Best Tent Camping near Wright Patman Lake

Reserved on-line 152 days prior to arrival. 

Pros 

Pristine clean restroom/showerhouse. Seemed recently renovated 

BIG PINE camping area only big rig friendly(longer than 20 ft) out of 40 FHU sites. Big Pine, Dogwood and Mountain View Campgrounds FHU so 40 FHU sites with no park dump station. 

Aluminum picnic table and fire ring with cooking grate 

Very quiet campground except for highway and train noise 

4 camp hosts 

Good night sky viewing in BIG PINE 

Good view of lake in BIG PINE 

Privacy from side neighbors 

No leveling required from side-to-side 

Asphalt parking pad heaved various places due to tree roots creating numerous tripping hazard 

Campsite utility hook-ups in good condition with no problems encountered 

Security gate that closes overnight 

No street lights in BIG PINE 

Campsite and entrance fee discount with Texas State Park Pass 

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

CONS 

Most FHU sites (other than BIG PINE) are extremely short in length. Barely room for single axle TT, so need to review site details carefully 

Site 8 had an extreme amount of above ground roots causing tripping hazard

Picnic table approx 50 feet from Site 8 parking pad

Highway and train noise

BIG PINE sites barely off campground road, so therefore no privacy from campers across the road

Restroom/shower facility not heated

No lantern pole

No wildlife sightings

No park Wifi

1 bar AT&T in BIG PINE

This is one of a few camping areas on the Wright Patman Lake. It’s a set up for RV camping more than tent camping. If you choose to tent camp, you will most likely be camping on an asphalt parking pad in most of the sites. Very open campground, not much privacy or seclusion. Since it’s only 15 minutes from our house, we occasionally choose this campground for a quick weekend getaway when we aren’t able to go up into Arkansas or Oklahoma. Clean bathrooms and showers, friendly staff, but not a place to go if you want to get away from everyone and everything, and enjoy nature.

Camped at site #63 in the Mill Pond Camping Area - tent area. This site backed up onto Saw Mill Pond - beautiful cypress swamp. Bugs were not too bad. Gravel drive on site. Level tent pad. Water only; no electric. Clean fire ring. Lantern post. Large site, good separation from other sites. Campground is heavily wooded, lots of shade. Campground is clean & nicely maintained. One restroom is at the entrance to the Mill Pond camping area, just off of a day use parking lot. No shower in this restroom. A newer, nicer restroom/shower house is located in the Woodpecker camping area. Quiet campground; no issues. Good AT&T service. Despite saying it's allowed in the campground features list, alcohol is prohibited. Excellent T-Mobile 5G service.

1152-1206 

Open: Mar 1- Oct 31 

Limit: 14 days 

Reserve: 877-444-6777 or recreation.gov (must have reservations) Sites: 24 paved 

Camp host on site 

Fee: $12.00 no hookups $15.00 water and electric 

Bath house and flush toilets, playground, beach, boat launch, covered picnic table, fire ring, pedestal grill, trash, lantern pole electric and water hookups This is a small campground but is totally awesome. The road in heads down into the campground and it is a very good paved road. There are several sites on the water. Grab a spot and spend a couple of weeks enjoying life. There are some pull thru's. If you enjoy the quiet and intimate this is for you. 

AIS Clean, drain, dry 

Travel safe

Clear Spring Campground on Wright Patman Lake was only half full for our weekend stay which may have contributed to it's quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Our campground was across the street from the campground along the lake and was in a pine forest, which made for nice, shaded campsites with full hookups. Deer frequented the roadside near us and included 2 bucks and as many as 4 fawns. I would have liked more privacy and space between campsites, but all in all, we were happy with our campsite. Wright Patman Lake is huge and we enjoyed kayaking on the lake. In fact, there wasn't much boat traffic and the lake was amazingly quiet for a Saturday. This is a great campground for those who enjoy watersports.

Atlanta State Park is nestled pretty far off the beaten path (nearest highway) deep in the pineywoods. It sits on the edge of Wright Patman Lake near the Texarkana region on the Texas side. Has plentiful campgrounds that are nearly maintained, two different boat ramps (both in good condition) for fishing, along with multiple swimming areas (with beaches) for folks. The major plus to this lake is that you can easily bring a boat with you when you're camping, because of the plentiful spaces at campsites and boat ramp access.

Wright Patman Lake is a decent lake, but does have a fair amount of stumps along the edges- watch for the bouyees. Fishing is good, water can get very warm in the summer which is nice for swimming.

Overall it's a beautiful park and the best park along Wright Patman Lake in my opinion. I've also been here at least two dozen times and enjoyed each experience.

1/19/23- 1/26/23: We stayed one week and it was a quiet and enjoyable campground at a reasonable price, but it still has some misgivings. 

Good Points: The park was mostly empty and very quiet. The views of the lake are particularly nice. The sites are grass(good for dryer weather) and spread reasonably apart for privacy. 30A electric, fresh water, picnic tables, Verizon 4G: 4-bars with 4.8Mbps(down) and 3Mbps(up) can be found here. 

Other Points: 

* Rainy days completely saturates the grass with large puddles in the uneven areas; while walking to the office I discovered that the road had unavoidable puddles too. 

* 40 of the 75 sites have sewer; site#36 does not. Those with sewer were uncapped PVC pipes stubbed out of the ground. 

* Pricing: On Campendium, the facility is listed as Army Corps Of Engineers(COE) with a daily rate of$20. Naturally, with a Senior Lifetime Pass I expected to get a spot for$10/night. No so. The owner Leon Jennings(903-585-5453) said that it is a privately run(and leased) campground and the rate is$20(also posted in the office). After I said that I’d move on to a COE site he offered a spot for$13/night matching what the Clear Springs Park campground(COE) nearby would charge me. Rates on Campendium, the Wright Patman Lake website, and the RoverPass list at$20,$13, and$17 respectively. My interpretation is that the real rates are $17 (30A) and $20 (50A). I didn't see a distinction between sewer or no sewer sites. 

* Odor: There can be a sewer-like odor that I'm told is coming from a paper mill in New Boston. 

* Un-level sites: The sites are rolling grass hills; it is possible to park in a direction that is even (L/R) but may take some finesse. 

* The dump station is a PVC pipe protruding diagonally from the grassy ground across from the office and there is no water spigot for cleanup. I pulled the diagonal pipe out and inserted the dump hose directly into the drain below grass level. After dumping, be sure to use your gray-water to flush your dump hose. 

Summary: The owner and staff are very nice and accommodating. However,$13 at the Clear Springs Park campground would have provided level sites with good drainage, a proper dump station, and perhaps less odor from the paper mill.