Best Tent Camping near Shepherd, TX

Pros 

Senior pass discount 

Quick check-in( in fact, we were still backing into our site) by camp host who delivered vehicle pass 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded by grass 

Non moveable metal frame wooden picnic table on an oversized concrete slab 

Metal fire ring with cooking grate 

Lantern pole 

Shady site #4 

Spacious area between campsites 

Quiet 

Good night sky viewing as there are no street lights in park and shower/toilet facility had minimum lighting 

Cons 

Campers ignore basic rules/courtesy such as keeping dogs on leash and letting children run thru everyone’s campsites 

Entrance gate unmanned (closed) 24/7) so lots of“drive-by” gawkers in the campground Non campers consistently showered in the campground showers facility

Gates to campground not locked overnight 

TP not available in women's restroom SWEETGUM most of the 2 nights of our stay 

No security drive-throughs by park staff 

Unlevel parking pad Site #4 

No privacy from any other campers as there is absolutely no brush/vegetation between sites 

No firewood for sale in park 

Non-climate controlled shower/toilet building, but did have a box fan sitting on the floor running, but he was a sweat box in that facility!

Site picnic table at the rear of the site and it was anchored to the concrete pad 

No WiFi 

1 bar Verizon

Old campground, nicely maintained. Wooded; big pines. Two restroom/showerhouses; old, but clean. Camped for 2 nights in a camper van at site #24. It was a very large site surrounded on 3 sides by a thick forest of trees & shrubs. Private. Water faucet on site. No electric. The Lone Star Hiking Trail conveniently located in the campground. Nice hike through a thick forest. Canpground road & campsite driveways are paved. Sites have tent pads & appear pretty much level. Sites have a table, fire ring & lantern poll. The road toward the campground is paved, but broken up in places with several potholes. AT&T service is okay, but no T-Mobile service. This campground is great for tent campers, campervans, car campers & truck campers. I don't recommend this campground for large RVs.

We arrived 151 days after making our on-line reservations for the very busy Memorial Day weekend in Piney Shore Loop campground. This was our fourth camping adventure at Lake Livingston State Park in the Piney Shore Loop. 

Pros EXTREMELY quiet during the Memorial Day weekend. Even tho not backed up to 

lake, nice view of lake from Site#55. Double concrete pad as it is an accessible campsite. Very level concrete pad; no need to do any type of leveling. Nice early morning shade onto Site#55 Very good privacy from neighbor Site#54 and Site behind#48 Park ranger drive-thru about every four hours Restroom/showers good working condition, clean, ample hand soap and toilet paper. Recently paved park roads very nice upgrade Mosquitoes were drawn to those who strung lots of lights throughout their site, so many did not use those lights which resulted in good dark conditions for night sky viewing. 1-2 bars AT&T cell service. Lowes, Walmart and small HEB close by n the town of Livingston Cons. Campers requiring mobility assistance may find this campsite very challenging, even tho it does have a double wide concrete pad. Site#55 labeled as accessible but is very accessible unfriendly as it is not close to campground toilet shower facilities, fire ring is up a gravel hill on driver side of camper. Piney Shore Loop sewer hook up required 20 feet of stinky slinky. No privacy from Site#56. No privacy from the campground road. Picnic table in mud hole nearly the size of the table and very unleveled with one end higher than the other end. Unable to move picnic table as it is chained to concrete pylon. Picnic table not wheelchair accessible. No afternoon-to-evening shade what-so-ever. Site#56 campers permitted their dog to run without a leash. No park WIFI

You’ll find Huntsville State Park six miles southwest of Huntsville, TX in Walker County in the Sam Houston National Forest. Huntsville State Park has over 20 miles of trails to explore along with a pretty great lake to fish, paddle or swim. Fish for crappie, perch, catfish, or bass. Lake Raven also has a boat ramp, fishing piers, and fish cleaning stations. Bring your own canoe or rent one from the little supply store. The supply store also has miscellaneous supplies and bait for purchase.

Campsites are spaced modestly except those in the full hookup loop. If you are looking for full hookups, book in advanced as those are in high demand at this location. All sites have a two-day minimum on Friday and Saturday.

Available sites:

• Full hookup campsites - pull-through, picnic table, fire ring, water hookup, lantern post, restrooms & showers nearby 20/30/50-amp hookup
• Electric sites - picnic table, fire ring, water hookup, lantern post, restrooms & showers nearby 20/30/50-amp electric hook up
• Campsites with water - picnic table, fire ring, water hookup, lantern post, & restrooms & showers nearby

We went Thursday - Saturday, and will go again during the week to avoid crowds.
The check-in process is a bit troublesome if you're picky about getting a good tent site- you can't reserve specific sites ahead of time. Also, your visit will cost you more than listed on the website because they charge entrance fees for each person on top of the campsite rental. That was an unpleasant surprise. The only other unpleasant surprise is that the campground store is closed on Thursdays. Lesson learned- bring your own Snickers!
However, the scenery, quietness, and availability of rental boats was wonderful. We camped in tent site #70, and I would grab that one again in a heartbeat. The 70's sites have water access and beautiful views, and are generous with their square footage. Plenty of trees down there to hang hammocks and clotheslines on, and more than one flat spot for tents on each site.
I normally would not devote a whole paragraph to restrooms at a state park, but I will this time. These were the CLEANEST restrooms I've ever seen at a state park, and the most updated. The stalls had modern dividers, the toilets all had clean, functional seats, the showers had separate bench areas with lots of hooks, plus normal faucets you could just turn on once (as opposed to having to push a button every minute), and the sinks also had great faucets with good pressure and reliable water temperatures. Very easy to use.
All our issues with this park were related to unexpected costs and logistics, but the park facilities were fabulous. We will definitely be back!

28 campsites! Not too close together either! They fixed the water spigots throughout the camp just recently. Bathrooms get cleaned daily, super clean during the week, but gets crowded on weekends. So bathrooms get kinda overused. The showers are hot! Many places have luke warm, but they turn up the heat here which is great. New host Robert is cool AF. Nice guy, doesn't bother anyone who isn't being a nuecince. Walker County has many fire bans, so check before you head out. First come first serve. No reservations. Gets overcrowded on weekends. Fishing, kayaking, the LSHT ( Lone Star Hiking Trail), all are great fun. Dogs are welcome , but forest workers come regularly, like 2xs a day drive by to check if people got them on leash. Alcohol permitted, but not publicly. Only on your site. Verizon service is great here! Sprint sucks. Att was marginally working. You may stay up to 14 days at a time here. I actually love it here, been back 5 times! $15 a night, if you have Americas Beautiful Pass, its half off! $7.50 a night folks! Pass is $80 annually online at National Forest. Just Google it.

Reserved 183 days prior to arrival. 

PROS 

Quiet even on Halloween weekend except for road noise from FM1375 

Night sky friendly. NO STREET LIGHTS in Campground! 

Two FHU Campgrounds. Sweet Gum with 19 sites and Sycamore with 28 sites. 

Metal picnic table 

Cooking grill on metal fire ring 

Site level and asphault parking pad in good condition 

Friendly camp host who came directly to site on our second day for our check-in 

Not charged a fee to make my own on-line reservation 

Campsite discount with America the Beautiful Pass 

CONS 

Campsite water hook-up sprayed water everywhere. Even tried using plumber Teflon tape that didn’t even reduce the large spray. Talked to camp host about it and he just laughed and agreed it was needing some repairs, but no one ever came by and it sprayed like that for 4 nights! We had quite a large puddle.

Security gates are NOT closed overnight

Extra high sided campfire ring

No privacy from any other campsites

Toilet/shower facility without temperature control

4 Camp Hosts for 47 campsites. Sweet Gum Loop #11 Camp Host site packed to the max with all kinds of stuff that isn’t seen at other Camp Host sites. Definitely hording homesteaders.

Only park amenity is boat ramp for Lake Conroe.

No swimming is permitted.

Never saw any park rangers or park security driving through campground Wildlife sightings of grey squirrels

Zero to 1 bar AT&T

No park Wifi

Summary: Nice small older park with mature trees & two loops. Sweetgum and sycamore. We stayed in the sycamore loop site #28. Sycamore loop has a boat ramp on the southern end as this park is on lake Conroe. Pros: IMO there is allot to like at this quiet park. Shade, mature trees, most sites had adequate space between them, full hook-ups,30 & 50 amp, newer style fire rings with adjustable grates to cook on. Although there was a fire ban when we went. Access to the lake if you like to boat or fish. Grounds were well kept up while there, no stickers in the grassy areas of you have pets or little ones. I hate if we go somewhere and there are thorns in our dogs feet when we walk them, that is no fun but not here. OHV area trail head with miles of trails are minutes away.

Cons: Our site was really off level side to side. We have auto leveling and it wouldn't work it was so far out of level. We had to manually do it. Side to side isn't fun. Front to back is much easier to set up. So I would say bring leveling blocks or boards with you in case you need them. Be prepared. Also as with any park sites rig size vary as to what can fit where. So my advice is to go visit it and pick which one you think you'd fit into best and mark it down for when you want to go. Some sites I couldn't fit into. And no pull-thrus if that's your thing. Sewer hookup on some we're a ways away so bring an extra hose. Mine was close but I seen others that needed 3 hoses. I always carry two 10 footers and one 15 footer. No swimming area for the kids. No fishing pier. Fishing access is not great at the campground. Huntsville 20 miles away for supplies, food, etc. No store close by. Hope that helps.