Spanno

My better half and I are going on our 2nd backpacking trip next Saturday. I think I have her hooked now. There are several tent sites and I was looking at #4 since it is supposed to be a Cenic Overlook. I know that foot traffic is supposed to be a lot at Dinosaur Valley, but which tent site is the best. Any recomendations???

rockhill

I can not recommend a site as I utilize a camper. I will confirm that the trails can resemble a major freeway at time. A lot of scout troops utilize the area and if they are there it is indeed busy.
Nice park so enjoy yourself.

toejam

Dino Valley is NOT a good backpacking destination, unless you like chillin' under the shade of a cedar tree in a heavily-used mountain bike path. Take her to Lake Mineral Wells. The backcountry camp sites are much nicer and there's more backcountry to explore with wide trails where you won't be mowed down by bikes.

Spanno

I think we are going to head to Fort Richardson in Jacksboro on Saturday. Any input would be great and if no one really knows I will give a full report on it when we get back.

rockhill

Fort Richardson does not have much in the way of varied terrain. Some interesting restored buildings of the old fort. Downer to me is that you can see industrial supply companies around the park. I never get the sense of being away from the city. As the temp is supposed to be in mid 90's, the stroll through the mesquite flats will be toasty.

Spanno

Well we decided to go with camp site #4 in Dinosaur Valley. We picked a great weekend to go since Texas and OU kept the park quiet. It was a remarkable time and I took pictures of each camp site. I have midterms this week so in the near future I will report on our trip. It was great and with the exceptin of hearing the highway at night it was all quiet and peaceful. We only saw a handful of people the whole weekend. Great time. I will make my recomendations later.

campermom

We got #4 when we were there in June. Nice spot, somewhat private, and nice trees for shade.

2xHorn

Was there this past weekend. A few scouts around making kid noises, not too bad. Only saw mountain bikers at about 10 Sunday morning. All-in-all a very pleasant trip. Very scenic area, hilly with the creek bottom around.

I can see though, if a lot of mountain bikers, not much fun. Didn't experience it that way this time.

tinneyr

If you check out tmbra.org (a mountain bikers website) it will show you when and where scheduled mountain bike races are held. Possibly during that weekend, there will be fewer riders at the location where you are wanting to camp.