Community Forums

Doug427 · 04-22-2021, 06:10 PM

My wife and I happened to be up near the Sam Rayburn Reservoir (lake) in east Texas a few weeks ago, and drove by in the car to take a look at it. It's a beautiful lake. In poking around on the 'net I see little if any nice lakefront parks or campgrounds that can handle our 43 footer with a Jeep Liberty in tow. Hard to believe such a beautiful lake seems to have such limited campground choices. I'm thinking I'm missing something. Have any of you been up there and stayed somewhere nice? The wife likes to be lakefront, any ideas anyone?

Isaac-1 · 04-22-2021, 08:24 PM

I can't make any specific suggestions, but will ask around locally (I am about 65 miles away from the Sam Rayburn dam). I do know there are a lot of COE campgrounds around the lake some I think have nearly 100 RV sites. Also I think the KOA there is fairly new, but know nothing about it. In general the east side of the lake is far more developed than the west side, which is a lot of national forest land.

Doug427 · 04-22-2021, 09:14 PM

Thanks for that info. The KOA seems like a nice place, but like all that I have fouond it's back away from the lake. We're not fishermen or kayakers, we like to relax lakeside with an adumt beverage, enjoy the view, perhaps go for a float or a swim. For us, there's no sense in heading up to the lake if we can't even see the lake from our site. It's very strange up on that lake, I can't find any parks that'll handle our rig at 43' with full hookups that's actually ON the lake.

twogypsies · 04-22-2021, 10:35 PM

There are many, many big sites and many COE campgrounds right on the lake.

Here is one:

https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232698

https://www.recreation.gov/search?q=...y_type=recarea

Here's another site that may help:

https://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/sa...corpsparks.asp

Doug427 · 04-22-2021, 11:28 PM

Thanks for that, twogypsies!

We did see those places, unfortunately none of them have full hookups. If there's no sewer, which none of those places offer, my wife won't go. She's not willing to start rationing her water use to match to waste capacity. With her it's not negotiable. She either gets water, sewer and 50 amp, or she's not leaving home.

Honestly, I have little interest in dealing with that either. It's a hassle I really don't want to deal with, especially knowing how unhappy it makes her. My hat is off to those who enjoy boondocking or dealing with only partial hookup limitations. That's just not something we're interested in.

I guess Sam Rayburn is just not in the cards for us.

Isaac-1 · 04-23-2021, 12:22 AM

It really is not that much of a hassle, particularly for a weekend trip, We have 40 gallon gray and 40 gallon black tank, which can easily last us for a weekend with no real water conservation efforts.

bookemdanno · 04-23-2021, 05:43 AM

We stayed at the state park there in our 43 ft 5th wheel for a long weekend. Electric & water only. Very nice park.

Magua · 04-23-2021, 12:37 PM

Rayburn Park. Beautiful COE on the water. Not full hookups but the facilities are very clean and private. If just for a few days, your coach should handle any water/waste issues. Any of the middle sites will accommodate your rig and are pull through with 50 amp. Stayed there many times and the hosts are excellent.

twogypsies · 04-23-2021, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug427

Thanks for that, twogypsies!

We did see those places, unfortunately none of them have full hookups. If there's no sewer, which none of those places offer, my wife won't go. She's not willing to start rationing her water use to match to waste capacity. With her it's not negotiable. She either gets water, sewer and 50 amp, or she's not leaving home.

Honestly, I have little interest in dealing with that either. It's a hassle I really don't want to deal with, especially knowing how unhappy it makes her. My hat is off to those who enjoy boondocking or dealing with only partial hookup limitations. That's just not something we're interested in.

I guess Sam Rayburn is just not in the cards for us.

With our 40' Newmar we could last 2 weeks with our water. You miss out on some wonderful places if you need full hookups all the time.