It turns out that using Apple Maps on the iPhone isn’t the best way to find The Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Grasslands, located outside Decatur Texas. The mapping app directed us through a labyrinth of county roads, state highways, FM roads and Forest Service roads. We found ourselves backtracking when confronted with locked gates and dead-ends. What would have been an hour drive had we used the Forest Service directions to TADRA Point, turned into an hour and a half to find a campground which wasn’t the one we were looking for first. Oops!
The Black Creek Lake Recreation Area, once we stumbled on it, was a small comfortable campground with no hookups, no potable water.
There are vault toilets, the modern equivalent to an outhouse.
Black Creek Lake Boat Ramp
There is a boat ramp. The 30 acre lake is smallish and not someplace to expect great water skiing. There was a man fishing from the shore.
Smallish campsites area spread around between the dirt/gravel road and the lake. Many of the campsites are walk-in. There weren’t any hiking trails in this section.
A few campsites, found up on the road, might be able to accommodate a small RV but leveling could be a chore. Not sure RV camping here makes all that much sense. No reservations. Only seven total campsites in the park but only two of them next to the road.
The camping area we were looking for first, TADRA Point, does have room for larger RVs. Some campsites are more level than others. They seemed to be fairly level side to side but not so much front to back. We could easily level our truck camper in this campground.
A few vault toilets are available in the campground.
A new spigot has been installed next to one of the vault toilets. The National Forest website says there is no water available in the campground. It is possible this is a potable water spigot as there is a non-potable water source close by.
The above windmill and tank are an example of a non-potable water supply.
The only rigs in the campsites were good sized horse trailers with forward living spaces like the one shown above. This shouldn’t be surprising as this part of Texas has a rich horse culture. The National Grassland is also a great place to ride and TADRE Point is the main trailhead for 75 miles of horse/hike/bike trails through the LBJ National Grassland.
If we were into horses like the people camping in this park, we would probably visit every year. Not being horse people, I don’t see us camping here in the future.
Hope to see you on the road ahead!