I camped at Juniper Point for two nights and loved it. The location was beautiful and everything was operable and clean. I ran the Cross Timbers trails on Saturday and on Sunday.
Here is a link to my YouTube video that shows the trail and campgrounds
I've camped at this park for the last 2 years while running the Rocky 50k trail race.
Here's a link to my video that contains footage of the journey to the park, the campsite and the trail race. Be sure to subscribe to the channel to continue to see more camp & trail running footage.
This is a beautiful park about 3 hours from Dallas. Spent 2 nights at the park camping in a RTT while supporting friends running in the races. There’s an extensive trail network, clean facilities, easy to access park store and plenty of activities for the family.
I visited the Shortleaf camping area in the Tyler State Park for the weekend to participate in a 50k trail race. Each campsite in this area has a sheltered cabin, picnic table, fire pit and 2 parking spots. Tent camping is also permitted on the site but I used my iKamper Roof Top Tent as my primary place to sleep. The sheltered cabin has screens on the windows to keep the bugs out and electricity. I used this area primarily for storage of the food & gear that I used during the weekend. My campsite was located at the bottom of a hill and had a path to the restrooms and showers. These facilities were very clean and had 2 shower stalls and 3 toilet stalls along with 2 sinks. This location had access to the lake via a short hike. This type of camp site is the best of both worlds, you can camp via tent/car and still have a cabin like experience via the sheltered cabin.
In September it is still pretty warm in Tyler, humidity was 100% when I visited without rain. I'll visit again in October when the cooler temps arrive and undoubtable have an even better experience.
Erwin Park is a great place to visit if you're looking to spend a few days running or biking trails. Campsites are far enough apart that you have privacy yet close enough that you don't feel alone. The park has several covered pavilions as well as restrooms but lacks shower facilities. A few of the campsites are drive up but most are park and haul. Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and trash can and some of the sites are more shaded than others. The trail network is about 9 miles and maintained by DORBA, these trails flood easily after rain so check the DORBA website before making the trip. The trails are straight forward and not super technical. Runners, hikers, walkers go one direction and bikes go the opposite. It gets pretty busy on the weekends with bikers so if you're on foot keep your eyes & ears open to avoid being in the middle of a pileup.