Sumner Lake State Park Campground

This is a nice enough campground. I was in Pecos with electricity and water, but there are some great dry camping sites right on the reservoir. Good luck leveling there, though. Push button hot showers but you basically have to keep one hand free while washing because after you push the button, the flow lasts about 1-2 seconds. That’s not an exaggeration. Water and 30Amp at my site which was configured in such a way that these 10 sites are parked next to each other like a parking lot. Other sites are roomier with better views, and are developed in such a way as to not have to worry about the next camper seeing in your windows. Not much to do in the campground itself. Looks like much of the land around the reservoir is privately owned so limited hiking. Bring everything you need, because there’s nothing anywhere near here to get groceries, do laundry, etc. The night sky is fabulous and we had wild turkeys darting through a couple of times. My biggest complaint and the reason I wouldn’t return is the sand spurs. They’re EVERYWHERE! As soon as my dog stepped off the gravel parking pad she was basically frozen because of the sand spurs in her paws. So. If you have kids or animals, I’d give it a pass. I was here late Oct/early November and those sand spurs were very pokey. Most people here just overnighted on their way to somewhere else, I noted.

There are only one or two first come first serve. Electric sites. Campsite 34 has a walking trail behind it to the lake…awesome for kayakers or paddle boarders. The running bathrooms and showers are about a 3 mile drive from East side campsites. It has a vault toilet and individual shade pavilions. Verizon service, roomy parking for small or big rigs

I’m so disappointed. East side campground absolutely gorgeous. View of the lake…large campsites with nice shelters but the pricklies are absolutely everywhere. The gravel pad has a bunch of tiny weeds full of them. If you have pets or young children I’d avoid. If you don’t, it’s pristine and lovely. But good luck figuring out which sites are FCFS and which sites are reserved. No labeling at all and maps are peeling off the board. You have to go to reserve america to see which are which AND there’s no map there either. Tried to tell the guy working and he was like “nod and smile” and had no clue. When I called reserve America to shorten stay they said call local ranger.. who NEVER called back. They drive here everyday and do trash but that’s about it apparently. Then when I called reserve America again they said you have to fully cancel and then rebook which can’t be done after your stay has started…so be 💯 what you want to do. Very frustrating that no one could tell me info until third day and it was not the Ranger.
Bonus…restrooms were locked…said they were “clogged” . How exactly do vault toilets clog??!! Bizarre

Nice well kept and spaced sites. Pecos has the hook up sites and Mesquite is dry camping. That said, check before booking as it seemed like a few of the sites in Pecos might not. The Eastside camp loop wasn't open, but that might have just been a seasonal thing. Kind of a longish drive (6 miles) from Hwy 84 on good road. Very quiet, milky way visible night sky, and a short 1/4 mile walk down to the lake. No camp wifi, but good cell service.

The road in has soft shoulders and is a bit narrow, but completely passable. The sites had 30-amp power and good water with nice adobe shelters at several of the sites. We stayed in site 11 in the Pecos Loop, which was nice, but site 12 was the nicest.

The park itself was nice to walk around and explore, especially down by the lake and the sections on either side of the river. There was some trash left by campers in the primitive area, but the park staff came through numerous times during our stay and picked up what they found. The Ranger we spoke with, Jacob, was wonderful and gave us tons of great info about the park and surrounding areas.

The only downside, if you have pets or like to walk barefoot, is the abundance of goathead burrs. These caused our pooch considerable discomfort on virtually every walk. This is not just in this park, but many of the desert campgrounds we’ve stayed at. We met other campers with booties on their four-legged friends, and that seemed to be the best defense. Also, check your shoes when you get back in your camper. The burrs tended to get in the treads and on our rugs unless we plucked them all out at the door. I can attest they do hurt when they poke into your feet.

Despite this, and the large Texas Brown Tarantula we found basking on the casita, we would definitely stay here again. Next time with a fishing license.

Arrival - No sweat with the online booking process but, our site was not shown as reserved on arrival. The camp host came around on the second day and posted all the reservations.

Tips - The road off of highway 84 into the park is not in the greatest repair. Slow down to account for the potholes and undulations and you'll be fine.

Favorites - 120' long site right on a finger of the lake teaming with fish, although they didn't like anything we had to offer. Easy access to the rest of the lake. 50 amp, water with good pressure, and a nice picnic pavilion on the site.

Negatives - We stay in the East Campground which means, no dump station. We had to drive over the dam to the West Campground to dump. There is a 15 ton weight limit on the single lane road going over the dam so, big Class A's be aware.