Best Equestrian Camping near South Bend, TX

We stayed one night at the equestrian camp on our way through the area. We prefer leaving the equestrian spots for horse owners but it was the last one available in the park. Although, of the 5 sites in this loop, none of us had horses!

With only a couple of small pens and not much space, we could see why equestrians might not flock here. Hard to say from one night though.

The sites are long and narrow without much space between them. Road nosie is noticeable during the day but quiet at night.

There are no bathroom facilities in this loop, so be aware of that. There is a small dumpster available. The bathroom/shower facilities and dump station are down the road at the main campground. You do have 20-, 39- and 50-amp electric plus water hookup at your site.

The good part about this loop is that you're camping within site of the historic Fort Richardson and visiting the grounds is a short walk. The buildings are only open from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but you're welcome to wander the grounds and look in the windows. Make sure you grab a self-guided your brochure at check-in.

This was fine for a night or two, but for longer we'd encourage a stay at the main campground instead.

Phone service was good: Verizon 4 bars / T-Mobile 4 bars.

Late in the day we stopped at Lake Mineral Wells State Park, TX. We weren't sure where to go as the gate was unmanned at our arrival. We missed the turn to the campground, but a friendly and helpful Texas State Park Officer directed us how to get there. He helped us with how to make payment as well. 

The campground was beautiful. It was quiet, the bathrooms were clean, and the lake was serene. There are at least 3 campgrounds, including shelters, equestrian, a loop for tenters, and a loop for larger rigs.  We stayed in the Plateau loop. Even though we only stayed one night, I would go back.

Been to this park a couple of different times it has rock climbing boating,fishing, trails for walking, hiking. separate camping loop for tents and also separate one for horses. We have camped there in February, in June and also October

A few times a year, the City of Jacksboro opens its arms to an influx of campers and schools from around the state eager to see one of the unique reinactments at the historic location of Fort Richardson.

While you can visit during other times of the year, these times make for some of the most popular and thus most busy camping experiences.

7 different types of campsites are available including group sites, equestrian sites, full hook up and primitive sites for RV and tent campers. Sites range from $10-$25 depending on the area and amenities.

For someone like myself who prefers primitive tent camping or less amenities I found $10 tent sites were about a 3/4 mile hike in and $20 limited amenity campsites were my best options. The benefits to the $20 North Loop site was pretty obvious in restrooms and typical state park fire rings and picnic tables. Primitive sites include only fire rings and because of their remote location in warmer months can be more of a questionable location as taller grass can Harbor more snakes, specifically in this area Rattlesnakes and Copperheads.

These fees were in addition to standard park admission which is $3 per day for adults. All of these fees are due upon entrance at the entry station where you will be greeted by a park ranger and given a map.

While there is a lake, hiking and areas for horseback riding my focus upon my visit was one of the reinactments events held near Christmas. “Ghosts of Christmas Past” is an event set to showcase the period of the fort days and tell the story of how soldiers spent the time, what it might have been like on those cold winter nights and create a vision of fort life. It was a great educational visit and a great way to see a bit more of the State Park.

With this being a short drive for me from my home, I find this campsite and full facilities to be very exciting to return for other events. Well maintained and with friendly staff it is well worth the trip.

We had plenty of space to spread out and relax. Rented a pontoon and saw Hell's gates worth the stop. Spent most of the time swimming and fishing from shore. This is one of the clearer lakes in Texas.

I've camped at several Texas State Parks recently. They're very nice places to camp at. Restrooms are well kept. Some are free and can stay up to 14 days.

Beautiful little spot, only stayed a night. Walk right up to lake. Spots to our right had kayaks to put in right at campsite. Dump site on the way out. Spotted a Texas bobcat.

We stayed here January 26 -31, 2021 on the first stop of a 3 month escape from Northern Wisconsin winter. I’m guessing it’s great when it’s warm and you have a boat. It was always windy. Concessions store closed for remodeling. Construction on cabin near our site. Nice bathrooms, shower water not super hot. Nice trails and tons of birds. A bunch of guys cleaning their catfish at a cleaning station near our site. Left a ton of carcasses that the rangers cleaned up. If you plan to use Texas state parks, get the pass as it will save you lots of money!

Lake mineral wells state park was great for biking, hiking, swimming and fishing. We had something fun for all 6 of us. My husband and I stayed in our tent, while rest of family stayed in their RV. It has been a very rainy month in Texas so some trails were closed. The camp store was awesome.we didn’t take advantage of the kayak or canoe rentals, but the prices were reasonable. Bathrooms, while a little dated were clean and had soap!

This park was definitely out in the middle of nowhere, with a long peaceful drive full of wildlife. We made it to the park entrance, check in was quick. We arrived on a week day and they ranger informed us the camp store was closed until weekend and no firewood. Closest store with firewood was 30min away. They lake was beautiful. We were right beside the restroom and shower facilities which was great! We came to stay for one night, we had a roof top tent so the site we had was nice and would make a perfect side for a RV but for us it could’ve been wider for our ladder but we were close to the restroom which we wanted. The restrooms were clean, could use a little update, and water was warm but not hot. Lots of wildlife around! I would stay again but I don’t think it’s the best place to go for a winter camping trip. Thank you Texas state parks!

I'm from Texas, and I've never thought, "Let's go to Mineral Wells!".  My daughter who lives in Ft. Worth suggested we go the Lake Mineral Wells State Park for a weekend camping get away.  We wanted to spend the weekend hiking and hanging out at our campsite.  This was the perfect combination. 

We stayed on the Live Oak campground loop which has 30/50 amp/water.  We were lucky to snag the very last spot for the weekend.  Our site was right on the lake on a little 20 foot bluff that was perfect for watching the sunrise and drinking coffee each morning.  We spend our only full day hiking.  We visited the rock climbing area and also hiked to the primitive camping area.  The weather was perfect, blue bird skies and breezy mid-60's.

We felt very safe at this park.  The close the gate at 10 pm and you must have a code to enter after that.  The park host is also a ranger.  He and his wife were directly across from our site.  The whole park seems to be heavily patrolled.  Always a good feeling.  I would recommend camping here!

Was pretty busy when we went for spring break. Lots of people live nearby so the lake is constantly filled with watercraft, swimmers and people cliff diving near the shore. Decided we didn't feel like kayaking with such a big crowd.

Lots of amenities and places to buy stuff. Very much a glamping crowd.

Although I don't fish according to our neighbors it is a good fishing spot. Saw lots of people cleaning fish at the designated fish cleaning spots.

Hiking trail near the primitive campsites afforded some birdwatching opportunities, although mostly we saw wild turkeys.

As a kid we would come out here several times a year. We would boat, float, cliff jump, cookout, and enjoy each other's company. Twenty years later we are still enjoying these traditions.

If you like primitive, tent sites, cabins, or RV sites, there are plenty of options.

You should check out Hell's Gate while you are here.

There are also a few hike and bike trails, but this is mainly a park for boating and fishing.

It was nice and peaceful there. They had an awesome store close by where they use the honor system at night for ice and firewood. The campsites close to the water were a little small and Rocky but we had a nice grassy one across the street.

The campgrounds at PK look well kept and cleaned up. The trails are nice. They have plenty of shaded areas as much as they do have open and sunny areas. Summer I was alil weary of the sunny areas because of the overgrowth of vegetation on the trail for the worry of a rattlesnake encounter. Other than that there are nice wide trails and great outlooks of the lake for just sitting back to rest with a view or snapping a few photos. You can see far on some spots. Overall it was a good experience. Might look into camping there once warmer weather hits us again.

This is one of my favorite parks to kayak or canoe at! You can rent them right there at the dock. You can rent jet skis, as well! You can’t get to the famous Hells Gate from the park, but if you take the loop through a private community called Sportsman’s World, you will run right into a view of it.

I have visited here many times and now that some time has passed since the golden alge epidemic that the area has returned to it's natural beauty.

We have been camping here for about 35 years.  Started out tent camping and now prefer a RV.  Love this park.  Many of the campsites are directly on the water, the wind coming off the water will keep you cool in the summer.  We camp here year round.  We camp to relax and this is great place for this.

 First impression- 112 is located perfectly right across from the bathrooms, and has a semi “easy to access” water’s edge. Not ideal for kayak releasing, but there was a small cubby hole in the rock where the water comes in that we discovered once the other half arrived. 
 Only about a 35-45 minute drive to Hells Gate, which seems to be a hot spot for parties. Boats all tied together, bands playing, beer drinking, good time spot. That was where we met Carol, who allowed us to access her property to unload the kayaks, and proceeded to have an incredible time, being the only two people on kayaks in a multi million dollar neighborhood. 
 Stopped at Boondocks Bar and Grill, and met the lady responsible for the pea salad... an unsung hero of the culinary world. 
 Once back at the campsite, we had the privilege of meeting the state representative/ rule enforcer that happened to be on duty that night. He gave us a lesson on how to properly consume alcohol while on the campsite, even though no one was being harmed by the methods chosen to do so before he arrived. 
 Someone from the group thought it would be a good idea to leave out the chips and queso, previously ordered at Boondock’s, for the raccoons. It would have been adorable to be able to feed them by hand, the chips, that we had learned they absolutely loved, not too long before. Once they arrived, we would surprise them from out of nowhere, and shower them with love and affection, in hopes they would take to us as family, and allow us to hand feed them. We were very surprised to find, not only were they not raccoons, they were skunks, but also, skunks also enjoy the salty taste of a tortilla chip or two as well. I regret to inform you, that we were not able to hand feed them like we hoped, but all in all, the skunks were an exciting addition to the adventure. 
 Overall, I would say it was a trip that was

better than expected, in a very peaceful environment.

This is a nice little park for swimming doing a little tubing, not a hiking park, there’s a trail that’s about a mile and change long. It’s a big lake so if you have a boat you will truly enjoy it. I did not. So swimming and tubing is all I did in the water.The 2011 fire it’s not evident anymore, so it’s a great time to go. June 27 to July 3. 2020

We have only used day passes for hiking here since covid19 restrictions took place. Very impressive trails and nice bathrooms. Easy lake access with boat ramp.

We so enjoyed our stay here! Right on the water and the campgrounds are spaced out enough that you are not right on top of each other. There is a convenience store on site that has most anything you need. There is also a Men’s and Women’s bathrooms with two shower stalls (in the women’s at least) - but no family bathroom setup. Everything was pretty basic, as you would expect at a state park.

We arrived around midnight. There was a warm breeze blowing. Big ants strolled nearby but are easily avoidable. The place is right on a lake. The restroom is close by. It was a great experience! Would stay again. We did not see any possums but did see a large female dear grazing.

Lovely campsite, beautiful scenery. Our campgrounds were right by the lake so that was convenient.

Tent sites are walk-in to the other side of the end of the lake, and can be pretty rickety with loose rocks getting there. Was good practice for backpacking, since parking is closeby, but not very convenient. P008 is probably the only site suitable for hammock camping. Everything else is flat and exposed, next to the shore.

We were woken up by loud boats trolling the shore and men shouting around midnight both nights we were there, and could hear conversations from the RV area.

What can I say? PK State Park is beautiful with full hookups right on the lake. All the facilities you need are here and in good shape. Highly recommend!