Lake Meredith (Texas Panhandle)

[tx2sturgis]

Part one:

I wanted to camp at Lake Meredith for a few days and then write up a short review.

Lake Meredith is about 45 miles north of Amarillo. If you are just passing by on I-40 it is too far out of the way for a night, but if you are passing thru the area and want to camp for free for a few days, it's worth a slight diversion. Best time of the year is the Fall season, summers are way too hot unless you have plenty of good air conditioning. There are no RV hookups anywhere, but they do have water spigots in some areas and a couple RV dump stations.

This area is currently offering free camping for up to 14 days, at least until the end of 2017.

The full NPS page is here:

https://www.nps.gov/lamr/planyourvisit/camping.htm

I set up camp at the Sanford Yake campground, it was not busy so I had my choice of campsites.



Nice and free shower/restroom facility nearby with hot water:



I was camped in a higher area, with a picnic table, shade, charcoal grill, and a fire ring provided, along with a nice view of the dam and the cove:



From this campsite, I had good AT&T and T-Mobile service, but it offered no shelter from the winds, which were steady during the day. There are some campsites on lower ground nearby, but the cell service became less reliable. I did not have a cell booster, I suspect service at lower areas would be better with one of those.


Nearby, there are some nice views of the lake:

 

[tx2sturgis]

Part two:

I also visited another campground, called Harbor Bay. This campground is accessed by traveling west out of the little town called Fritch Texas. This is closer to the 'boondocking' style many of us like.

The road to Harbor Bay passes by some houses, and looks like a typical residential neighborhood...the road looks kinda narrow, but large RVs can easily navigate this road:






A mile later you are greeted with this nice open area, perfect for launching kayaks or canoes:





I parked under some trees near a table:





Then moved further west and captured this view:

 

[tx2sturgis]

Part three:

Several of the boat ramps are usable, and on weekends with nice weather, it can get crowded here:



Although my friend's Honda would probably not float, so we didn't try it:



Several hiking trails are available, and some of the views are not too shabby!







All in all, a nice place to visit in the middle of a mostly flat Texas Panhandle.

 

[Dennis]

Good write up.
I waved in that direction when I passed through a couple weeks ago.

 

[Kia girl]

Nice I liked the way you explained the places. It makes me want to check it out. Thank you


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[highdesertranger]

nice review Texas. highdesertranger

 

[duckwonder]

Great review, thanks Tx.  Think I'll stop there for sure.  Got any reviews near Dallas or OKC? lol.  Thanks again.

 

[blmkid]

Nice and free shower/restroom facility nearby with hot water:

That's one super nice FREE shower house. Gotta love The Lone Star State of Texas. 
Excellent review. 2 thumbs up

 

[tx2sturgis]

That's one super nice FREE shower house. Gotta love The Lone Star State of Texas. 
Excellent review. 2 thumbs up

lol...

Its not fancy, but it's free to use and had hot water!

This is a picture I took of the shower facility inside.

 

[Txjaybird]

 Thanks for the pics. and information.  I haven't been thru that area since my last run from OKC to Phoenix AZ.  That was on I 40 and over 30 years ago.

The thing I've always liked about my home state is that TX has just about every type of geography a person could want to enjoy.  From the Gulf Coast to the Plains.........The Piney woods, forests, lakes and swamps of east TX across to the deserts and mountains of the west including The Davis Mountains and Big Bend areas. I spent most of my life in central TX from Dallas to Grapevine to Temple to Groesbeck and back North from there.  Fished from Grapevine down into the Toledo Bend area hitting most of the lakes in between and N. to Pat Mayse Lake.

If you know of just one place in TX that is cooler in summer I'd like to know it .......please!  Seems like it's just hot all over!

Jewellann

 

[user 423]

Old thread revival:

On my way south from KC, I took a little detour to the LMNRA but just stayed one night as I'm now on my way to Lubbock to see the Silent Wings WWII glider museum.

Driving west from OKC on I-40 the winds were gusting up to 50 MPH and keeping my van headed in a straight line was a chore. Since I only drive 63MPH, there was a steady stream of semis passing me with trailers that were being blown over into my lane by a couple of feet. To make matters worse the slow lane was all rough and uneven, so I decided to take 2-lane state routes over to TX from Sayre,OK.

Can't add much to Tx2's write-up but I did appreciate the free camping and warm showers. I stayed at the Fritch Fortress camping area fairly near the lake. It's a big and interesting looking place and I really did want to stay longer and maybe ride my bike in the OHV areas. Oh well, some other time.