RV. This was ideal for my setup which is a rooftop tent on my SUV. There were some nice large trees over many of the campsites and there were clean concrete picnic tables with a sun or rain cover above that.
RangerWe were using this as a stop over/mid point in Texas and it happen to be during the crazy article blast that crippled the state. The family who owns and operates the campground were absolutely amazing during rolling black outs, single digit temperatures, and water being shut off due to main breaks. They had propane fill onsite, kept their well stocked general store open, and were so kind and pleasant even though they were working round the clock to keep things running.
We were able to use the laundry (when the water was on), bath houses were closed (I think for winter). Those areas could probably use a little upkeep, but it didn’t bother us. There was cable and we had great T-Mobile cell service. (I think they had hard wire internet too if you wanted to pay for it)
Lots of wildlife out an about which was pretty fun to see. Deer and turkey lots of them.
My family was very lucky to have a camper with heat water and electricity during a time where many were without.
LegendThis is camping the way we like it -- rustic, beautiful and inexpensive. And, there was no one there in January, despite the state parks being packed! We had the place completely to ourselves, with the exception of a few fisherman.
For $5 a night you can camp at any one of the dozens of sites scattered around the lakeshore. Lots of space in between sites and most with beautiful sunrise/sunset views. Each campsite has a picnic shelter above the table for shade, and rain, a grill and fire ring, plus your very own trashcan – never saw all that before in such an inexpensive park but there you have it! No hook-ups in the park, so bring your solar panel for some electricity if you need it.
The lake is used mostly by local anglers, but I can imagine it gets pretty busy during the summer months when the lake level is at its highest. The only bathrooms were centrally located near the diner/ campstore/ RV Park/ gas station near the boat launch. So, if you are out in the campground, you'll want to bring your own method. The folks were great there and let us use the wifi for a few hours.
There’s not much in the way of trails in the immediate area of the lake, except the dirt roads. A word about the dirt, it is mostly clay which when saturated with rain water will form the most exceptionally sticky mud to coat the underside of your vehicle. It comes off, but wow, only with some strong encouragement and a high pressure hose.
The closest towns with grocery stores and other services are Balanger and Menard, but you can get a few things including drinking water, ice, and drinks at the camp store.
RangerIt’s well kept, the spaces are far apart, and it’s exactly as advertised. The staff is friendly and helpful. Dog friendly too. And dogs are allowed on all of the trails. It’s still the desert, but there is a small lake.
ScoutVery clean, quiet campground. My daughter loved feeding the deer. We look forward to returning soon!
RangerWe were in the Red Arroyo loop in the south section. Sites are huge and spaced out well. Not much privacy, but that's because it's basically prairie land.
While we were there, it was really windy, maybe that's the norm. I enjoyed our stay as there are many hiking trails and wildlife viewing. Not very far from the park is the city, in case you forgot something or need ice, or a cheat meal.
RangerWe stayed over Thanksgiving and the campground was less than half full. The sites in the Bald Eagle loop are spacious, many have covered picnic tables, a few trees, and there is a playground. If you cross the dry creek bed into the horse campground you can access the extensive network of hiking, biking, and horse riding trails. The trails are well marked. The only downside is that to drive into the campground you have to get out and remove a pad lock and manually open the gate.
ScoutIt was still hot out, but lots of animals to be seen. We saw tons of deer, porcupines, foxes, and bison of course. There are Javelina and Longhorns, but we didn’t see them this weekend. Great Labor Day 2020 glamping trip, but we didn’t make it to the lake this time.
TravelerNeed to add more stuff and clean it up
TravelerLove the fishing here and it’s quiet
TravelerGreat time and fun time but people can be loud all night.
LegendSan Angelo good place for mountain biking, decent trails, it was so hot, that it brought some very bad thunderstorms, had some hail damage at this location, would like to be back here, but with a Mountain bike, at a cooler time of the year. 20 to 23. June 2020
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near San Angelo, TX is Twin Buttes Park with a 3-star rating from 2 reviews.
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