Airport Park Campground

This is a really nice COE Park. Watch your GPS coming in as the day use park is closed and just one driveway from the entrance to the Campground. We had a nice full hookup spot with a view of the water across the way. We stayed here over Christmas when the arctic blast hit. We unhooked the water hose after filling our tank as did most of the other campers here. We saw the rangers winterizing the bathrooms and locking the doors. I understand why but it would have been nice to tell the campers ahead of time in case they needed them. There is an airport on the other side of the lake so you do hear airplanes overhead. There are lots of deer in the park. It is close to access exploring Waco, especially Magnolia Market.

There is an Ace Hardware nearby that fills propane tanks.

This was my first stay at a COE campground and we were very impressed with this one. The rate I paid included a 50% reduction with my National Parks Senior Pass. Check in was smooth. There is a gatehouse and a friendly woman manning it who checked us in. We stayed in site 11 which is the first of three camping areas. All the sites in this section (sites 9-15) are FHU. All the utilities were mid site and easy to reach. The grounds are kept very neatly, the crushed granite around each campsite is raked and the site was fairly level. Backing in was not tough but the site is up on incline but the main part of site is generally level. Although the lake level was down, you had a nice view of the lake from this site. Some of the sites have picnic tables that are covered and some don't. Sites 10 and 11 had covers over the tables.
It rained some while we were there and while our site was fine, water did pool in front of Site 10.
We heard a little noise from the airport but nothing that disturbed us.

This was my first stay at a COE campground and we were very impressed with this one. The rate I paid included a 50% reduction with my National Parks Senior Pass. Check in was smooth. There is a gatehouse and a friendly woman manning it who checked us in. We stayed in site 11 which is the first of three camping areas. All the sites in this section (sites 9-15) are FHU. The grounds are kept very neatly, the crushed granite around each campsite is raked and the site was fairly level. Backing in was not tough but the site is up on incline but the main part of site is generally level. Although the lake level was down, you had a nice view of the lake from this site. Some of the sites have picnic tables that are covered and some don't. Sites 10 and 11 had covers over the tables. It rained some while we were there and while our site was fine, water did pool in front of Site 10.
We heard a little noise from the airport but nothing that disturbed us.

One thing I have noticed about COE parks in Texas is the need to mow! Grass around our site was so tall our little dog got lost in it. This makes me worry about ticks and things. However, the sites are large and very nice. If there is no tree to add shade, the picnic table is under a shelter. Some sites here actually have sewer, but not all. The dump is near the entrance, but mostly an UPHILL dump! Who redesigned this one??? Lol....

Also, we were a little bit annoyed by the fact that the park was so sold out we needed to move in the middle of our stay. I kept checking, hoping someone would have cancelled. However, not to be. The bad thing was that NO ONE EVER showed up to the site we had to move from! Come on folks. Sometimes think of others! Our second site was not level at all, and we had to prop up the rear. Still not level. I hate walking downhill to the bedroom. But that's just me. It would be easier for some RV's to level at, but not our class A.

No real issues with Verizon, but our ATT phones didn't work very well in Waco at all. Was probably better here in the park than in town!

Pros

Not charged a fee to make my own on-line reservation

Friendly gate attendant

Level asphalt site surrounded by crushed granite

Grass neatly mowed throughout campground

Large aluminum picnic table that is moveable from site concrete pad

BBQ grill, metal fire pit and lantern pole

Night sky friendly. No street lights

Spacious-space between each site but no privacy due to lack of vegetation

Very quiet Sunday thru Wednesday nights except for Waco airport aircraft approach and Space X rocket testing

Entrance gate locked 10pm-6am. Exit only permitted

Clean toilets and showers

Plenty of TP in restrooms

Trash can in toilet/shower facility

Sufficient trash dumpsters throughout park

Deer sightings at Park entrance only

2 LTE Verizon bars signal

Cons
Exterior restroom doors desperately need repaired. Have to move rock away from door to gain access.

Sewer connection at rear of parking pad. Bring the looooong stinky slinky!

Waco airport aircraft departing/arriving as early as 6am and as late as 11pm. One night we counted aircraft performing touch and go manuvers 42 times. Approach was directly over our campsite.

No patrolling host or ranger

No soap or hand towels in toilet facility

No playground, basketball or tennis or volleyball courts

No lake swimming area

No park WIFI

No hiking trails

Traveling from St. Louis to south padre island and needed to stop for the night. I used Campendium to find a place near our highway outside of Waco Tx. We usually love COE parks because they are maintained so well. We got the last spot and were able to reserve online. It was a pull through that allowed us to keep our toad hooked up. Site was on the lake with a beautiful sunset! We also saw a few planes taking off or landing. Restrooms were toilet and shower combined and had fabulous hot water. And we’re clean! This is a wonderful park!

This was a great basecamp for visiting the Waco area. Magnolia and Riverwalk Park were high on our list - also the Mammoth monument. Park check-in was very smooth, we were on site 28 with full hookups - on a bit of a rise with a view of the water. This park has a total of 22 full hookup sites - reserve early if you want one. It was very busy with a lot of short stay campers. We have a 35' fifth wheel and sites we liked best were 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13. Site 14 is directly across the water from the boat launch and they have very bright security lights on all night - so I would avoid that. Other nice FHU sites on the water: 75, 76 & 77. If you don't need FHU also good are: 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 & 27. West sunsets are beautiful over the water. All roads were paved, trees were not a problem. Can come in from either direction: north of the airport/south of the airport - Skeet Eason Rd is a perimeter road and the park entrance if off of it.
Price reflects 50% discount with Senior Pass.