Best Tent Camping near San Juan, TX

Many of the campsites are right on the water, which is the Arroyo Colorado, a canal that runs east-west to the Laguna Madre, the bay between the south Texas shoreline and South Padre Island. I've visited the park many, many times over the years because of its proximity to the Laguna Madre. I fish from a kayak, and have tried fishing South Padre Island, Port Mansfield, and Boca Chica Beach with some success. But I always go back to Adolph Thomae County Park because I have better luck there. I don't have to worry about leaving my vehicle unattended, either.

What else? There is a website - http://www.cameroncountyparks.com/adolph-thomae-park - that has all the info you need if you plan to visit. There are even a few pictures. But if you want to get a much better look at the park, download and load Google Earth and type 'Adolph Thomae County Park' in the search bar. For some reason, the locator map on thedyrt is way off. The latitude for the park is  26°20'42.65"N and the longitude is  97°24'50.43"W. I've tried editing the location to no avail.

If you use Google Earth, you'll see that there are 2 lighted fishing piers that are free to park visitors. There are also 3 public restrooms - one at each of the piers and a third between the two large parking lots at the end of the road. There are also two boat ramps at the end of the park road.

It's 3 miles from the park to the Laguna Madre, so if you're bringing a kayak be prepared to paddle for about 45 minutes before getting to the bay. The park opens at 6:00 AM, and the fishermen with motorboats start lining up about 5:45 AM. If you want a parking spot near the water, get there early. I've found that the best parking lot to use is the next-to-last. The water is just a few steps from the parking lot, and the grade down to the water is not that steep. There are no streetlights in the next-to-last parking lot - at least not yet - , so bring a headlamp. It's a relatively new parking lot, so lights may be installed at some point.

I really enjoyed my stay at this campsite with my family. We actually came here on our Spring Break when we were in high school. We decided to come here because it wasn't a very long drive from home, and we knew there was some good hiking nearby. Located in Pharr Texas, the park is surrounded my beautiful citrus groves. You literally feel like you are in a desert oasis. Our favorite part is that it is located very close to the Rio Grande Valley. There are so many great attractions and places to do outdoor activities. If you want to head to the water you can drive an hour away and hit the Gulf of Mexico. We did this the second day we stayed here and it was so much fun, i would highly recommend doing this!! My mom and I also went shopping nearby- there is a great mall and shopping area close. The RV park was good. Water and electrical hookups, and enough room between sites which we like. Clean restrooms and area.

Very busy and popular CG with the local fishermen. Some sites on the water way. Those are very busy with locals walking through the sites to fish and tons of road traffic to the boat launch. We stayed in the area divided by foliage. Much quieter and a lot less traffic. Had a beautiful view of the Laguna Atascosa sanctuary behind us. 30/50 amp service with full hookups. All sites are back in and gravel but easy to level our 40ft 5th wheel.
If you have dogs be careful. While we were there they were having a problem with the Javelinas. A pack attacked our neighbor's dog and bit the owner as she tried to save her pug. A day later we were chased by them at our site when we were out with our dogs. Carry a club of some sort. I scared them with a loud dog whistle. The rangers were notified and they contacted animal control.