Bigger park than most state parks in Texas. Very spread out and if you are in one of the outer loops it is a LONG walk to the Marina or Penn Farm. Penn Farm is an original farm homestead within the park boundaries with many remaining buildings. As a whole the park was nice and reasonably maintained. Some of the sites were unlevel and there was a high percentage (to us) of people disregarding the rules as far as speed limit, number of vehicles at a site and quiet time. I would venture a guess this park might be just a bit on the rowdy side when warm weather gets here and the boating crowd takes over. It is a GREAT ESCAPE if you are just looking for something close to the Metroplex. It is only 5 mile south of I20. We camped here in a Motorhome.

If you could get past the complete ineptness of the people who work the front gate, the place could have definite potential. Okay, first the good. The sites come in small, medium and large, lake side, lake view and woodsy. There are clean, heated bathrooms with showers in every loop area. The sites are fairly spread out in areas so it's really not to bad for tenters and RVers alike. The hiking trails are not terrible and the birdwatching is very nice. Now for the bad. It took over 45 minutes to check in (and there were at least a half dozen volunteers and rangers wandering about and only 3 customers). They won't allow you to drive through and choose a site before paying, and to pay you have to choose a site unseen. Then they tell you to just come back and switch if you find something you like better. There were only about 80 sites open to choose from (even though other closed areas had RV's all over the place) Okay, to begin with I had come out 4 days prior to our stay to drive around and find a spot. I had to go through a huge deal to get a 30 minute pass. With that said I quickly found a spot in one of the areas the lady had circled as open on the map. I confirmed with the office (after another 30 minute wait) that new years weekend we'd be back and that we shouldn't have any problem getting the site I had chosen. Upon returning 4 days later they said that area was closed for the winter. I mentioned that there were other campers there just a few days ago and she said "oh well, they probably live there". I paid for a site based on her recommendation and went to look around. We eventually found another sufficiant spot and had to go through another 45 minute ritual to get the site switched. They had to keep re printing receipts and then proceeded to write all over them (covering the number to the front office). I paid $20 per night for 2 nights plus $5 per person for 2 nights for a total of $60. At 8:00 AM the second morning I had a ranger stop to tell me that we were supposed to have checked out the day before and that I needed to get to the front office and take care of that immediately. He never looked at the sticker displayed in my windshield. I couldn't call, because I couldn't read the number on the receipt, so we had to drive up AGAIN and straighten out a mistake they had made. It's a shame that all this ineptness has to interfere with an otherwise lovely camping weekend. I would return for a short backpacking trip or some mountain biking, but I don't think I could stomach that office experience again. We camped here in a Tent.

Truly a wonderful park! Lots of trees makes it a great place for hiking and biking even in a hot Texas summer. We live in North Dallas and have stayed in this park 3 times in the last 6 months. For us, it's a great way to feel like we are out of town without having to make the drive. The biggest downside is limited lakefront access. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.

Fee of $24 was $18 for site and $6 for 2 persons (Texas resident). Would be $5/Person out of state. First come first serve, reserving spot at check-in was no guarantee as someone else had parked there before we could get into the slot. Would be worthwhile to make daytrip there to scope out slots you want. Lots of roads and trails for bike riding. Fishing access was limited. Fair playground on southern end of park. We ended up in the Shady Ridge area. A fair share of sites are short/double wide and weren't long enough to drop 26' TT and park truck next to it. Almost everything is on hills, but only took about 4" of blocks to level TT at ours. Good roads to it, and very convenient to Dallas and Fort Worth. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Very nice state park close to Dallas. Very nice camp sites with shade and lake access. Many fun mountian bike trails that are well maintaned. Lots to do in the park with a family. Highly recommend!!! We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Park is an older park and not all sites will accomodate newer models/lengths. Sites closest to the water are the smallest. Park has a marina and restaurant, hiking/birding trails and tour of an historic farm. It is a great location if you need to be in the south part of Dallas. December, 2002 We camped here in a Motorhome.