Community Forums

esox07 · 07-14-2015, 06:21 PM

I am taking a trip to Texas to visit relatives in a couple weeks. I will be staying overnight at the Oklahoma City, Tinker AFB overnight on the way. Then at the Lackland, AFB campground in San Antonio, TX for a few nights and then will be driving to Corpus Christy Naval Air Station, TX to stay at their campground (Sheilds Park) for a couple nights. I have never stayed at a military campground before and was wondering if anyone had any experience with either of these campgrounds or military campgrounds in general. I am towing a 19' TT and have never had FULL hookups which it seems these do for the most part. The prices seem really good too. The one drawback I see is that the sites are relatively close together which I guess is fine since we will be spending most of our time out with the relatives.
I am just looking for some opinion or advice regarding the campgrounds specifically or militarty base campgrounds in general.

U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks - Lackland AFB FamCamp
U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks - Tinker AFB FamCamp
U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks - Shields Park NAS Recreation Area

Thanks.

Krashqueen · 07-14-2015, 07:53 PM

Tinker is good. Just very basic.

Krashqueen · 07-14-2015, 07:53 PM

We stayed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. It was good.

redcolorado · 07-14-2015, 08:19 PM

We stay at CC Naval Air Station several times a year. Will be there next month. The 50 amp back in spaces, Shields Park, are not close together, the 30 amp spaces, Paradise Cove are. The 50 amp spaces are concrete pad and patio, and the 30 amp spaces are I think grass pad and concrete patio. The RV park is close to the water and Marina. There are a lot of large jack rabbits and some kind of chipmunk critters in the park. There are also coyotes that live near the park and sometimes come into the park. There are no trees in the 50 amp area, Shields Park. There are some in Paradise Cove. There are a lot of grass burs in the park, only real negative for kids and dogs. I was told yesterday the fishing pier is under repair.

Milehghcty · 07-14-2015, 10:00 PM

Stayed at Shields FamCamp Corpus Christi this past March for 10 days. There are 2 parks, one older by the marina and one newer by the water. I stayed in the older which are grass pads, but have a concrete patio area with picnic table (your steps will come out over the top of the concrete pad), and I had 50amp service. Really liked the FamCamp, free internet was a little slow to non existent during prime time (5ish to 8ish pm), and although I have a washer/dryer in the MH, the washer/dryer in the central facility was free. The grass pads were not a problem and drive through. The newer park is about 1/2 mile away and has concrete pads ... don't know much about the facilities or internet in the newer area but assume the same. In the newer park and in a strong wind you stand a better chance of getting sprayed by salt water in the air. Getting on the NAS was a little nerve racking ... just be sure to stay in the bus/truck lanes (on the right) as the jersey barriers are a little further apart ... still seemed pretty tight with a toad in tow. Enjoyed the stay.

esox07 · 07-14-2015, 10:30 PM

THanks all. Much appreciated. Just the kind of stuff I was looking for. I hope the pier is done when I get there. I want to throw a line in the water.

Ray,IN · 07-17-2015, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krashqueen

We stayed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. It was good.

I'll second that! Ft. Sam Houston RV park
is very spacious, clean and neat. We always use it as a base camp while in San Antonio because it is central to everything.

esox07 · 07-17-2015, 09:40 PM

I considered Ft Sam but the relatives we are visiting while down there are only about 5 miles west of Lackland.

mikensallyt · 07-18-2015, 02:05 PM

I haven't had a chance yet to get to the cg on nas corpus during the daytime yet. Work - you know how that is.... But here are two links

Shields Park NAS Recreation Area (Military Camping Only) - Corpus Christi Naval Air Station, TX - RV Park Reviews

U.S. Military Campgrounds and RV Parks - Shields Park NAS Recreation Area

esox07 · 07-18-2015, 02:21 PM

Thanks, but i have been to both those sites. I have most of the info now that I was looking for. Just looking forward to getting on the road in another week or so.

esox07 · 08-09-2015, 10:48 AM

Just wanted to update after my trip. I found all three military campgrounds to be great. I was impressed with the cleanliness and facilities of all three. Corpus Christy NAS was the best. Free showers, laundry and full hookups for $15 per night (30 amp service). And it was 100 yards from the water and had a great location for getting out to the various places to see while we were there. Lack of any shade was the only downside.
Lackland AFB was very nice as well, but getting to it was a bit confusing since they make you enter from a distant gate. The camp host was non-existent and it seems like the camp runs itself. Good enough. There was some good shade on many of the sites. The facilities were great and $20 a night is a bargain.
Tinker AFB was great too. They had a real nice pond with a fishing pier but required to many permission slips and licenses to make it worth while for a one day stay. No shade but a great camp host, facilities and sites. Parking is at a premium however. I don't see why they don't expand the park and include more space for parking and maneuvering. Still, for $18 a night with full hookups, clearly a bargain.

bigben · 08-10-2015, 05:11 AM

esox07 - we travel a lot and always look for FamCamps along our route or at our destination. When I say a lot - I mean 7 months (at least each year) and as much as 2/3 of that in FamCamps. Our experience is like yours, fairly inexpensive with lots of amenities.

We have learned that the directions on the site to each campgrounds are very accurate. Not sure if you have a GPS but our Rand McNally unit has the ability to add custom POIs. You can download the FamCamp POIs install them on your GPS unit. Once you get on the military base your Military Campgrounds and RV Parks directions combined with your GPS will help you find the route to the campground.

The great part about the site is that it is privately operated and maintained. I send in contributions simply to help keep it running and to say thank you.

esox07 · 08-10-2015, 12:24 PM

bigben:
Where can you download the FamCamp POI's from. I would like to check into doing this. I don't plan on doin a whole lot of traveling in the near future, but if I do, I certainly plan on trying to use FamCamps again.
If I can download them, I will do some further research to see if I can incorporate them into my GPS.