brinam

Hi some friends and I are going to be camping around the Denton area shortly.. .I need some help figuring the best place to go... I did a reservation for Isle Du Bois but it can be canceled... it's really gonna add up there... I want us to be able to have fun but I need to keep it as cheap as possible.. Not being a native Texan we don't have the pass and it's gonna cost a bit to do all that...

any suggestions? I wanna stay near Denton because we have a music show of some friends to go to....

I'd really appreciate any help!!!
Thanks !
Sabrina...

brinam

I figured I'd give some more info on what we are looking to do... cuz on some other threads I've seen people ask that...

As I said.. we want to have a lot of fun but we want to keep it as cheap as possible... It's gonna cost a lot gas wise to begin with.. it's almost a 700 mile trip to the area..

We love to camp, we are outdoorsy people... we love to swim, but I'm not much of a pool person, give me a lake or a river and I'm happy... the chlorine makes me sick... we like to hike just not up a mountain (my knees won't cooperate too well haha)

we have fun just hanging out.. so some place pretty, not expensive.. and fairly close to Denton.. we will be going in off and on...
showers of some sort would be awesome since we don't have that capability with our travel vehicle (a conversion van haha)... so the tent camping was out of the question with isle du bois...

I know this is cheaper then a motel and more fun.. I was jsut hoping a lot cheaper haha...

so any suggestions of good campgrounds around would be extremely helpful.. I've only been around Marshall and brownsville and never camped... and any friends in the texas area aren't campers either...

So again, thanks so much for any help!!!

rockhill

I do not know of any place cheaper around Denton. Very few if any private camps, and they may not be cheaper. You might check into the LBJ grasslands (http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/texas/recrea...gen_info.shtml )

Other than that a primitive site at Ray Roberts will be about the cheapest you could go.
Good Luck

brinam

Thank you so much Rockhill... I really needed some good feedback... I personally loved the sounds of the campground but my folks were worried about the expense as was I.... camping fees are about teh same here but not the daily fee like that.. you can get a nebraska park pass for like 14 to 21 bucks...

And thanks for the info on the LBJ.. I will check it out..

Again thank you so much!!! I'm really looking forward to our trip to Texas!!
Sabrina


oh and I should make a clarification on my earlier post.. I have camped... we love camping and do it alot.. I just have not camped in Texas before...

Turn Key

Hi Sabrina and welcome aboard. Hope we can help.

When I read the title of your thread, the first thing that came to my mind was Isle du Bois on Ray Roberts. It has been a few years since we were last up there but it is a very nice park and unless something has changed a good bit, it is equiped with very nice facilities. I understand your concern about costs but state and "Corps" parks are most often your best buy.

This was in one of your posts and it did confuse me a bit. As far as I know, tent camping is allowed at Isle du Bois and the park is equiped with very nice, modern shower houses. Can't see where a conversion van or a tent would be a problem.

As far as swimming goes, the park has a great sand beach, better then many we have in Texas. Also, we have been blessed with very good rain this spring (some, but not I, say too much:laugh so lake levels should be in good shape all summer. You stated that you have been to Texas before so I will assume that I don't have to remind you about "Super-Summer" in these parts:eek:.

I am including a link to a listing of Army Corps of Engineers Parks in Texas. Not sure if any of them are located where you wish to be but they may be worth a look. Some "Corps" parks are very nice while others are not as well built or maintained. We very much like the Corps Parks on Whitney Lake (too far southwest of where you want to be) but don't care for or recommend the ones in Benbrook Lake (just west of Ft. Worth). If you find that one of these parks may serve your purpose, I would suggest you post another threat here and ask for details about the specific park. I'm sure one of our members will be able to help.

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nra/ace/tx.htm

I hope all of this has been some help to you. If you have more questions, feel free to post and some one is sure to have an answer. Again, welcome aboard, welcome to Texas and,

Happy Camping!

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brinam

Thank you so much Turn Key!!
For all the info and the welcome. It is much appreciated.. Sorry about the confusion with the shower/tent bit haha.. We're staying in a conversion van so we couldn't stay in the tent camping area the lady told us.. Since you have to walk in to your site. And I didn't want to spend an extra $ 8 for electricity a night when it wasn't needed. But we found a spot at Isle Du Bois.. I'm really looking forward to it.. It's nice to hear good feedback about it from someone who knows the area.. I'm glad about the shower facilities too haha.. I tend to jump from subject to subject when I'm excited, sorry about that haha..

oh good, I'm glad about the beach. We absolutely love swimming and will be spending most of our time there! So that's very good to hear!! umm by super summer I'm guessing you mean, super hot? and I'm trying to remember either dry or humid, I'm thinking it's a dry heat where as here in Nebraska we have the humid heat... I've gone in August before... We're trying for the first part of june before it gets too severly hot!! haha..

My uncle was going to check for a few other places but, I'm really liking what I'm hearing about Isle Du Bois... It sounds like it has everything we're looking for.. And I think I'm going to save some money and buy a Texas Pass if I can... It might not be used again this year but it'll help out on the cost..

Again thank you so much for all your info and help!! I'm really looking forward to our trip!

Thanks so much!!
Sabrina

rockhill

Brinam

A couple of points before your trip. The facilities at Isle du Bois are nice as well as those in Johnson Creek across the lake. The swimming area at both was created with brought in sand so are pretty nice. Gently sloping so you do not have to worry about drop offs. The annual park pass does save you the daily use fee however at a cost of $50 you have to go a lot to make the numbers work in your favor. While as a Texan and a user of our parks I would appreciate the contribution, it probably does not make sense for you to purchase one. Enjoy your stay at Ray Roberts and what ever else you do in Denton

Turn Key

Hi Sabrina,

Wanted to check before I sounded off about what "rockhill" said. The cost of the annual pass is $60. Used to be $50 but it went up a few years ago. The Park Entry Fee for Isle du Bois is $5 per day, per person age 13 and older (varies a bit at some parks). This is what you save with the pass. A little quick math will tell you if purchasing the pass is a good idea for you. Here's a link that gives all the details:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/p...sses/parkpass/

Yes, I was refering mostly to heat in my comment about "Super-Summer". It does get hot here in the summer time but you may catch a bit of a break this year. Our spring has been very wet and a bit cooler then usual. This should help keep the June temps down a bit. Humidity is normally not as high here as it is "up north" but it can get a bit "sticky" at times.

Hope all this helps and you have a great trip.

Happy Camping!

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brinam

Thank you so much both of you!!! And yes it will be a big savings for us.. Granted we're only going once.. But we'll be staying for 10 days... so rather then paying 100 dollars for two of us.. the 60 for the pass will save us 40 bucks! Plus if my cousin comes that's 90 it'll save... and thanks for the site... that I have checked out trying to do some homework on it... so I know I'm not going totally unprepared... having some native texans helping sure is helping me a lot!! so thank you very much!!

Ok good.. about the super summer.... I was wondering.. I'm glad we'll catch a break with it... granted we have air in the van but only when we're driving... we're used to not having air.. so we're not wimps which is a good thing haha... the humidity shouldn't be a problem.. it is so wet here these last couple months that it'll be normal for us... we've been having flooding problems in our neck of the woods...


With all your help it sounds like we found a great place to stay and I'm very much looking forward to our trip!! I'll tell ya all about when we get back.. We're leaving tomorrow to visit a few friends but will be in Texas shortly.. .it's going to be so much fun I'm sure!! We've got some family we're gonna see along the way.. whether there or back I'm not sure!

I think we're gonna check out the Six Flags too... I think we're gonna do Hurricane harbor though..

Looking forward to it.
Thank you again for all your help!!!
BrinaM

Turn Key

Your very welcome and we're glad we could help. Hope you have a great trip and please let us hear from you on your return home!

Welcome to Texas and Happy Camping!

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rockhill

Sounds like the math works for you even if my memory is faulty. Quoted the $50 off the top of my head. Sorry about that bit of mis-information

brinam

haha that's ok Rockhill! Thank you anyways. I really appreciate it. And thank you Turnkey we will!! We are on the first part of our trip right now and will be heading out shortly! So I'll keep you posted on it... and post when I get back.
Talk to you in two weeks!!

hope you have a good two weeks..

Brina

carel05

Good luck on your trip just like what I did when we we're still at cadiz spain, having our youth camp!

Have fun and enjoy!

brinam

Hi there all!! We just got back this afternoon, we were traveling since 4am!! So I'm beat:asleep: anyways... we had an amazing time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and we got out of the area right before and I mean right before the flooding started thank goodness... It was pouring on us as we were packing up. but the lake was ABSOLUTELY beautiful!!!!!!!!!! You can't see the entire thing in one place.. beautiful. We stayed in the Bluestem Grove equestrian camp area... and other then the weekends we hada the whole thing to ourselves.. and well the spiders... they took over the place and since we were the only ones in that area they didn't gt taken care haha... however we just shared it with them haha... we knew when to duck haha... but it was so pretty and peaceful and the beach was awesome... we spent so much time in the lake haha... we got burnt!! even with sunscreen.. but it was a blast. We really got to check out Denton too and loved it. My friends the musicians we went to go see got signed that first night we were there it was so great!! so he should hopefully be on the radio before you know it and on tour later this year... It only rained the first night there and then the last two days.. We thoroughly enjoyed it and were able to go to Hurricane Harbor as well... I'll tell you more later and I'll post links with pictures when I get them developed and uploaded. We had so much fun. thank you all so much for all of your help!!!

We def want to go back! I'm trying to talk my parents into going wih us as a family vacation next time!!

Brina

rockhill

Sounds like you had a great time, and timing!

Ray Roberts is a big, beautiful lake with a lot to see. Glad you had a good visit and a safe journey home. Come visit us again when you can