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Primitive Texas camping spot makes new list of most scenic U.S. campgrounds

North Prong Primitive Campground is one of the best places to camp in America.

Photo courtesy of The Dyrt camper Zach B.

A primitive camping spot in the Texas Panhandle has just been named one of the most scenic campgrounds in America, boasting some of the prettiest views nationwide.

North Prong Primitive Campground is the sole Texas destination to make the cut in North American travel publication Matador Network's list of "60 Campsites With the Best Views Across the United States."

The San Francisco-based publication collaborated with various parks organizations, tourism boards, and campground review platform The Dyrt to develop its list of the most scenic American camping spots.

The list contains a variety of locations – from primitive sites with no amenities to full-service campgrounds with electrical hookups and WiFi – that each "represent the variety of experiences and landscapes available in each region" of the United States. The 60 sites were sorted into regional categories along the East Coast, West Coast, "Mountain West," Midwest, South, and in Alaska, Hawai’i, and other U.S. territories.

"Camping in the United States is as much about the landscapes as it is about the experience of being outdoors," the report said. "The country’s diverse geography and sheer size give it some of the most striking natural views in the world, from towering mountain ranges to vast desert expanses, dense forests, remote coastlines, shimmering glaciers, and even tropical rainforests."

North Prong Primitive Campground stood out among Matador's top-10 list of "Prettiest Places to Camp in the South." The campground is located within Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque, Texas, which is over 500 miles northwest from Houston.

There are eight different secluded campsites for visitors to pitch their tents at North Prong, offering breathtaking views of the park's red rock canyons and the wide-open Texas sky.

North Prong Primitive Campground at Caprock Canyons State Park Get ready to hike to reach the campground.Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

"Most tent sites have expansive views of canyons with flat clearings on vivid red dirt and are dotted with cottonwood trees and scrub oaks," the report says. "The colors are vivid as can be at sunrise and sunset when light magnifies off steep red canyon walls in the distance."

According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, it's a one-mile hike to reach the camping area, and visitors must bring their own drinking water and keep pets on a leash at all times. There are no trash cans on-site, so all trash must be carried out by campers, but the area does have composting toilets nearby. Ground fires are not allowed.

Matador recommends travelers book a reservation to gain access to the area, but clarifies that reservations do not provide access to one of the eight camping sites.

The report suggests traveling to the Panhandle campground during the spring when the weather isn't too hot yet, or in the fall months when there may be fewer dramatic temperature fluctuations.

"The South’s relatively mild winters make it a year-round camping destination, but summer heat and humidity can be intense, especially in the Deep South," the report said.

The top 10 best places to camp in the South are:

Devils Fork State Park, South Carolina
Garden Key, Florida
North Long Primitive Campground, Texas
Edgar Evins State Park, Tennessee
Jekyll Island State Park, Georgia
Stone Cliff Beach Campground, West Virginia
Gulf State Park, Alabama
Red River Gorge Geological Area, Kentucky
Seneca Shadows Campground, West Virginia
Chikee Wilderness Camping, Florida

travel camping west texas

News for campers

Lake Palestine in East Texas will be home to new 650-acre state park

Photo courtesy of Texas Land

Lake Palestine will be the site of a new state park.

East Texas is gaining a new state park at Lake Palestine that will include amenities like hike-and-bike trails, campsites, and lakefront access.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has paid more than $10 million for a 650-acre ranch at Lake Palestine that will be converted into a state park, the agency says. If the park opened today, it would be the 90th state park in Texas.

The ranch, roughly 100 miles southeast of Dallas, had been on the market for a little less than $10 million. Roughly 60 percent of the ranch is wooded, and about 40 percent is pastureland.

The foundation will make improvements to the site, about 18 miles west of Tyler, before handing it over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in late 2027. That’s when funding from the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund will become available for the department to acquire the property.

The deal preserves one of the last large habitat sites in that part of East Texas and will ultimately expand public access to Lake Palestine. The lake encompasses more than 25,500 acres and touches four counties. White-tailed deer, bobcats, and waterfowl are among the creatures that populate the habitat.

“Opportunities to protect a property like this don’t come along very often, and when they do, timing is critical,” Anne Brown, the foundation’s executive director, said in a release. She said the land will “ultimately become a place where generations of Texans can enjoy the outdoors.”

The Pollard family had owned the ranch, which housed their pecan farm, since 1940. Aside from the pecan orchard, the property includes pine forests, ponds, a seven-acre lake, and Lake Palestine frontage.

Sam Pollard, president of Texas Pecan Nursery, said the property “is part of my soul. It means a lot to me that we can leave a legacy for people to enjoy.”

The foundation says visitors to the future park will be able to enjoy blufftop views of the lake, watch wildlife and birds, and walk around the pecan orchard. They’ll also be able to take advantage of boating, paddling, swimming, and fishing at Lake Palestine.

Rodney Franklin, director of the state park system, called the site an “East Texas gem” and thanked the Pollards for enabling “this special slice of the Pineywoods to be accessible for generations of Texans.”

The parks and wildlife agency plans to create the park in phases, starting with guided access, followed by daytime access and then full-day and overnight access. The agency will invite public input about the park’s development.

Planned amenities include hike-and-bike trails, traditional and primitive campsites, day-use areas and lakefront access.

The NextEra Energy Foundation, a philanthropic arm of NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Resources, chipped in $100,000 to support the future park. NextEra supplies electricity to about one million customers in Texas, mostly through its Gexa Energy subsidiary.

In addition, the wildlife foundation tapped into the state’s Land Conservation Loan Fund for the ranch purchase. The voter-approved, donor-supported fund aids land conservation efforts. Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies was an inaugural backer of the loan fund.

lake palestine parks state park texas