Public Lands in Texas?

[Daywalker]

Besides Padre Island National Sea Shore, does anyone know of any other great free camping possibilities?

 

[Prerunner1982]

Big Bend National Park is another popular option.

 

[roots66]

This has come in handy for me

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[Sparksalot]

Nearly all of the campsites at Lake Meredith are free, first come, first served. There are multiple camping areas, some even with showers.

 

[roots66]

Nearly all of the campsites at Lake Meredith are free, first come, first served. There are multiple camping areas, some even with showers.

Yes! With no electric/water on site, the RVs stay away. When we stayed there, we had the whole site to ourselves.

 

[Downs]

Besides Padre Island National Sea Shore, does anyone know of any other great free camping possibilities?

Free? Not really. I mean the grasslands up here in North Texas but that's because they fall under the NFS. Texas is pretty poor as far as public lands goes. Very little of the state is set aside for it (4.6%), the majority of it is pay to play, which I'm mostly OK with but there's very little in the way of OHV travel available. The OHV parks if that's your kind of thing are ok but to me it's like being trapped in a sandbox with a slew load of other people. After a little while you're just running circles and not really going anywhere.

If you're good at stealth camping you can stay a lot of places ha. Texas county roads also have a pesky habit of popping up with private locked gates even though maps show a public road.

Set your sights on parts of Oklahoma, big chunks of Arkansas, and New Mexico.

Sam Houston National Forrest might be another option for you.

 

[Abenson]

Yes! With no electric/water on site, the RVs stay away. When we stayed there, we had the whole site to ourselves.

I second Lake Meredith. We just got back from spending the weekend out there. We explored all around the lake and liked the west side in the lower canyon areas the best. We stayed in chimney hollow area to get some protection from the strong winds.
If we head back again, we will probably camp at Blue Creek or Plum Creek.

 

[roots66]

I second Lake Meredith. We just got back from spending the weekend out there. We explored all around the lake and liked the west side in the lower canyon areas the best. We stayed in chimney hollow area to get some protection from the strong winds.
If we head back again, we will probably camp at Blue Creek or Plum Creek.

Plumb Creek is where we stayed. Lots of places to explore around there.